Hi, CV!

On Oct. 1, our new board president is Bill Flanders, lead pastor at First Baptist Church-La Crescenta. Vice presidents are Ana-Marie Schaefer, director, Healthy Living, YMCA of the Foothills and Sona Hovsepian, MSW, family therapist at Glendale Adventist Alcohol and Drug Services. Jean Maluccio and Susan Dubin continue as secretary and treasurer, respectively. Continuing board members are Melinda Clarke, Lynn Miyamoto, Brian Landisi, Makayla Rabago, Kim Beattie, Lyova Zalyan and Kim Villa. Let’s welcome our new board members! They are Tara Asadoorian, CVHS junior and Youth Alliance leader; Brad Beach, supervising agent CA Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC); Rick Dennis, 20 years with the Y; Tiffany Hirdler, special education teacher CVHS; John Howell, licensed marriage & family therapist; Don Larsen, MD, chief medical officer, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital (Keck Medicine); Marvin Lee, realtor; Ilin Magran, GUSD Healthy Start/psychologist; Shirley Poordawood, program director Western Pacific Med/Corp; and Benjamin Salazar, director, Glendale Community College Alcohol and Drug Studies Program.

To make way for these members, we must bid farewell to visionaries and innovators. Matt Zakarian answered Susan Dubin’s call for help and brought in Joe Allen, local parent and a nationally recognized drug recognition expert. Nancy Stone, Howard Hakes and Aileen Bristow worked for years to make Crescenta Valley a safe place for children and families. Linda Evans, the former principal at CV High School, understands kids and opened many doors for this organization. Mary O’Keefe is a community activist who cares about kids and is a really good writer. Alex Woo brought expertise about liquor licenses, enabling us to promote policies. Harry Leon represented CV Town Council, a partner in the ABC retailer warning signs project.  Steve Goldsworthy is a stalwart supporter of CV and Justin Hager adopted the Fire House.        As evolutions go, I like to say we moved from a board built on the credibility of individuals to a board composed of credible institutions. Many thanks to everyone who had a hand in this organization; you left an indelible mark.

We’re an alliance. We need allies to keep kids away from drugs and alcohol.

Suzy Jacobs
is the executive director of
CV Alliance located at  
3131 Foothill Blvd. Suite D
La Crescenta, CA 91214
(818) 646-7867  http://cv-alliance.org/