The Palms-Village Sun endorses Babak Nahid as Zone 1 representative in the board of directors of the Mar Vista Community Council.
It is the first political endorsement The Sun has ever made.
Nahid is an educator and a consultant to nonprofit organizations. A homeowner, he has lived in Westside Village for 15 years.
The Sun's editor had a chat with Nahid the evening of June 9 and found him to be receptive to working with the Palms Neighborhood Council in civic affairs that affect the area. He is unopposed for the position.
Nahid is one of the 251 signers of a petition circulated more than two years ago which asked the city to help form a joint Palms-Westside Village Neighborhood Council. He said he remembers signing the petition as a way to help Palms get organized, but he has since then been active in the Mar Vista Community Council (the MVCC), which has responsibility for Westside Village and Northwest Palms.
The election will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 21, in Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Road (two blocks west of Barrington and two blocks north of Palms).
Click here to visit Nahid's Web site.
Westside Villagers can also vote in a separate ballot for community representative, an "at-large" post elected by all the stakeholders in all five zones across the MVCC (see map).
Rob Kadota, the president of the Mar Vista Council, is the only candidate for community representative. Kadota has been an excellent leader for Mar Vista, but the Sun urges Westside Villagers to abstain in this vote inasmuch as Kadota has been opposed to any discussion about rectifying the boundary between Mar Vista and Palms.
The Mar Vista voting will be among the first neighborhood council elections to be handled by the paid staff of the Los Angeles city clerk's office. Previously, the elections were organized and carried out by local volunteers.
For more information, visit the L.A. city clerk's Web site or call (213) 978-0444.
KATE ANDERSON
VALERIE DAVIDSON