January is always the month when we take a look back at the previous year and review the activities of the EHOA. Before I begin, however, I want to say a great big thank you to everyone who lives in our neighborhood and who cares enough to help out a neighbor in need, or report something suspicious which helps avert a potential crime, or who lets the city know when there is something amiss, or those who produce a magni?cent National Night Out, or have a 4th of July block party. I could go on and on, because we know that all of us working together make the Estudillo Homeowners Association and consequently the area, a truly great place to live.

As a volunteer, non-mandatory membership organization, we are really pleased that over 350 homeowners continued to join the EHOA. Here are some of the things we did last year with those dollars:

Installation of the EHOA Monument on MacArthur
Awarded scholarships to four EHOA students for a total of $1,000
Donated $250 to the Toys for Tots Program
Donated $200 to the Greg Ballard fund (slain San Leandro High School Football Player)
EHOA fed 40 seniors at the city’s annual Thanksgiving Meal
Threw one EHOA Social at Zocolo’s
Continued to produce this newsletter

Behind the scenes, the EHOA was involved in a lot of issues concerning the neighborhood and city in general. We do this by talking with our city officials, partnering with other homeowner associations and others on a regular basis. Some of the significant topics this past year were the sound wall project, discussions of the potential old Albertson’s site, the updating of the Bancroft Field, beautification projects, concerns about crime, the downtown development (TOD) and marina dredging, welcoming new homeowners to the area, planting trees, driving the idea of a downtown farmer’s market, expressing concerns over constant dumpster diving, and continuing to conduct our membership drive while also providing an email and website forum.

We’ve invited guest speakers to some of our meetings in the past and this year was no exception. We heard from the San Leandro Police Department and had presentations about the sound wall, the TOD and from the group called Urban Ecology.

No, we can’t make your neighbor stop parking in front of your house, or enforce any rules regarding how our homes or yards look. But, we continue to help inform folks on how to work with the city on these issues, and we’ll make an additional call on your behalf. The city has heard from us on the state of the downtown mall (both panhandlers and filth), concerns over increasing crime as well as many other issues.

During 2008 we will continue to be an active voice in this community. Some topics of note are the potential dog park, continuing concern about crime, and most of all our desire to attract and support more businesses that will, in turn, help attract more and more vibrant families to live in our community.

I think we had a pretty good 2007. It does take a village, and if you would like to be an active part of the EHOA board, we welcome you with open arms.