Greetings My Fellow Citizens,
First and foremost, I would like to invite everyone to the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council General Meeting this Wednesday, September 10th, 2014. We have been selected to participate in the “Libraries Transforming Communities” Initiative, and will be spending a significant amount of time over the next 18 months working on changing Van Nuys and the San Fernando Valley for the better. (www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/libraries-transforming-communities).
Secondly, we are moving full steam ahead on the Immigration Summit and Workshop in October, and have set the date for Wednesday, October 29th, 2014. The population trends in Van Nuys show that our neighborhoods have increasingly become a community of Hispanics and Latinos. They make up the majority of the population, and many of them are foreign born and are English language deficient. We plan on increasing English language proficiency through partnerships with local non-profits and similar organizations that teach English. We are also going to start distributing bilingual materials and assistance for both government and social services.
We aim to get more Hispanic and Latino constituents involved in the neighborhood council, while continuing to represent all of the people in Van Nuys and throughout the San Fernando Valley.
Thirdly, the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council will be partnering with LA City Councilwoman Nury Martinez to present a Health Fair. The date for this event is Saturday, October 25th. This event will be open to the public, and will be a great opportunity to become informed and make contacts with those in the health industry throughout the San Fernando Valley.
And finally, the VNNC has added an addendum to the agenda, and will be re-voting on the 2014-2015 Budget Package to make sure everything is official for the powers that be at City Hall. This is just a legislative formality, but needs to be done and has been placed on the agenda as part of “Old Business.” Cheers, it is an honor and privilege to serve as your Council President, and thank you for this great opportunity to be a part of our community.
-George Christopher Thomas, Council President
Van Nuys Neighborhood Council
www.vnnc.org