Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council Live Blog: Thursday, March 3

update 9:35 p.m. meeting adjourned!

update 9:30 p.m. Motion by Rick Marquez to send letter to all of Highland Park's schools inviting them to attend future HHPNC meetings is approved.

update 9:13 p.m. Neighborhood Council is essentially acting purely as grant administrators this evening. Lincoln Heights Youth Association Football and Cheer is requesting money to buy helmets for Lincoln High School football team. (About 35 students from Highland Park attend Lincoln High School.) They would purchase 45 helmets at $80 apiece. Stan Moore, council member, is asking that group buys less, higher quality helmets.
//
Motion is approved, with Moore's ammendment.

update 9:05 p.m. Another funding request, and this time it's a hefty one. Stan Moore asks that the board considers spending $8,000 for park benches and tables. Those funds would matched by the parks and recreation committee. The motion is tabled.

update 8:51 p.m. After presentation by David Kekone, in his capacity of the Community Policing Advisory Board, neighborhood council votes in favor of allocating $1,500 in neighborhood purpose grants to Police Athletic Boxing League, an after school program for youth across Northeast Los Angeles.

update 8:45 p.m. Potentially interesting discussion about how neighborhood council should allocate its budget is tabled, as treasurer Mark Reback is not in attendance. This has been an ongoing issue. Said member Rick Marquez, "it's good to have some guidelines for spending, so it doesn't end up being a grab bag."

update 8:32 p.m.  Council is discussing the idea of forming an ad hoc committee with the goal of bringing a Boys & Girls Club of America to Highland Park. If the committee is formed, the first goal would be to find a location and then seeking funding. Any volunteers?

update 8: 21 p.m. Interesting twist. Terri Bonsell alters her request for $1,500 to support outreach committee to instead have that money go toward the Cyber Patriot program. It's approved unanimously and now goes to the budget and finance committee. It's a noble idea, but students need the money by the 15th, and the Department of Neighborhood Engagement is notoriously slow in cutting checks.

update: 8:13  p.m. More praise rolling in for the UCLA after school program, which is great. We wrote about it . However, if this meeting is truly meant to wrap up at 9 p.m., the board's got tot get a move on, or they're not going to get anything done.

update: 7:59 p.m. Franklin High School students are now doing some outreach for an arts competition they'll be hosting on April 14 in the Frankling High School Auditorium from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.

update: 7:43 p.m. Yenni Yi, Coordinator of Franklin High School's UCLA after school program,  is on hand with a group of students who participate in the program. Yi's not only here to talk about the value of the program; she's also seeking some funding for two students who participate in the United States Air Force's national Cyber Patriot competition. It's an advanced programming competition where students are tested in their ability to find and protect vulnerabilities in computer systems. The students have a chance to compete in Washington D.C.; they're among only two student groups in L.A. with a chance to compete. Students are giving rave reviews of the programming, saying it's giving them hands on experience they can use in the work force and an outlet for their creativity. 

Six students are going to be sponsored by the Air Force, but Yi is seeking funding for two more so the full 8 student team can go.

update: 7:28 p.m. The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council's bi-weekly meeting just getting underway now. Public comments are now underway.