Jill Hill for Quality Neighborhoods
Jill Hill For Long Beach City Council 7th District, 2010
I am very excited to be running for the 7th District Council seat and would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself. Here is my snapshot:
I am 51 years old and have lived in Long Beach since 1985, originally from the Chicagoland area. Upon moving here, it was the city's quaintness, diversity and historical homes and buildings that captured my heart.
Working status:
- 1988 to 2000, I owned and operated a small business servicing clients hair needs at various locations in Long Beach. Pertaining to my business from 1987-1990, I invented, designed and manufactured two tools for my professional industry which I marketed at major trade shows throughout the United States and Italy. During my business years, I was involved in a number of business organizations: Chamber of Commerce, DLBA, Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, Wrigley Village Business Association, and the North Long Beach Business Association.
- 1999-2004, I was the Event Coordinator for the Friends of the Los Angeles River, La Gran Limpieza, the Great Clean-up. That entailed developing partnerships with businesses and organizations, fundraising, soliciting in-kind donations, and recruiting volunteers and obtaining/organizing supplies for 2,500 people for 11 sites along the LA River.
- Since 2001, I have been working as a Consultant for the City's Environmental Services Bureau with their Litter Abatement & Awareness Campaign, aka, Litter-Free Long Beach. To date, I have coordinated 182 clean-ups, visited over 300 small businesses, and worked with all the Council Districts and numerous neighborhood organizations in an effort to make Long Beach a cleaner and safer community.
I lived in North Long Beach when I first moved to Long Beach and in 1989 became involved in my Neighborhood Watch Group on Myrtle Avenue. That was the beginning of my community service. Thereafter, I lived around Bixby Park and became involved with the Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Association when it was first forming.
In 1995, I was able to purchase my first home in Wrigley (built in 1929), immediately falling in love with it and the neighborhood. Within 3 months, I ran and was elected to be on the Wrigley Association Board of Director's. Until 2007, seven out of my 12 years of board service, I held an Officer's position: President, Co-President, Vice-President, and Treasurer while two of the years being Chair of the Public Relations Committee.
Since September 2007, I have been serving as the President of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance (WANA), being one of its original founders which now has a membership of almost 300 people, making it the largest neighborhood organization in the City.
During my 14 years and over four thousand hours of community service in Wrigley, I have enthusiastically given to my neighborhood in a variety of ways by organizing/assisting numerous activities/events/fundraisers for hundreds of kids, adults, and seniors. To name a few:
- Picnic-in-the-Park, Welcome Wagon, Christmas parties, Daisy Avenue Christmas Tree Lane, Christmas Caroling, Halloween games and contests, Easter Egg Hunts and games, Bike Safety Rodeos, promoting Neighborhood Watch, cookies and punch for Seniors on Valentine's Day, Bake Sale, Clothing Sales, Quarterly Clean-ups, National Night Out Potlucks
- Co-wrote/edited and oversaw the distribution of WANA's neighborhood newsletter to 3,000 residents six times a year
- Co-organized Dominguez Gap Wetlands tours
- Applied and was awarded $11,975 in grant money for neighborhood projects, one being for Kaboom playground equipment
- Recommended and was approved the naming of Cressa Park at PCH and the Riverbed
- Worked with every Council District and attended many council meetings to support/oppose issues that have an impact on our neighborhood
- Worked to clean and beautify our neighborhood
Personal status:
As a single parent, I raised two great kids, Danita (21) and Jarred Gould (19), who both attended Long Beach Unified School's: Longfellow Elementary, Hughes Middle, and Polytechnic High. Danita is currently a Junior attending Sacramento State while Jarred is a Sophmore attending San Diego State. I have one dog and am engaged to a wonderful man, Loren Patten.
