Willow Glen Resident

News

Gardner Advisory Council installs board members for next two years

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

The Gardner Advisory Council welcomed a new board, which will be in place for two years.

The community voted on new board members at the regular monthly meeting in June. Each board member will serve through 2008.

Rudy Martinez continues for a second term, while Robert Jones will replace outgoing vice president Reymundo Mendez.

Dee Urista and Cha Cha Rojas will both continue for a second term as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Rudy Gomez will fill the sergeant of arms position. Other positions are: Pepe Perez as the liaison for community youth, Alfred Lopez as the at-large community liaison, Kevin Christman as the neighborhood action council liaison, and Patti Palomares-Mason as the school liaison.

Martinez has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years. Although he grew up as an observer, going to the meetings and watching how the then-members ran things, this is his first time as a board member.

"I hate politics," he says, "but I understood how to be a community activist. I want to help people understand the strength of working together."

Rojas has been a volunteer at the Gardner Community Center for 34 years. Her parents were on the board in the 1970s and paved the way for her to become involved.

"I want the residents to get what they need from the city," Rojas says. "It only happens when we work together."

Urista, voted in for her second term as secretary, also has a history with her neighborhood council. Her father would bring her to the meetings when she was young and she would voice her opinion.

"I have found out that if you speak, you can make change happen," Urista says.