Chatsworth Neighborhood Council to Host 'Day of the Horse' on April 17

The Chatsworth Neighborhood Council approved spending up to $4,500 to host and advertise the annual Day of the Horse festival at Stoney Point Ranch on April 17. The expenditure is the single largest amount made by the council this fiscal year.

The event, which reflects Chatsworth's long history as a horsekeeping community, likely will attract about 300 people, estimated Mary Kaufman, head of the council's equestrian committee.

In addition, the council, meeting Wednesday night at Lawrence Middle School, approved a motion to spend up to $500 for an ad promoting the event and other council activities in a local monthly magazine.

In yet another nod to Chatsworth's roots, Kaufman received council support to press the city to enact ordinances that ban the use of equestrian trails by mountain bike riders.

About two-thirds of council members approved spending $2,500 for flyers urging residents to keep their neighborhood clean. The measure passed despite uncertainty over how many flyers would be produced and who would receive them.

The flyers would reprint a letter from City Councilman Greig Smith. Judith Daniels, council president, said she objected to sending the flyers randomly, rather that the mailing should target homes on the busier streets, such as Corbin, Winnetka and Canoga.

In other business, the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council:

-- Rejected a motion to spend up to $500 for a photocopy machine for use by the council board and committees. Several members objected to buying office equipment when the council does not yet have an office.

-- Received an update on the progress of a proposed city ordinance that would regulate the operation of sober-living homes. Megan Cottier of Councilman Smith's office said that the measure, though voted 4-1 by the city planning commission, failed to get the five votes needed to recommend passage by the City Council. "That basically constitutes a failure to act," she said. Smith will ask the Council to take the measure back for consideration by the Council's planning and land use management committee. He's planning to introduce a motion to be sure the Council considers it, Cottier said.

-- Got a request to publicize the availability of tax refunds to people who qualify for the earned income tax credit. Rosalba S. Gonzalez, field representative for State Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, distributed pamphlets with additional information on the credit.

-- Watched a presentation on efforts to restore the former home of actress Barbara Stanwyck and later comic actor Jack Oakie, a parcel of nearly 10 acres on Devonshire Street, just west of Reseda Boulevard. Pat LoPresti, of the Oakridge Estate Park Advisory Board outreach committee, said volunteers are needed to help raise funds needed to open the area to the public.

-- Was advised by President Daniels that members who have not completed state-mandated ethics training may be excluded from voting on expenditures of money or on land use issues. Daniels also said that "about 95 percent of our bylaws don't comply" with the template advanced by the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment even though Chatsworth's bylaws are "strong and well-written."

-- Supported the request of the West Valley Christian Center, 22001 Nordhoff St., to be allowed to increase enrollment from 100 to 200 students.

-- Gave its blessing to a request for a zoning variance at 9943 Canoga Ave. to allow Steve Tragar to convert an industrial building into a facility that offers training for security professionals, including an indoor firing range which uses only copper-tin ammo. The vote was nearly unanimous despite some concerns about noise generated at the firing range.

-- Approved motions to spend up to $1,000 to rent tables and other equipment as a sponsor at the Chatsworth Relay for Life, which raises funds to fight cancer, as well as up to $200 for outreach efforts at a Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils mixer on March 10, and up to $200 for a PALS yearbook ad and Tee sign at the PALS fund raising golf tournament.

-- Heard a plea from Roy Stone, librarians' guild president, and two other librarians including Rachel Rose, a Chatsworth young adult librarian, in support of Measure L, which would reallocate funds to the libraries of Los Angeles without an increase in taxes.

-- Announced that it will sponsor a class in CPR and first aid on April 2 at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church.

-- Learned from Officer Danny del Valle of the Los Angeles Police Department that the Devonshire Division leads all others in reducing crime rates. Even so, he cautioned residents to be vigilant in protecting the secrecy of their identities when visiting ATM machines.