FEELING AT HOME : RESIDENTS SEE SAN FERNANDO AS CUT ABOVE.Byline: Luz Villarreal Daily News Staff Writer Chuck Waite moved to this city with his family in 1922 when he was 4 years old, and with the exception of four years of college and four years fighting in World War II, he never moved out. ``Our city is a jewel compared to the surrounding neighborhoods,'' said Waite, 78, a retired supervisor for San Fernando's water department. ``I think that when you enter San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. , you see people taking care of their homes. That's why Pacoima wants to join San Fernando.'' City officials and San Fernando boosters have long touted the city of 24,000 for its local business base, overall safety, litter-free streets and quick police and fire response. And residents in nearby communities are taking note. Members of the Northeast Community Improvement Association, a small group of homeowners in Pacoima, recently attended a San Fernando council meeting to express their interest in becoming part of the city, because they are unhappy with the services they receive from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The group has not made a formal petition to the council or Los Angeles but has expressed interest in at least finding a way to receive contracted services from San Fernando for street cleaning and police service. Councilman Ray Ojeda said he moved into the city 22 years ago from Sylmar for the same reason. ``The whole appearance of the city is better,'' he said. ``There is a difference in what is happening in San Fernando than in surrounding communities with graffiti graffiti Form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving the unauthorized marking of public space by an individual or group. Technically the term applies to designs scratched through a layer of paint or plaster, but its meaning has been extended to other markings. and illegal vendors. Drive down Glenoaks Boulevard (in Pacoima) on any Tuesday or weekend and it's like little (Tijuana). That's what spurred people from Pacoima wanting to get annexed in. I'm sure of it.'' Ojeda said he doesn't fault Los Angeles and understands the city's struggle. ``It's got to be difficult dealing with your district when it is so large,'' he said. Two major factors for San Fernando's popularity and economic health are the Police Department and business community. Crime is down this year, and officials credit that to the department's 35 sworn officers and 16-member support staff. From January to August, there were 1,091 major crimes reported in the city, compared to 1,286 for the same time period last year, said Lt. Dan Peavy, a patrol commander for the department. These crimes include homicides, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, larcenies, auto theft and other felonies. The department also receives kudos from residents regarding its response time. The police's typical response time is two minutes or less for emergency calls. The response time for emergency calls in neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. Los Angeles is eight to nine minutes, but LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. officials site the size difference in the patrol area. San Fernando is just under 2.4 square miles A square mil is a unit of area, equal to the area of a square with sides of length one mil. A mil is one thousandth of an international inch. This unit of area is usually used in specifying the area of the cross section of a wire or cable. . The Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill and Devonshire divisions in the Valley are 64- and 52-square miles, respectively. The city's safety contributes to a healthy business climate, said Bruce Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , president and chief executive officer of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce. ``Having our own police department gives us huge benefits for security reasons,'' he said. ``It reduces one's fear of crime in the community.'' The city has been successful at attracting new businesses because of its beauty, safety and small-town feeling, Cohen said. ``When people come into this city, they are very surprised at how different the city is visually compared to the rest of the Valley,'' he said. ``We have clean palm-tree-lined boulevards, the centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. downtown area, the wide-open civic center and beautiful parks. It's like Mayberry (The Andy Griffith Not to be confused with Andy Griffiths. Andy Samuel Griffith (born June 1, 1926) is an American actor, producer, writer, director and southern gospel singer.[1] He gained prominence in the starring role of A Face in the Crowd Show) of the '90s, where people walking down the street wave to each other, know each other and say hello.'' Mike Rueff, co-owner of the Walter Rueff Auto Center, said the city's thriving business community is one of the reasons his family's business is still in town. His grandfather, Walter, opened his first business, a bicycle and motorcycle repair shop, in 1915, four years after the city was incorporated. He later bought a car dealership This article is about car dealerships. For the indie pop band, see Dealership (band). A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new cars and/or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or in 1932 and received a Buick franchise in 1938. The auto center is now the oldest family owned business in town, with Walter Rueff's two great-grandchildren working in the business. ``One reason we like San Fernando is it has its own city government, police department and mayor,'' Mike Rueff said. ``If you have any problem with city officials, you can go right up there and talk to them. There's no red tape. We don't have to deal with bureaucracy like in L.A. That's why a lot of businesses stay here.'' The city managed to stay afloat during the recession in the early 1990s and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . A healthy mixture of manufacturing companies and retail have contributed to a strong tax base. The city's budget this year is $24.4 million. More than $4.4 million of that comes from the city's sales and use tax Sales and use tax refers to:
``One reason we do well is we've been conservative in our spending habits,'' Councilman Doude Wysbeek said. ``We can control the money better because we are smaller. Most of our employees do two or three different jobs. The staff has been very frugal fru·gal adj. 1. Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources. See Synonyms at sparing. 2. Costing little; inexpensive: a frugal lunch. . Most of our budget is meat and potatoes meat and potatoes pl.n. Informal (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The fundamental parts or part; the basis. Noun 1. .'' San Fernando has had its share of turmoil. There was a scandal involving a city department head in 1994, controversy over city hiring practices in 1993, and a failed recall effort against a city councilman in 1991. Today, one of the city's few problems is its image and that people confuse con·fuse v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr. 1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off. b. the city with the overall Valley. ``The biggest problem facing San Fernando is we have a great city, but we have a bad image,'' Councilman Raul Godinez said. ``People who haven't even been in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, for 2-1/2 years have heard that San Fernando might be a rough area. That kind of image hurts us, and it's totally unwarranted. I want to change that.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Chuck Waite, with his wife, Annette, calls San Fernan do a ``jewel'' compared to local areas. Tom Mendoza/Daily News |
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