Penn Hills CDC moves forward by naming board

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Penn Hills CDC moves forward by naming board

Thursday, March 25, 2010
By Deborah M. Todd, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penn Hills residents took a few extra steps toward forming a Community Development Corporation by naming a team of 10 as its founding board members Monday night.

About 40 residents, business owners and local officials showed up at the William E. Anderson Public Library for the second meeting to determine the organizational structure and mission of a Penn Hills CDC.

Led by planning department intern Alexandra Murphy and community development specialist Marjorie Howard of the Community Technical Assistance Center, attendees at the meeting decided the community needed a to form a separate organization rather than attach to another nonprofit as a project sponsor.

Audience members also decided that a membership board structure would allow greater participation for individuals seeking to take part in the CDC. "You have organizations represented here, you have businesses, you have churches and you have residents," Ms. Howard said. "You have a nice basis to start developing a board."

Ten volunteers were appointed founding board members until members are voted in next year.

They are: residents Erik and Deb Hardy, Allison Young, Jean Meyer and Hope Vales; former elected official Jim Black; Penn Hills National Association for the Advancement of Colored People educational chair Denise Graham-Shealey; Crescent Hills Civic Association president Jim Getsy; Joyful Sound Peace organization executive Pat Mason; and Ed Zullo of the Quality Community Project.

Over the next few months, board members will be responsible for determining CDC bylaws, including board members' length of tenure and committee duties. They also will appoint committee leaders and fill out the paperwork necessary to establish the new organization.

All board members will have one vote except Mr. and Mrs. Hardy, who will cast a single vote as members of a single household. Ms. Howard said the board should submit the application for nonprofit status within six months, and the entire process should take about a year.

Although guests were eager to set guidelines and start work within the CDC, some were concerned that the process of forming the organization hasn't been inclusive enough. While representatives from 15 of the community's neighborhoods and resident organizations attended the meeting, the absence of several entities was noted, as well as a lack of young people.

"If we don't include some neighborhoods because they're not [at meetings] yet, we run the risk of not being as effective as we could be," Ms. Murphy said.

Ms. Meyer suggested that those involved in the effort should reach out to the youth and to under-represented neighborhoods at sporting and community events to try to bring them in. But Mr. Zullo said he'd like to see the group start a few projects now, regardless of how the CDC may look in the future.

"I'm [eager] to get something done, some very simple projects that should get us working together for the betterment of the community while we work on this," he said.

Ms. Howard agreed, particularly because many suggested short-term projects fall in line with efforts the organization is expected to make before it is fully funded. "There's so much you can do without money," she said. "It costs you nothing to do community clean-ups. It costs nothing to have block parties."

The next meeting is 7 p.m. April 12 in the library's Anthony DeLuca Room. It will focus on committees and appointments.

Deborah M. Todd can be reached at dtodd@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1652


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