Allied Gardens Community Council News
By Marilyn Reed

The Allied Gardens Community Council was pleased to have new 7th District Councilmember Marti Emerald as our main speaker at the January Town Hall Meeting. Although she was fighting off a cold, Ms. Emerald was extremely gracious to stay and answer questions. She also introduced her staff. Her representative for the Navajo area is Chris Pearson, who can be reached at (619) 236-7042 or cpearson@sandiego.gov.

Other members of her staff are Ms. Jacobsen, Chief of Staff; Don Mullen, Sr. Policy Representative; Nathan Batchelder, Committee Consultant; Kim Nguyen, Council Representative; Marisa Beruman, Council Representative; and Bonnie Pearson, Office Manager. Ms. Emerald will be opening an office at 54th and El Cajon Blvd. soon, to better serve the community. The AGCC Board Members hope to have Ms. Emerald return for a more lengthy discussion on issues facing this community at another Town Hall Meeting in the near future. This coming March 24th Town Hall Meeting will focus on Land Use Issues in our community.

All of the Town Hall meetings, as well as the AGCC Board meetings, are held at the Ascension Lutheran Church on Zion Ave. The Town Hall Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the following months: January, March, May, July, September and November. They begin at 7:00pm. The AGCC Board Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at the same location and also begin at 7:00pm. The Allied Gardens/ Grantville community has an open invitation to attend both meetings.

In addition, at the January Town Hall Meeting, our annual community election of AGCC Directors was held. Nominated to run for another two-year term were Jeff Garth, Alan Hunter, Cindy Martin, Edie Odierno, Marilyn Reed, Charles Sachse, Mary Tessaro, and Betty Torre. They, along with two new members, Jane Humes and Fred Quezada, were elected to serve their new terms. At the AGCC Board Meeting on February 2, new Officers were elected. The 2009 AGCC Officers are: Marilyn Reed, President; Sherry Kelly, Vice President; Anne Lee, Treasurer; Terri Lattman, Recording Secretary; and Edith Dabbs, Corresponding Secretary. Special thanks to Cindy Martin for her work over the past three years as AGCC’s President.