by Robert Larios, COO, The Club
People ask me how the Alive! team decides which stories we will feature. I reply: a number of ways, but the most direct way is that you tell us about your department and the excellent things you’re doing, and we get back to you. After all, we want to tell your stories. That is what Alive! is all about. Not everything fits our space, of course, but we do all we can.
That is what happened for the important story this month on our cover, “LA for All.” Club Member Candice Arnold wrote and asked if we could help tell our Members about the new LA Civil Rights department, where she works. It had already been in our telescope since it was created last year, but of course we were deep in the middle of telling stories about the pandemic. We promised Candice we would return to this subject when the pandemic eased, and that is what we are doing this month.
We are happy to bring you this important story, which includes an illuminating interview with Club Member Capri Maddox, who has been deeply engaged working in the City for more than 20 years. We thank Capri and her communications director, Mark Pampanin, for their assistance in bringing it to you. And of course Candice, too.
Moving on to other notes you might find interesting: We wish a happy retirement to Aram Shahikian, Retired General Manager of Emergency Preparedness, who leaves with 31 years of City service. I am glad we featured him and his department in our first issue of 2021 earlier this year … the Club’s own social posts referencing last month’s cover story about the Library’s successful social media posts … wait for it … have also been very popular! Some of our more popular posts over the last few years, in fact. Thank you for enjoying and sharing them! (Are you connected to the Club’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts? Please connect to us. Follow us for news, personnel achievements and early news of Club discounts.)
Finally, because the pandemic is easing in California, our Club Store Manager, Guadalupe Lira, is reopening the physical store every weekday in preparation for the holidays. Our Club Store Holiday Schedule is included in this issue. You might want to clip it out, or print it from our Alive! Web version, and post it on your refrigerator. You’re welcome; the Club is here to help you and your family! (As always, the hours are subject to change according to ongoing conditions.)
Enjoy your October, and I am pledging to do what I can to make sure LA Is for All. I hope you will, too.
