KHG 2017-2018 BOARD & OFFICERS
President: Tracy Thrower Conyers
1st Vice President: Aaron Torrence
2nd Vice President: Marion Koh
Secretary: Chris Blatter
Treasurer: Todd Harris
ANNUAL MEETING – SAVE THE DATE
It is the end of our fiscal year and time for our annual member meeting! Please plan on joining us for our Board election and a special speaker. The date has been tentatively set for Saturday, July 21st. As soon as we confirm our speaker, we will post a confirmation on our website and send out an email.
Are you on our email list? If you’re not getting a monthly email letting you know about our Board meetings, we don’t have your email address. You can put yourself on the list on our website here.
Periodically, we send out other emails when information comes to our attention that we think will benefit our members, but we don’t email very often. We definitely do not share email addresses with third parties.
MEET OUR BOARD CANDIDATES
This year we have four candidates for two Board positions. Below are the bios submitted by each candidate in the order in which each declared his or her candidacy.
Tracy Thrower Conyers
My family has lived in Kentwood since my daughter was born 16 years ago. At that same time, I was transitioning out of my first career as a complex business litigator to jump into the shiny new world of real estate web tech. My business partner and I were “Silicon Beach” before there was a Silicon Beach.
When that company wound down in 2008, I turned my attention to shepherding our little girl into kindergarten and elementary school. At the same time, I launched my community blog, Living90045.com. More recently, I am busy growing my residential & residential income real estate business, serving the Silicon Beach area (with a special emphasis in Westchester), and using all those cool tech tools that my business partner and I designed with our tech company.
I first got involved with KHG in 2014, when I volunteered to redevelop the Association’s website. Soon after, I was appointed to the Board of Directors when another Board member left. I left the Board in 2015 at the end of my appointment, but stayed involved as webmaster and as a member of KHG’s Outreach Committee. In 2016, I raised my hand to be on the Board again, and this last year I was honored to lead the Board as President.
It’s been a wild ride as President. We have almost 3,400 members in our association, and not everybody is in favor of having an active homeowners association. In my mind, being active and organized is a way to grow influence with local politicians. I’ve seen it work for KHG since I first got involved, and I’m committed to continuing to grow our influence. With everything going on in our city these days, I believe it’s never been more important to have an organized voice.
While I don’t believe in KHG’s Board being overly activist in impacting members’ lives, I do believe in everybody playing by the few rules that we do have. Rules, however, are secondary in my mind. Primary is streamlining and modernizing our operations, so that we can continue to be the most organized and influential that we can be on our lean budget. I would be honored to have your vote so that I can continue my mission to make us the best $15 a year association that we can be.
Brian Rosenstein
My family and I are happy and proud to be residents of Kentwood. Kentwood is a beautiful, quiet and family friendly neighborhood and I believe our homeowners association should do everything it can to preserve and enhance our residential quality of life. Prior to moving to Kentwood, I served as both Chair of the Planning Commission and as a Traffic & Parking Commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills. In my business life, I am Vice-President of a commercial real estate management company in Santa Monica. I also currently serve as an advisory board member for the Venice Family Clinic for real estate and youth programming and as a volunteer with the Beverly Hills Police Department. I would like to bring my experience in government, business and non-profit organizations to our Kentwood homeowners board to improve our association and most importantly, our neighborhood. It would be an honor and a pleasure to serve our community as a member of our homeowners association board. Please feel free to call me anytime (310.890.0200) with any questions or concerns you may have. I very much appreciate and love our neighborhood that my family calls home and the opportunity to serve it and you.
Charles Reynolds
My name is Charles Reynolds and I am running for first time election to the Kentwood Home Guardians (KHG) board.
I have lived in Kentwood for the past six years with my wife, Danielle, who grew up in Kentwood. We both are so happy to be able continue the next generation of our family here, starting with our young son, Odyn.
I am the Lead Project Turnaround Planner for Torrance Refining Company in Torrance. I plan and execute large-scale construction projects to ensure the company runs smoothly.
I am running for a position as a board member after becoming an active member in KHG over the past few months. I am hoping to work together with community members to make improvements to our beautiful neighborhood, make sure Kentwood residents are informed, treated fairly and to ensure our community continues to be a safe place to raise our children.
With your support, I look forward to bringing my expertise in construction, management, and community relations to the KHG board. I believe I can be an effective team member.
Thank you for your consideration as I ask for your vote.
Carrie Banasky
Carrie Banasky grew up in Palos Verdes Estates, California and studied at San Diego State University majoring in English. During her time at SDSU, she worked at KPBS Television and Radio which introduced her to the world of public broadcasting and working with non-profits.
Since graduation, Carrie has had a successful career in fundraising and operations for various non-profits. Currently she is the Director of Advancement Operations for Otis College of Art and Design where she manages constituent databases and oversees scholarships and various endowments for the college. Prior to Otis College she worked for ten years at the University of Southern California where she was part of the (then) historic $6.1 billion capital campaign and was responsible for raising significant funds for the School of Architecture and the USC Radio Network. During her time at the USC Radio Network she produced successful on-air fundraising campaigns for public radio stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Colorado.
Carrie volunteers for Friends for Active Military (FFAM) a non-profit that is focused on providing support and resources to members of the military. She was honored to have traveled to the Pentagon last November as an invited guest of the Secretary of the Army recognizing the organization and the work that they do. In 2015 Carrie and two of her friends successfully walked 39.1 miles as part of the Avon 39 Walk for Breast Cancer in honor of a dear friend who lost her battle with the disease.
Carrie lives in Westchester (since 2008) with her husband and two dogs. She and her husband are eccentric art collectors and enjoy DIY projects, traveling, barbeques, wine and music.
WE NEED A NEWSLETTER EDITOR
This newsletter is produced quarterly as a fundraiser for our Association, with the Fall newsletter mailed to every member as part of our annual assessment mailing. We are looking for a member to plan and produce these newsletters. You will work with the Outreach Committee and no special skills are required, other than a desire to serve your community. Call the office (310.670.5111) or email tracy @ living90045.com for more information.
NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY & SECURITY
Neighborhood safety and security has been a big topic of conversation on social media recently with porch package thieves and knock knock burglars busy at work in our community. Kentwood resident Joanna Sutton recently rolled up her sleeves and gathered a number of resources about burglar MOs and posted them on NextDoor. We reposted her information on our website.
Are you concerned about crime in Kentwood? We are looking for volunteers to organize a safety & security forum for our members, including an educational component and a vendor expo. If you can take this on, please call the office at 310.670. 5111 or email info @ kentwoodhomeguardians.com.
BULKY ITEM PICKUP
Did you know that your LADWP bill includes unlimited bulky item pickups? You can schedule pick-up in a variety of ways:
• Use the MyLA311 app on your phone
• Call the City’s 24-hour Customer Care Center at 1-800-773-2489
• Call the City’s Hotline by dialing 3-1-1
• Visit www.lacitysan.org (LA Sanitation)
• Visit www.myla311.lacity.org (all City services)
Some residents like to place unwanted items on the curb in the hopes that someone will take it. This can quickly create blight in our neighborhood.
If your item could be used by someone else, please call a charity to pick up the item. If it cannot be used again, please call the City to schedule pickup BEFORE placing the item curbside. Bulky item pickup in Kentwood is on Monday (trash day). You must place your pickup request several days ahead of time, so please plan accordingly.