Tireless volunteers Vicki Garcia and Kenneth A. Hartley will be honored as Woman and Man of the Year by the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau at a cocktail party and dinner Thursday, Jan. 20.
Garcia is a former school board member whose breadth of service to the community spans decades. Hartley has spearheaded the reestablishment of a city Emergency Operations Center while standing out in amateur radio, community policing and Neighborhood Watch activities in four action-packed years in Hermosa.
The two join a list of 88 “outstanding citizens” of Hermosa who have won the award since its inception in 1959. It is given to those who have “generously donated their time and resources to making Hermosa Beach a better place to live and work through their contributions to civic and nonprofit organizations in the community.”
Garcia was born in Michigan, graduated from the University of Arizona, and moved to Hermosa in 1970. She married Guillermo Garcia and has a daughter, Erica and son Christopher.
During a time of decreased enrollment in Hermosa schools, Vicki began attending School Board meetings to become knowledgeable about school closures. She was involved in North/Valley PTO and helped with a school Halloween Carnival and fundraising booth at the Fiesta Hermosa street fair.
She was a team mom, banner maker and photo chair as the children participated in youth soccer, baseball and basketball.
Garcia was elected to two terms on the Hermosa Beach City School District Board, where one of her greatest moments saw the reestablishment of a second language program.
She has served as recording secretary for the Hermosa Beach Woman’ s Club Evening Division for 10 years and as first vice president of the Day Division the last two years. As a member of the club she has served as co-chair of the popular annual pancake breakfast, as a member of a scholarship selection committee, and with ARC and the School on Wheels backpack program.
She has been volunteering in the chamber’s information booth at both Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend Fiestas for more than 12 years. She received a medal from the city for her volunteer work in connection with Hermosa’s centennial. She belongs to the Hermosa Beach Garden Club and has worked on the Beach Cities Toy Drive for 18 years.
Garcia Vicki retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District after 38 years in which she held various positions related to deaf education.
Hartley is vice president and owner of CIDR Systems, Inc., with an office location in Hermosa Beach. His first volunteer initiative in Hermosa utilized his company’s marketing research and survey reporting services for a survey of residents and businesses for the city’s Upper Pier Avenue Committee.
Hartley and his wife, Dorothy M. Forba-Hartley, had just moved into their Hermosa home, purchased in October 2006.
By July 2007, Hartley joined Leadership Hermosa Beach to educate himself about local governmental, economic, environmental and civic systems as presented by a number of city leaders and officials. During the nine-month program, he realized the city’s need for an Emergency Operations Center.
Hartley initiated the refurbishment for the EOC in the Hermosa Beach Community Center, where it had been lying dormant. With the guidance of the city manager, fire and police chiefs, Hartley recognized the impetus for a rebirth of the EOC would involve the Hermosa Beach Amateur Radio Association, which he founded and currently serves as president.
Association volunteers, committed individuals and community supporters such as the Hermosa Beach Arts Foundation, Hermosa Beach Kiwanis, the police and fire departments, Schlage, Sketchers, CIA Design & Construction, Network Hardware and Leadership Hermosa Beach helped create the new Emergency Operations Center, which was dedicated Aug. 11, 2010.
Hartley serves on the Hermosa Beach Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission, which provides advice and recommendations to the City Council.
He patrols about seven hours a week as a member of the civilian Volunteers in Policing, helping the Police Department identify a number of disorderly conduct occurrences and DUIs, and thwarted theft from vehicles.
As a Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch Block Captain, Hartley has hosted the annual National Night Out Block Party, participated in the “Hands Across Hermosa” charity event, and promoted the concept for the Hermosa Beach Santa Ride.
He sits on the committee for the Torrance Memorial Medical Center’s “Miracle of Living at the Beach,” serves as president of South Bay Emergency Communications Service, and sits on the board of directors of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.
Hartley was presented with an “Emerging Leader Award” in August 2010.
Garcia and Hartley will be honored at the chamber’s annual installation event, a cocktail party and dinner Thursday, Jan. 20, at the Union Cattle Company, Ocean Bar. The cocktail party begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a dinner and the announcement of the chamber’s new board of directors.
For reservations call 310-376-0951; tickets are $25. ER
