Sunland Tujunga

A local group created last year to help battle graffiti and other Sunland-Tujunga problems has honored three "quiet community heroes" who wouldn't otherwise be recognized. Honored by the Community Action Network in a ceremony Saturday for excelling in volunteer work were Mendy Demoss, who at age 16 was named the "youth hero"; Vito Latino, named a "town hero" for leading an anti-graffiti effort, and "senior hero" Gerry Watts, who is active in a variety of community groups.

Graduating seniors of Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga got a sobering wake-up call Friday from Assemblyman Bill Hoge--a pickup truck that had been wrecked in an alcohol-related accident. "We hope this really drives a point about drunk driving," said Christine McLeod, one of Hoge's field representatives who presented the mangled vehicle to the seniors.

Police call it The Rock because of its relative isolation. Residents call it home because of its relaxed pace and affordable housing. And methamphetamine addicts from all over call it an easy place to score. Reporting District 1688, a semirural neighborhood at the base of the Verdugo Hills with a mix of modest single-family houses, new and old apartment buildings and a commercial strip along Foothill Boulevard, is the speed capital of the San Fernando Valley.

Often, the first reaction Los Angeles Police Officer Ernst Cabriales gets when he visits a business for the first time is, "What's wrong?" Cabriales started working out of a new LAPD community service center at the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce last month. He said that it's so unusual to have a regular police presence in the area that merchants and residents often don't realize that he's not there on a case.

These days, panhandlers outside of convenience stores on Foothill Boulevard scatter when they see Joan Slater coming. "They think I'm handing out religious pamphlets," said Slater, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce, which a few months ago started a campaign against panhandlers because merchants and residents complained they were too aggressive, accosting customers even before they got out of their cars.

Los Angeles police officers Sunday will begin foot patrols in business areas in Sunland-Tujunga, giving police a higher profile and providing more protection to this community of 55,000, where residents have long felt neglected by the city. "We've always called ourselves the forgotten stepchild," said Kathy Anthony, a local tailor.

Since Jan. 17, Ben Caputo has been playing the waiting game. The co-owner of the landmark Sterling's Restaurant in Sunland gets asked almost every day whether he will reopen the business that has hosted hundreds of wedding receptions, civic club meetings and community events. Each time the question is answered the same: He doesn't know. He's waiting--waiting for inspectors; waiting for insurance agents; waiting, waiting, waiting. "Down the line, everybody suffers, everybody hurts," Caputo said.

Thursday's groundbreaking for the $2.2 million renovation and expansion of the Sunland-Tujunga Library could mean that the city is taking note of this community, residents said. "We're obtaining our fair share, finally," said Joan Slater, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce. "We've gotten nothing, really, from the city, for many years," she said. The renovation project is being funded through bond money approved by voters in 1989 to rebuild and create city libraries.

Ralph Zenger and Dick Starr, good friends who campaigned against each other to be the Sunland-Tujunga honorary mayor, share at least one trait. "I don't think either of us is a real good loser," said Zenger, an accountant with an office in La Crescenta, who will be installed as the new honorary mayor Friday. "We went after the jugular," said Starr, who will become deputy honorary mayor.

The Community Action Network is long on ideas and good intentions but short on rakes, gloves and other supplies. Still, Jacqui Merglewski, president of the group, has seen membership swell from a handful of friends a few months ago to about 70 volunteers. "Every day we're getting another application in the mail," she said.