4 Honored for Community Service

They spent countless hours fighting social problems that stump even local politicians and police. Often they received no pay for their work and little recognition. But the driving force behind their diligence, they said, was a desire to better their communities.

And for that, four San Fernando Valley residents were presented with Community Service Awards by the city attorney’s Justice Panel in a ceremony Monday.

The awards, City Atty. James K. Hahn said, were meant to honor “quiet heroes,” those who work daily in their communities, silently chipping away at difficult problems such as gangs, drugs and graffiti. “Hopefully, this can, in some small way, compensate for the hundreds of thousands of hours” they’ve worked, Hahn said of the award, “And maybe we can encourage more people to be like the award recipients.”

Honoree Gerry Kane of Woodland Hills is a reserve Los Angeles police officer who volunteers as a crime prevention specialist and gives weekly presentations to community groups on crime prevention. He has served as the coordinator of the West Valley Neighborhood Watch program and has done volunteer work for the California Highway Patrol.

“There are the lookers, and there are doers--we are the doers,” Kane said of himself and other recipients.

Kane said he joined the ranks of the doers 10 years ago, after four people were killed during a robbery attempt at a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in West Los Angeles.

Although he had no connection to the incident, he said, “I was so incensed I went in to see if there was anything I could do to assist.”

The other Valley recipients were Sylmar “graffiti busters” Hannah Dyke and Charlotte Bedard, and Arthur Broadous, director of the Pacoima Community Youth Cultural Center.

Dyke and Bedard started the Sylmar Graffiti Busters in 1987 after Bedard’s business was vandalized by graffiti and a spray-paint can was thrown at her car.

“I couldn’t feel safe on my own street,” she said.

The two purchased a wet sandblaster and began to clean up graffiti on their own.

The result, they said, has not only been cleaner streets but a neighborhood that takes more pride in itself. Property values have also increased, they said.

“They laughed at us,” Dyke said, “but we did it.”

For Broadous, community activism came naturally.

“I was born and raised in Pacoima,” Broadous said. “My family has always been involved in community work.”

Like other recipients, Broadous has worked with many groups--from law enforcement agencies to civic organizations--to rid Pacoima of drugs and crime.

Although the award, an engraved wooden plaque, bears his name, Broadous was quick to acknowledge the contributions of others.

“It takes a total community to do the work,” he said.