SUN VALLEY : Activists Optimistic About Alarcon Role

Members of the fledgling Sun Valley Community Venture Council are hopeful that their mission will be aided by the new Los Angeles City Council.

Richard Alarcon, a native of Sun Valley, has taken the 7th District City Council seat, and Alarcon was one of the founders of the Venture Council.

“We’re not going to try to manipulate or control,” said the Rev. Christopher Myvett Lindstrom. “We’re trying to foster growth and potential for Sun Valley.”

Alarcon sat on a committee of the United Way North Angeles Region four years ago which led to the creation of the council. The group, a United Way committee, began more than a year ago with an annual budget of $20,000.

The group is planning a mural to be painted by local teen-agers as one way of dealing with gang problems and vandalism, Myvett Lindstrom said. Rebuilding Sun Valley’s image within the city is one of the council’s key goals.

“Its whole image has been destroyed, lost,” said Myvett Lindstrom. Once known as a bedroom community, Sun Valley has deteriorated with gangs, crime and other problems. The council was created to help build relationships between business and the community to turn the area around.

“You change the mind-set of people and you can change the community,” Myvett Lindstrom said.