By Mary O’KEEFE

Town councils have been established in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County for over five decades; however, it wasn’t until the 1980s, with the support of former LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, that they seemed to flourish.

Town councils in the unincorporated areas of LA County act as advisory boards that work as liaisons between the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and residents.

Los Angeles County is divided into five supervisorial districts, with each district represented by an elected supervisor. The unincorporated area of Los Angeles County – District 5 covers 2,800 square miles and is larger than all other districts combined. It would be extremely difficult for one district supervisor to conduct meetings with residents on a regular basis in order to deal with local issues like traffic, housing, parks and development. Having a town council allows residents to have a voice at the very large LA County table.

Crescenta Valley Town Council represents the LA County unincorporated area/La Crescenta. It meets on the third Thursday of each month at the La Crescenta Library community room beginning at 7 p.m. During the meetings, councilmembers invite emergency responders to share their statistics over the past month including burglaries, traffic and fire responses. During the last year, the CVTC has dealt with many issues including median construction, Foothill (210) Freeway construction, Parks and Recreations projects, the Sagebrush territorial transfer and construction at local schools.

President Harry Leon and other members of the CVTC work tirelessly to attend many local events and to listen to residents and their concerns. They take those concerns and share them with Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

On Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, elections will be held for a total of six available seats on the CV Town Council; three seats are for elected representatives who will each serve a three-year term and three alternate council seats are for those serving one-year terms. Voters will be able to vote for up to three candidates. There are seven candidates vying for those six seats: incumbents Sophal Ear, Desiree Rabinov, Charles Beatty and Michael Claessens, and new candidates Carin Hoffman, Donna Libra and Jeffrey Rodriguez.

Registered voters who live within the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County/La Crescenta and Montrose are eligible to vote.

The elections will be held Nov. 16 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Nov. 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Sadler Hall at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church, 2563 Foothill Blvd. The entrance to the parking lot for the church is on Cross Street.

All candidates for CVTC have been contacted with questions on issues and CVW will publish the responses next week. This month’s general council meeting of the CV Town Council will take place on Thursday, Nov 15 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta. This meeting will feature the annual candidates’ forum.

  Mary Okeefe