Deforest Park Neighborhood Association (DPNA)
Monthly Meeting Minutes
Date: 03/21/2019
Meeting called to order at 7:10 PM by DPNA President Dan Pressburg
Moment of Silence and Remembrance for the Lerch Family
7:11 PM Flag salute
Good News/Announcements
Commander’s Meeting was a hit and a packed house.
Dine Out 90805 will took place on Monday, February 25th from 6:30PM-8:00PM at Cheko El Rey located at 343 E. Market. Food was delicious and service excellent. Plan to host another one there in October 2019.
Candidate Brunch (for Ricardo Lara’s vacant 33rd State Senate seat) took place on 2/16/2019 9:30AM-1:00PM at 167 E. South and was a success
7:12PM The Beat Goes On – North Station Report
Long Beach Police Department 9th District provided by Neighborhood Services Specialist, Erica Moreno (562-570-9825; [email protected]) as well as bike officers Romo and Ollque
Provided handout on Phone Scams
Following report of crime in March
Recovered one car stolen 500 block E. Adams and recovered in LA
Stolen car on Elm recovered in Lakewood
Stolen car on Janice recovered
300 block Poppy – theft with window smashed
300 block Osgood – 2 suspects found hiding under vehicle, 1 had gun and they were arrested
Boat stolen
7:14 PM
Campfire Update – doing well but want more kids; children go to Obama Library; have been inside a lot due to rain; hoping as weather improves that they will be noticed more; doing lots of outreach
Inside District 9 – Council Office Updates with Report from Joni Ricks-Oddie (via email)
Pop Up Town is back – Pop Up Plight of the Modern Women from 5:30PM-8:00PM on 4th Thursday of the month (3/28 this month); food truck, local vendors, and music
Homeless shelter coming to North Long Beach
Main Library is closed for renovations; new one to open in summer 2020 – visit Michelle Obama Library in the mean time
Uptown Hall Meeting for District 9 in the works to update on new development, such as Lab Properties – TBD in April
Deforest Park Fitness Equipment should be in by end of April 2019
7:23 PM Speakers – Local Women Leaders Panel
Panelists:
Tunua Ntuk (NT) – Executive Director for Los Angeles Chapter LISC and 8th District Council Candidate
Holly Pressburg (HP) -Licensed Nurse Practitioner at Kaiser Permanente; Former President California Association of Nurse Practitioners
Dr. Lydia Hollie (J.D., E.D) (LH) – Former Human Relations Commissioner, Weed and Seed Grant Recipient and Gang and Youth Task Force
How did you get to where you are?
TN: Reigning Mrs. Long Beach 2019; runs a Girls Scout troop; enjoys inspiring young girls
Works I do at LISC is all about economic development; affordable housing; access to quality jobs; supporting and investing in small businesses – does the work across LA county and occasional work in Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside county
UC- Berkley undergrad; MIT for grad school; grandmother was from TX and then moved to Southern CA; grandmother was a cleaner at City Hall in LA and she was the custodial supervisor – got to see it as a child; grandfather was a trash collector and would bring back treasures; brought back a globe and she wanted it; “I want to see the world”; there was a lot of poverty growing up and after the civil unrest in 1990s wanted to do public service work and help communities
Learned about economic development and community development – Long Beach engaged in economic equity and she has been involved; Long Beach is a city that is prospering but not for everyone; educational attainment and job opportunities are not at same level for African Americans; reduced proficiencies in reading and math for African American and Latino youth – working on implementing policy to create equity for residents of color; no current HUD counseling service in city of Long Beach and launched the KIVA loans – a crowdsourcing platform and have 13 trustees in this city and funded 15 loans
Looking at Long Beach economy – Port is big driver; Long Beach also has some businesses that are 20 years or older and many are owned by baby boomers; need plan for retention if owners are to retire; plans for how employees can purchase them
HP: Weird kid who always knew what she wanted to do; grandmother was a nurse, mom was a nurse and as a young child walked around and dressed up as a nurse
School had a medical assistant program ; started taking classes for RN while a medical assistant; long wait for RN school; went for LVN initially; then eventually accepted into RN program after getting married and having kids; then applied for a job at Kaiser as they were paying more than other place; Kaiser allowed time to go to school and work; worked as an RN for ten years and announcement made for a Nurse Practitioner Program through Cal State LA
CANP got prescriptive rights, which is called furnishing; now working to get full practice authority; educational requirements for NPs have changed over the years with more education needed; currently pushing for doctorate programs
Plans to retire end of August 2019
LD – met Dan Pressburg in 1996; my mother is a very vibrant and independent 85 whose life came to a different type of chapter than expected; had a stroke that sickened her in August; she was the family historian and no one else recorded it; panelist encouraged audience to record their family histories as it hard to remember
Feel honored and privileged to be here and also in a position to care for her mother; our parents pound us and hold us to a standard and be respectful as one day it will be your turn
I am an educator, master teacher for Cal Stat Long Beach students; employed in Lynwood Unified School District and honored in Lynwood yesterday; committed to preparing students for being excellent and giving them a strong foundation; have had to rebuild foundation in city of Long Beach especially wit regard to our youth; issues in the city have a lot to do with past policy of the city; can’t improve city if policies in counter to how people want to live
Has a particular place in heart for parents, especially for those who do all they can and it is still not enough
In 2002 it was a bloody summer in Long Beach; she stood up and began addressing community conversations (city wide discussions) and engaging community on addressing gang violence – nothing happened to report and it was ignored initially; took 7 months of public hearing, examining volumes of data; 3 months to write a draft and a full year of work to have it not be ignored as after presenting to City Council they unanimously agreed upon the Gang and Youth Task Force plan; had to work hard to change heart and attitude for five years; then secured 1.4 million dollars via weed and seed grant to address issues; were not able to bring it up to North Long Beach after programming was defunded
Took foundation she obtained from her mother and applied it to the city of Long Beach
8:11PM – Questions for panel
Resident to TN ? – What was your Master’s at MIT in ? Master’s in Community Planning/Development
Operation Cease Fire achieve zero homicides in 2006
Resident – Curious about your opinions on student loans especially in context of current economic market ?
LH – Queen of student loans; I would not change anything; don’t let lack of money stop you from getting an education; some folks are tailor made to go to college but not all are, including myself; consider community college/trade school and then transfer and move on up to save money
TN – go somewhere and go somewhere you are excited to be because by then you can achieve; by 2020 many more jobs will require associates or some level of certification; graduated with no debt because used tools available to her (FASA, lived in I-House) and got full fellowship for master’s degree; apply and seek opportunities and don’t limit self on what we think we know; opportunities present themselves
Resident Comment – We don’t have to have loan debt. We just have to know where to go for the funds. DPNA does Teen Summit that provides information on scholarships providing money and funding for education.
Resident – Question for TN? Big advocate of teaching entrepreneurial skills to you. Is that dialogue happening now in Everyone In roundtable discussion? Yes, one area has been in entrepreneurial skills as well as on pathways.
Resident – Question to TN – Can you talk about the Everyone In for home ownership pathways? Different pathways to home ownership. Many different models. Soft second mortgage in the past in Long Beach and revitalizing some old policies. Land trust model.
Resident – Question to HP? – What do you think of the NP doctorate and advice for people? Do it as many other programs are headed that way. Not a requirement now but will be.
8:43PM Public Comments
New Business Announcements:
Introduction to new DPNA Media Relations Coordinator, Nubia
DPNA Calendar 2019
March – Women’s History Month
April -TBD
May – A Night with Mayor Garcia
June – Budget Update with John Gross
July – Chili Cook-Off Fire vs. Police
Additional Comments or Questions?
Call for motion to adjourn by Dan Pressburg; 1st and 2nd noted
Meeting adjourned 8:44PM
Reminders and Dates to Remember:
7:00AM Good Neighbors Spires Del Amo and Cherry 2nd Tuesday of the month
7:00PM Starr King 1st Wednesday of the month
7:00PM Grant Meeting, American legion Post 560 59th & Orange 2nd Thursday of the month
7:00PM Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association 3rd Wednesday of the month
7:00PM Deforest Neighborhood Association 3rd Thursday of the month
DPNA Board Meeting on Wed. 1/22/2018 at 7:00PM at Dominguez Pizza at 6176 Atlantic Ave in Long Beach
Pop Up Uptown Event at Michelle Obama Library – 4th Thursday 5:30PM-8:30PM
