GEPENC Elections Tomorrow
The Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC) Elections are tomorrow – Saturday, March 20, 2010.
You can vote at the Central City Action Committee at 534 E. Edgeware Road from 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Here’s a run-down of the candidates:
Chief Information Officer: Lisa D. Baca, Mo Najand
President: Lester Quijano, Jaime C. Salazar, José Sigala
First Vice President: Francisco Torrero
Treasurer: Gustavo Moreno
District 1 Representatives: Dinora E. Ventura, Efren Mojarro Jr.
District 2 Representatives: Agustin Cebada, James D. Lopez, Nora Elieth Sanchez, Justin G. Mcinteer, Jeremy R. Mann, Cheryl L. Ortega
District 3 Representatives: Juan Godinez, Connie M. Acosta
District 4 Representatives: Leonel A. Ledezma, Yolande Beckles, Stephen H. Stickler
District 5 Representatives: Jeffrey G. Kontorovsky, David Lugo, David “Rockello” Rosen, Phyllis M. Daugherty, Erlinda L. Sorati, Jorge L. Prado, Patricia R. Mendoza
The Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood boundary is shown below:
Click here to download a PDF map of the area so you can zoom in.
The only candidate information we have (apart from a quick Google search) is from a PDF you can download via the LA City Clerk website, but I found it tedious to go through all the PDF documents provided. So we’ve typed up all the candidate statements for you should you be voting tomorrow. If you’d like to view the originals, you can click here, or email us and we’ll be happy to send all the downloaded documents along to you.
Wondering what GEPENC does? Feel free to check out the website here.
Here are the candidate statements, taken directly from those documents:
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER:
Lisa D. Baca
Lisa Baca, 49, a 14-year Echo Park homeowner married with 3 daughters. First elected 2008-10 NC term as CIO.
During the first term, developed a new contact data base increasing 100% the flow of information among NC Board of Directors and communication from NC to the community.
Proud member of:
- Echo Park Library Community Group
- Echo Park Chamber of Commerce
- Logan Elementary Parent Advisory Committee
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Mo Najand
Mo Najand is a 10 year resident of Echo Park. Mo has over 20 years of experience managing complex aerospace programs for local companies. Mo believes that effective flow of information and open communications can lead to an informed community improving their neighborhood. In these challenging times, the neighbors of Echo Park need to have proper access to appropriate neighborhood council, and city of Los Angeles information to know the effects of ongoing decisions on their daily life. Mo will coordinate with the City to ensure the best use of Early Notification System (ENS) Community Impact Statements (CIS) and any other systems the public and private agencies that may affect the quality of life in the neighborhood.
PRESIDENT
Lester Quijano: No candidate statement.
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Jaime C. Salazar:
(Note: I had a little trouble deciphering all of the hand-written statement, so I thought it would be easier to post the statement in full. You can download the PDF by clicking here)
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Jose Sigala:
I am running for re-election as President of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council.
I am homeowner who has lived in Echo Park for 14 years who shares a common interest in advancing a safe, prosperous and thriving neighborhood and business community.
For the last two years I have l had the honor/privilege to work with community/business leaders, parents, teachers, neighbors and local Council offices to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Together we have:
- Organized neighborhood clean ups/graffiti removal
- Promoted parks/open space,
- Established a community center in Echo Park,
- Funded youth programs in our local libraries, recreation centers and schools,
- Assured the preservation, promotion and designation of historical landmarks in our neighborhoods.
Working together we have proven that we can make a huge difference in improving our neighborhoods. I hope I can count on your support once again.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
Francisco Torrero:
Resident of Echo Park for more than 25 years, committed to having a safe and prosperous neighborhood, reaching out to all segments of our community.
Honesty, integrity, friendly and visionary the future of Echo Park belongs to all of us.
Come and vote, keep Echo Park alive and prosperous for all.
TREASURER
Gustavo Moreno: No candidate statement.
DISTRICT 1 REPRESENTATIVE:
Diora E. Ventura:
I am a FIRST TIME candidate for District 1 Representative. As a 19-year-old High School Graduate and District 1 resident, I attended local public schools and bring a NEW fresh voice to the Neighborhood Council.
I believe that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. As a future Echo Park leader of tomorrow, I have a deep commitment to community volunteerism.
In addition to my academic education, being part of the Neighborhood Council allows me again more life experience and opportunities to volunteer with many other organizations in Echo Park. As a District 1 Representative, I will outreach to Echo Park youth and motivate them to get involved at local community events.
Please give me your support and vote on March 20, 2010. Thank you!
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Efren Mojarro, Jr.: No candidate statement.
DISTRICT 2 REPRESENTATIVES
Agustin Cebada: No candidate statement.
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James D. Lopez: No candidate statement.
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Nora Elieth Sanchez: No candidate statement.
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Justin G. Mcinteer:
I am running as a District 2 Representative as a resident and business owner.
I fell in love with Echo Park upon my first visit over twelve years ago. The diversity and liveliness of the neighborhood amazed me.
Moving to Los Angeles nine years ago I was fortunate to purchase a building in the heart of Echo Park along Sunset Boulevard.
I felt strong connection to the neighborhood and to the community living within it. A little over three years ago I opened up a small shop called Echo Curio located in District 2 of GEPENC.
The Echo Curio has grown and thrived, supporting and empowering creative individuals in all medias.
There is nothing better than to have a voice in the direction of community activities for the neighborhood that I love so much. I am committed to making our community better.
Thank you for your vote!
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Jeremy R. Mann:
Echo Park is an extraordinary place. This is a community with rich history and diversity. It deserves beautiful parks; strong schools; and safe, lively streets. These are my priorities for the Neighborhood Councils along with increasing buy-in with our key stakeholders: residents, business owners, and non-profit groups.
This summer I volunteered with LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, who represents Echo Park. I focused on UNTAG, a remarkable program that has reduced tagging in Echo Park by 80% with very little cost. It does this by giving people a phone number. Some solutions are that simple.
On the council I will work tirelessly to solicit feedback from community members to find more such solutions. I don’t have all the ideas, but I do have a number: (952) 261-9914. It’s my cell phone, and you can call anytime with ideas or concerns. Thanks for the support.
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Cheryl L. Ortega: No candidate statement.
DISTRICT 3 REPRESENTATIVES
Juan Godinez
I have been an Echo Park resident of District 3 for over 15 years and I have worked in District 3 for over 10 years.
In the 2008-2010 GEPENC, I serve as the District 3 Alternate in addition to working as a Stakeholder on the Neighborhood Council’s Budget and Finance Committee. I believe there are many positive changes happening in District 3 that will help keep the community growing and getting better.
I am committed to cleaning up the graffiti that has vandalized and become and eye sore to so many local homes and businesses.
Thank you for your vote March 20th!
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Connie M. Acosta: No candidate statement.
DISTRICT 4 REPRESENTATIVES
Leonel A. Ledezma: No candidate statement.
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Yolande Beckles:
There are many great things about Echo Park that I love. The most important being the children of Echo Park. What future will they inherit?
Part of my summer months, I work in academic enrichment programs for youth. Once a child is motivated and find learning fun, they can dream, do and be anything.
I bring to GEPENC a view from District 4 that is both the business perspective as well as a clear understanding for the need to provide safe clean neighborhoods to raise healthy families and children.
I am a very committed person who can give back to the community in new and creative ways.
Please vote March 20, 2010. Thank you.
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Stephen H. Stickler: No candidate statement.
DISTRICT 5 REPRESENTATIVES
Jeffrey G. Kontorovsky: No candidate statement
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David Lugo: No candidate statement
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David “Rockello” Rosen:
David “Rockello” Rosen, Candidate for District 5 Representative of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC). David Rockello is my professional name that I have been know as since the early 1980’s. I am an Artist, Writer, Set Designer, Graphic Designer, Scenic Artist, Sculptor, Makeup Artist, Art Director, Curator, Animator and Community Organizer.
I have been able to work with and across multiple organizational lines for planning and implementation of community projects. My community work has been a great opportunity for public service whereby I encourage development without disenfranchising our stakeholders.
Accomplishments:
- Vice President of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council, 2008-2010, Vice-chair of the Executive Committee, Vice-chair of the Planning, Land Use and Housing Committee and member of the Bylaws Committee.
- Advocating for the re-dedication of the Edendale Film Industry Founding Monument and fighting to get the Echo Park Tennis Courts refurbished.
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Phyllis M. Daugherty:
I am the third generation of my family to reside in the Echo Park/ Elysian Park community. I attended Union Ave. school, Our Lady of Loretto, Virgil, Belmont High, and LACC. I have a B.A. in Social and Criminal Justice and worked for the City of Los Angeles for 16 years.
I am active in local and citywide issues and head an animal protection organization that provides training regarding animal care/humane laws and public safety. I serve on the L.A. County Animal Care and Control Foundation Board and am a member of the L.A. Human Trafficking Coalition and the LAPD Human Trafficking Taskforce.
Owning both residential and rental property, I understand our community’s challenges regarding traffic, parking, abandoned/stored vehicles, litter, graffiti and crime. As a member of the Neighborhood Council, I would work for youth/education projects, clean-up campaigns, sound planning, Neighborhood Watch programs, and growing local businesses to increase jobs.
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Erlinda L. Sorati:
Erlinda L. Sorati Candidate for District 5 representative of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC).
I’m known to most of you as Erlinda Lim, a Filipino-American immigrant living in District five, I’ve been observing the goings on GEPENC for two years and have been creating coalitions with my neighbors. Cooperatively making things work efficiently is why I am interested in joining our GEPENC organization.
I came to understand that participating in this Neighborhood Council is key to bringing unity and better coordination to our efforts to make the community a better place. It’s our responsibility to care for each other and to awaken from the ignorance and isolation that some of our neighbors who don’t care suffer from. We must show love and respect, speak up and say something with sense, to address the issues and some arising problems in the community, such as criminality and violence.
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Jorge L. Prado:
Dynamic community leader, having live in Historic Filipinotown since boyhood (1966), over 30 years married, with three children.
Product of Belmont High School, LACC, Cal State University Los Angeles, B.S. degree earned.
Sports enthusiast, coaching basketball, football.
Special interest in preservation of history, civic work, neighborhood safety and harmony.
Actively involved in serving the community:
- District 5 Representative, GEPENC
- President, Filipinotown Chamber of Commerce
- Sgt-at-arms, Rotary Club, Historic Filipinotown
- Director, Historic Filipinotown Neighborhood Council (501 C3 Corp)
- Board, S.I.P.A.
- President, Lake St. PAB
- Board, PAL’s Rampart Area
- Advisor, Mother Movement
- Member, C-PAB, LAPD Rampart Division
- Member, Echo Park Library Community Group
- Member, P.A.N.A.
Having acquired better understanding, know-how and skill, I’m running for re-election to GEPENC as District 5 representative so I can continue serving the community with the same passion, dedication and enthusiasm.
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Patricia R. Mendoza: No candidate statement
For more information about the GEPENC Election, contact:
City Clerk – Election Division
Piper Technical Center
555 Ramirez Street
3rd Floor, Space 300
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 978-0444
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Hey, how’s it going?
I want to pass along some very important news that everyone needs to hear!
In December of 2017, Donald Trump made history by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Why is this big news? Because by this the Jewish people of Israel are now able to press forward in bringing about the Third Temple prophesied in the Bible.
Jewish Rabbis have publicly announced that their Messiah will be revealed in the coming years who will be a leader and spiritual guide to all nations, gathering all religions under the worship of one God.
Biblical prophecy tells us that this Jewish Messiah who will take the stage will be the antichrist “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). For a time he will bring about a false peace, but “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15)…then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
More importantly, the power that runs the world wants to put a RFID microchip in our body making us total slaves to them. This chip matches perfectly with the Mark of the Beast in the Bible, more specifically in Revelation 13:16-18:
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
Referring to the last days, this could only be speaking of a cashless society, which we have yet to see, but are heading towards. Otherwise, we could still buy or sell without the mark amongst others if physical money was still currency. This Mark couldn’t be spiritual because the word references two different physical locations. If it was spiritual it would just say in the forehead. RFID microchip implant technology will be the future of a one world cashless society containing digital currency. It will be implanted in the right-hand or the forehead, and we cannot buy or sell without it. Revelation 13:11-18 tells us that a false prophet will arise on the world scene doing miracles before men, deceiving them to receive this Mark. Do not be deceived! We must grow strong in Jesus. AT ALL COSTS, DO NOT TAKE IT!
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
People have been saying the end is coming for many years, but we needed two key things. One, the Third Temple, and two, the technology for a cashless society to fulfill the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast.
Visit http://WWW.BIBLEFREEDOM.COM to see proof for these things and why the Bible truly is the word of God!
If you haven’t already, it is time to seek God with all your heart. Jesus loves you more than you could imagine. He wants to have a relationship with you and redeem you from your sins. Turn to Him and repent while there is still hope! This is forever…God bless!
“EITHER HUMAN INTELLIGENCE ULTIMATELY OWES ITS ORIGIN TO MINDLESS MATTER OR THERE IS A CREATOR…” – JOHN LENNOX
We all know God exists. Why? Because without Him, we couldn’t prove anything at all. Do we live our lives as if we cannot know anything? No. So why is God necessary? In order to know anything for certain, you would have to know everything, or have revelation from somebody who does. Who is capable of knowing everything? God. So to know anything, you would have to be God, or know God.
A worldview without God cannot account for the uniformity and intelligibility of nature. And why is it that we can even reason that God is the best explanation for this if there is no God? We are given reason to know or reject God, but never to know that He does not exist.
It has been calculated by Roger Penrose that the odds of the initial conditions for the big bang to produce the universe that we see to be a number so big, that we could put a zero on every particle in the universe, and even that would not be enough to use every zero. What are the odds that God created the universe? Odds are no such thing. Who of you would gamble your life on one coin flip?
Is there evidence that the Bible is the truth? Yes. Did you know that the creation accounts listed in the book of Genesis are not only all correct, but are also in the correct chronological order? That the Bible doesn’t say the Earth was formed in six 24-hour days but rather six long but finite periods of time? That the Bible makes 10 times more creation claims than all major “holy” books combined with no contradictions, while these other books have errors in them? The Bible stood alone by concurring with the big bang saying, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1); and says our universe is expanding, thousands of years before scientists discovered these things. Watch a potential life-changing video on the website listed below with Astronomer(PhD) Hugh Ross explaining all these facts based on published scientific data. He has authored many books, backed even by atheist scientists.
Jesus came to pay a debt that we could not; to be our legal justifier to reconcile us back to a Holy God; only if we are willing to receive Him: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).
God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son, so that whoever believes in Him, through faith, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus says if we wish to enter into life to keep the commands! The two greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and your neighbor as yourself. All the law hang on these commands. We must be born of and lead by the Holy Spirit, to be called children of God, to inherit the kingdom. If we are willing to humble ourselves in prayer to Jesus, to confess and forsake our sins, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking of Him; giving us a new heart, leading us into all truth!
Jesus came to free us from the bondage of sin. The everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels due to disobedience to God’s law. If we do the same, what makes us any different than the devil? Jesus says unless we repent, we shall perish. For sin is the transgression of the law. We must walk in the Spirit so we may not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, being hatred, fornication, drunkenness and the like. Whoever practices such things will not inherit the kingdom (Galatians 5:16-26). If we sin, we may come before Jesus to ask for forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2). Evil thoughts are not sins, but rather temptations. It is not until these thoughts conceive and give birth by our own desires that they become sin (James 1:12-15). When we sin, we become in the likeness of the devil’s image, for he who sins is of the devil (1 John 3:8); but if we obey Jesus, in the image of God. For without holiness, we shall not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
The oldest religion in the world is holiness through faith (James 1:27). What religion did Adam and Eve follow before the fall? Jesus, Who became the last Adam, what religion does He follow? Is He not holy? He never told us to follow the rituals and traditions of man but to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23). There are many false doctrines being taught leading people astray. This is why we need the Holy Spirit for discernment. Unlike religion, holiness cannot be created. It is given to us from above by the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus is more than a religion; He is about having a personal relationship with the Father. Start by reading the Gospel of Matthew, to hear the words of God, to know His character and commandments. Follow and obey Jesus, for He is the way, the truth, and the life!