Canyon Alliance to Hold Board Member Election This Weekend
By Laurel Busby
News & Information Editor
From June 26-29, The Canyon Alliance will hold online elections for a slate of 13 prospective board members, including five alternates.
Prospective board members from three neighborhoods—Boca, Lower Rustic Canyon, and Upper Santa Monica Canyon—will be on the ballot for a two year-term, while twelve current board members, most from Lower Santa Monica Canyon and Upper Rustic Canyon, will not be on the ballot as these representatives are halfway through their two-year-terms.
Sharon Kilbride, Joan Kramer, Doug Suisman, and Wes Hough (alternate) are running to represent Boca (the mouth of the canyon). The nominees for Lower Rustic Canyon include three prospective new members—Whitney Bedford (alternate), Brooke Fischer, and William “Max” Reynal—as well as one longtime member, David Jackson (alternate). The Upper Santa Monica Canyon nominees include seasoned current board members Jenny Li (alternate), Reese Relfe (alternate), and Marilyn Wexler, past board member Ron Staake, and newcomer Allison Diftler.
Biographies of the candidates are available at this link.
All Canyon homeowners, tenants, business owners, and employees are represented by the Alliance, but, in order to vote in the election, Alliance members must pay annual dues of $75, which are used to benefit and advocate for the Canyon community. To join the Alliance as a voting member, visit this link.
Last year, in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, The Canyon Alliance became the new name of the longstanding Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association, which was incorporated in 1947. In past years, the SMCCA led the transformation of the private Uplifters Ranch into a public park (Rustic Canyon Recreation Center) and also fought battles for residents against a proposed Canyon freeway, off-shore drilling, and over-scaled development.
In the first year under its new name, the Alliance strove to enshrine balanced representation of the community through new bylaws that elected board members from five geographical areas spread across both Rustic and Santa Monica Canyon. In addition, while the vote to elect these members previously took place as part of the organization’s annual meeting, the two events are now separate with a June online vote and a September annual meeting.
Over the past year, the Alliance began a number of efforts to benefit the community, including the launch of Canyon News, the creation of the Canyon Business Association, and the opening of the Canyon Emergency & Recovery Fund, which raised more than $100,000. In addition, the Alliance hosted more than 400 members at the “Return to the Canyon” event in Canyon Square, created a Canyon-wide digital map and database for improved emergency communications, arranged for brush clearance along several hillsides and both creeks, supported the cleaning of the beach-access tunnels, orchestrated architectural tours raising more than $10,000 toward recovery, and doubled its active membership.
Its leadership also represented the Canyon before city, county and state officials in order to make sure residents’ concerns, such as heavy truck traffic during reconstruction, were addressed.
Members in good standing of The Canyon Alliance will receive one ballot per household by email. Further information about the election is available here.
