WOODLAND HILLS : Homeowners Group to Pick Leaders

The Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization will hold an election tonight to choose a new president and other key board members.

The election will be held as part of a general meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Lodge Boys’ Home cafeteria, 4900 Serrania Ave.

Gordon Murley, now the group’s executive vice president, has been nominated to succeed Robert Gross, who is stepping down as president after five years, Gross said Wednesday.

Gross, who says he wants to stay active in the organization, has been nominated to replace Murley as executive vice president. Another executive vice president, Herb Madsen, has been nominated for reelection.

The slate, nominated at a Nov. 3 meeting, was approved unanimously, Gross said. Secretary Joan Blackmer has been nominated for reelection, as has the organization’s treasurer, David Glucksman.

Nominated for directors at large were Shirley Blessing, George De Mattos, Judy Guardia, Pat Patton, Dorothy Smith, John Walker and Erin Wolfe, according to Gross.

Gross, who has been a member of the organization for eight years, said in a recent interview that he is stepping down as president in order to “bring in some fresh blood” to the organization.

Gross has spent a stormy five years as president of the organization, which led an effort to prevent the controversial Warner Ridge project, a large-scale office development proposed for Woodland Hills near Pierce College. The project fell through after a lease agreement with a major tenant went sour.