My name is Joanne Rallo and I was born and raised in San Pedro. Though I grew up in Northwest San Pedro, I have lived in Central for the past 10 years. I attended Crestwood Elementary, Dodson Middle School and San Pedro High School.
Over the past year, I have become deeply involved and have contributed to the improvement of community relations throughout San Pedro, but more specifically in Central San Pedro. As the Co-Founder of ‘Saving San Pedro’, I have an abundance of passion for this community and want to see it improve and thrive.
I believe my experience and knowledge with Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, over the course of the last year, and the positive relationships that I have overall in this community, is an asset to this board. I believe in having a transparent board, as it is first and foremost, a board’s responsibility to represent its stakeholders and to listen to their concerns and suggestions. As the saying goes, “it takes a village” and one board alone cannot carry this entire community. It takes teamwork and I am a firm believer in that.
I am against any hidden or personal agendas in any neighborhood council and have always been willing to expose the truth, whether it be good, bad or ugly, because it is not until you get down to the truth where you can actually get down to the bottom of anything, in order to resolve an issue. As an “average Joe”, I believe in representing the people, because without them, there is no real community.
I strive to improve the quality of how things are handled among the Central board, which has been a huge issue this past year. I would like to create connections within the community from neighbors to businesses – not to strain them as I feel some of the current council members have been doing. My focus is to not only help build a tighter community and open communication within the community, but to also bring forth awareness of important issues and events and restore hope that real, positive change can happen when the right people are on board and are driven to advance the community.
I am supportive and have a positive relationship with our local law enforcement and I believe working with them can improve the quality of life in San Pedro in many ways. I have a positive relationship with many leaders of our community and local government. I have represented San Pedro and spoken at City Hall to voice what San Pedro needs and is lacking.
I believe in outreach, especially through social media, to get the community involved in its local issues, meetings and events.
I look forward to making a difference in Central San Pedro and appreciate your support – here’s to a positive change going forward with Central San Pedro!