As summer fades into fall, the association’s 2011-12 year is also getting underway.  The AHIA board held our first meeting of the new term on 12 September 2011, during which we welcomed three new members and then elected this year’s officers.  There were no real surprises – many of the folks who have contributed much in past years again raised their hands (sometimes reluctantly) and agreed to continue to volunteer their time and resources towards the goal of keeping Alamitos Heights a great place to live.

We then reviewed the big picture plans for this year - confirming that we should still strive to sponsor the Colorado Lagoon Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony if the costs do not increase too much, conduct the holiday decorating contest, host the annual neighborhood picnic in June, and then organize the popular Elm Street Band concert in August.   Also want to publish four quarterly newsletters and participate in local government meetings and reviews.  The discussion then focused on the association’s balance sheet and budget forecast - not bad, considering everything that has been going on in the world and hopefully a valid reflection of the community’s support for AHIA’s agenda.  Next came a status review of the association’s non-profit filing status – definitely not fun stuff for those of us who already deal with too much paperwork in our professional lives.

After slogging through these administrative chores, we then finally spent time on the issues that are currently being brought to our attention by you, our neighbors.  Crime, specifically house break-ins, always gets priority.  Sidewalks and streets are another traditional topic, followed by complaints about poor dog-walking manners (I am confident that it is only a few dog walkers who do not always pick up after their pets, but they generate a lot of emotion among their neighbors).  The big “new” issue is parking – apparently CSULB students have responded to recent parking restrictions in other neighborhoods by migrating to the east end of Alamitos Heights.

A common thread for almost all of these items is their intractable nature, at least for a part-time, all-volunteer, non-profit organization like AHIA (sometimes, it appears that people forget that is what AHIA is).   At best, the solution is straightforward, but requires a large amount of money and/or time, neither of which is readily available (sidewalks and street maintenance is a good example).  More often, there is no clear solution – such as parking.  In that case, talks with CSULB and the City have focused on the introduction of permits and related measures for restricting parking in the impacted areas.  However, veterans of such measures note that numerous residents in those  areas resent having to apply annually for their permits or the inconvenience to their non-student visitors.  There is also the potential cost associated with conducting surveys (does it make sense for AHIA to spend 25 to 50% of our annual budget on something that might involve 5% of the neighborhood?).  Furthermore, a very real possibility exists that students would just start parking on the next block over, starting the cycle all over again.

When confronted with such a dilemma, the first step is to ask those in attendance if anyone is able to volunteer to take it on.  Sometimes, a board member is already personally involved and jumps right on it (note – these tend to be the same “usual suspects” who are already working on three or four different actions).  When such a champion fails to arise, the topic is usually put back on the agenda for the next month’s meeting, with the hope that something will improve in the meantime.

This latter outcome is obviously frustrating to board members and to our fellow residents who have reached out for support.   What else can be done?  The honest answer is – the interested parties need to come to the monthly AHIA board meetings and be prepared to take the lead in working the problem.   Others will join in once they are convinced that there is a serious effort underway that has realistic objectives while at the same time recognizes the interests and concerns of the entire community.

So that is what happens at a typical board meeting.   For anyone who might now be motivated to join us, the next one is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., Monday, 10 October, in the Community Room at Fire Station 8 on Second Street.

John Garvey, AHIA President