A Close-Up Look At People Who Matter : Nominees for Award Do Good Works

This year, five finalists are vying for the annual Fernando Award, which will be given next month for outstanding community service to the San Fernando Valley.

When the Small Business Administration approved a $9.1-million earthquake loan for a Chatsworth manufacturer, Benjamin Reznik--now one of the nominees for the award--saw an opportunity to boost morale in the quake-depressed San Fernando Valley.

“I just thought it’s not the kind of thing you would just slip in the mail,” said Reznik, who suggested to federal officials that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton personally hand over the first check to Devon Industries, a medical supply manufacturer.

The visit by the First Lady in April made a difference, he said.

“A message to the Valley, that we were not abandoned, that there is hope,” said Reznik.

Fighting for the Valley is a passion for Reznik, 43, a Studio City land-use lawyer who has been chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.

Reznik, who first moved to the Valley with his parents in 1970 and quickly fell in love with its small-town feel and big-city opportunities, sees his volunteer work as more pro-jobs than pro-business.

“The highest form of charity is to give someone a job,” said Reznik. “It’s not about helping business. . . . We’ve got people who are out of work.”

After the Jan. 17 earthquake, Reznik was appointed to head VICA’s earthquake recovery task force. It was because of his connections at all levels of government that Valley businesses got as much help as they did, VICA President Bonny Matheson said.

Reznik has been instrumental in making VICA and the Valley a major player in the state, Matheson said.

“He’s quick,” Matheson said. “He’s very sensitive to the many different perspectives of an issue, but he has no problem in making decisions.”

Reznik, who also helped form the Ventura Boulevard Specific plan, is the son of Polish Jews who fled to Russia to escape the Nazis during World War II. His family later moved to Israel and eventually immigrated to the United States.

Another nominee, Terry York, owner of an Encino automobile dealership, was nominated by the Encino Chamber of Commerce in three of the last six years.

York was a two-term president of the chamber and has also worked with the YMCA and the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley.

“When I first met him, he kind of reminded me a little bit of a good old boy from the Midwest,” said real estate agent Lyle Randles.

York, who grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois, has an easy, affable style, Randles said.

“There’s a lot of people that deserve this,” York said. “And probably they deserve it more than I.”

York came to the San Fernando Valley in 1972 because he believed it had potential for him to sell cars.

“I owe something to the Valley, which has afforded me my customers,” York said. “What little I do is just a little pay-back. I think it should be the responsibility of all business people.”

Randles said York enjoys going around a room introducing himself saying, “I’m Terry York, a dealer.” That, said Randles, usually attracts some odd looks as people try to figure out what kind of a dealer York is. “He loves getting reactions like that . . . “

John Bowles, winner of the 1980 Fernando Award, also nominated York. “He’s one of the finest people I’ve known in my life,” Bowles said.

Valley chambers of commerce and past Fernando Award recipients nominate and select the winner, who will be named at a Nov. 4 dinner.