A Devotion to Resurrecting Neighborhood

He expected 200 people at the first meeting of the Sepulveda Business Watch--but only 13 showed up.

Undeterred, Philip A. “Flip” Smith returned to his task of knocking on doors along Sepulveda Boulevard, trying to rally business owners to save a neighborhood in decline.

“We’ve got to get out right now and do something,” Smith, the owner of Flip’s Tire Center, told his fellow business owners in the neighborhood.

Motivating people is what Smith excels at, said Bert Boeckmann, who with his wife, Jane, nominated Smith for this year’s Fernando Award.

The Boeckmanns are both previous winners of the award, given since 1958 to a person who best represents the spirit of volunteerism in the San Fernando Valley.

“He doesn’t get things done by doing it by himself,” said Boeckmann, a Los Angeles city police commissioner.

After that first meeting 3 1/2 years ago, interest in the group slowly grew. Smith gently prodded the other owners to take pride in their property, clean sidewalks and streets, and paint over graffiti. Today, the Sepulveda Business Watch has 400 members working with police. About 65 people attend the monthly meetings, Smith said.

“If you drive down Sepulveda right now, from Burbank to Lassen, you will see no graffiti at all,” Smith said proudly.

Over the years, Smith has learned about the value of community service.

“It just seems the more stuff you get done, the more stuff you realize you can do, and the more people are willing to help you,” he said.

Smith is one of five finalists for this year’s Fernando Award, nominated in part because of his work in starting the Business Watch. Boeckmann learned of Smith through the businessman’s efforts to improve the neighborhood.

“He’s probably one of the best-known people in the community when it comes to working with the Police Department,” Boeckmann said. Smith has also been a leader of the Mid-Valley Community Police Council.

But the Fernando Award nomination took Smith by surprise.

“I think of the people who have won the award before as the superstars,” Smith said. “I never put myself in the same category. . . . It’s kind of like I’m in Little League baseball and looking to the major leagues.”

The four other nominees have all been finalists for the award in recent years:

* Kenneth C. Banks Jr., a North Hollywood insurance broker who has been active in the Rotary Club, the East Valley YMCA, the Police Activity League and the NoHo Arts District.

* Walter Mosher, the president of Precision Dynamics Corp. in Pacoima and past chairman of the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn.

* Nancy Schmidt of Chatsworth, a branch manager for American Pacific State Bank in Sherman Oaks, who helped found the San Fernando Valley Charitable Foundation and has been involved with the Valley Leadership Institute, the North Hollywood Rotary Club and the San Fernando Valley Economic Alliance.

* Benjamin Reznik, a Sherman Oaks planning-use lawyer who spearheaded the earthquake recovery task force of the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn. and is also a former chairman of VICA.

The winner will be named at a dinner Nov. 1 at Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley@latimes.com.