The Lafayette Park Neighborhood Association board of directors generally meets monthly throughout the year (sometimes there is a July-September recess). Meetings are currently scheduled for 7 P.M. on the third Monday of every month, and being held via Zoom. All residents and property owners within Lafayette Park are welcome to attend the meetings, which are noticed by email to those on the LPNA mailing list. Anyone wishing to receive notices should contact the LPNA at lafayetteparkna@gmail.com.
Current Board Members:
President: Randie Denker has lived in Lafayette Park for a total of 16 years, first on Crestview Avenue and now on East Georgia Street. She is an environmental and land use lawyer, and a prolific volunteer for various causes such as teaching new immigrants English through the County’s Library Literacy program and registering new voters through the Big Bend Voting Rights Project. She and her partner, Steve Leitman, are avid vegetable gardeners, and also enjoy cycling, kayaking, and travel. She has a daughter, Gaea, a filmmaker, artist and media specialist who lives in San Francisco and a grandson, Niko. Fun fact: She once played the glockenspiel in the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Vice-President: John Wallace
Treasurer: Sam Kimelman
Secretary: Kathy McGuire and her husband Steve Been have lived on Pine Street for the last 28 years (can it be that long???). You may often see either of them out walking in the neighborhood. Kathy is a retired legislative policy analyst and researcher with a passion for good government. She has a degree in Urban Planning from FSU. She is our Democratic Precinct 5105 Committeewoman. Kathy also volunteers with the Alliance of Tallahassee Neighborhoods, of which she is currently Chair. Fun fact: Kathy’s first job was to run the petting zoo at the Zoo in Peoria, Illinois where she grew up.
Members-at-Large:
Craig Shaw is a 24-year resident of the Lafayette Park neighborhood, living on Ingleside Avenue with his wife, Lynn Griffin. His three sisters are also neighborhood homeowners. He’s the proud dad of Emily and John (the latter of whom also lives in the neighborhood). He’s an attorney whose most recent job was as Director of Legal Publications at The Florida Bar, and is retired, but working harder than ever since he and Lynn are currently providing a lot of daycare for their incredibly active grandson Tristan. When not minding the sprite or watching wiener dog races on YouTube, he enjoys socializing with many neighborhood friends. His back patio is always open for visitors.
Bill Mattox lives on Beard Street, in a home first owned by legendary educator Kate Sullivan. Bill is a long-time member of the Village Square’s board of directors and has also served on the Tallahassee Civil Rights Heritage Walk Committee and on the FAMU Young Life board. He is a former KCCI catalyst, a member of the Holocaust Education Resource Council, and an elder at Four Oaks Midtown Church. An avid walker, Bill and his wife, Jill, moved to Midtown several years ago because its bucolic, pedestrian-friendly streets reminded them of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C. where they lived for many years.
Ellery Sedgwick lives on McDaniel Street. An erstwhile attorney, he now manages Red Hills Lumber in Thomasville, which is a specialty sawmill and millworks focusing on heart pine flooring, paneling and trim. When not roaming the park with his little but boisterous family, he can more often than not be found gardening.
Robert Volpe has been a resident of Tallahassee for 10 years. He and his wife, Lindsay have lived in Lafayette Park on East Georgia Street for the last 7 years. He is a graduate of FSU College of Law and practices land use and environmental law.
Maya Stokes lives on East Georgia Street. She is new arrival to the neighborhood, she and her husband Jacob Dummeldinger moved to Tallahassee in 2022. She is an assistant professor in the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science department at FSU where she researches and teaches about rivers. She and her husband can be found playing pickleball, ultimate frisbee, or in the garden.
I think we’re really lucky to have such experienced and effective people on our board. I particularly applaud the Neighborhood Bill of Rights and the Neighborhood Compatibility Law and hope that neighborhoods with large poverty-stricken populations are receiving outreach and encouragement to use these excellent pieces of public policy/legistation to defend themselves against civil offenses like the recent seizure of land in the Cascades Park region. Too often, the black community in particular is asked to rebuild community when long-standing neighborhoods are decimated by the use of eminent domain against less powerful citizens. Businesses suffer by being forced to move and sometimes even homelessness results because of the destruction of community ties and supports. The Justice Ministry, which includes many denominations and various religions, is seeking ways to strengthen our community, and these policy achievements will greatly help. Bravo! I intend to make sure the word gets spread through them and hope LPNA helps spread the word also.
Kudos to whomever came up with the ideas for the Neighborhood Bill of Rights and the Neighborhood Compatibility Law. I hope that neighborhoods which are too often forced to bear the brunt of eminent domain land seizures will be made fully aware of these successful policy initiatives. Too often those neighborhoods are home to people of color, and the resulting destruction of small businesses and even an increase of homelessness, due to stress on community connections and traditions, is the result. The most vulnerable should not have to shoulder the most difficult forced destruction of their neighborhoods with no way to fight back. Thank you, and Bravo to everyone who helped bring these ideas to fruition. I will personally try to be sure the Tallahassee Justice Ministry is made aware of them, so that they can help organize when necessary.
Los Robles Veterinary clinic has a bengal kitty that was dropped off there. It was found in the McDaniel St area. Do you know of anyone who might have lost a cat?