MPNCA's Annual Meeting A Success

Many, MANY thanks to the dozens of neighbors who braved the unfriendly weather to join our annual meeting on January 14! Turnout was high, and we all enjoyed meeting our new fire captain, hearing the latest updates on converting the Bunnen property to parkland, and catching up with one another after the holidays.

2026 Membership Progress Update

Greetings, neighbors! As you drive by the Country Store in the coming weeks, be sure to look for our new banner displayed out front. This banner will showcase our membership progress, making it easy to track how close we are to reaching our goal of 625 member households.

Current Membership Status

We are pleased to report that, as of today, we are 29 members ahead compared to this same date last year. This positive start gives us great momentum as we work towards our annual goal.

How to Join

If you have not yet joined or are experiencing any issues with the membership process, please reach out to our Membership team by visiting the website and selecting “MPNCA Membership.”

Why Your Membership Matters

Remember, the more neighbors who join, the greater our ability to increase patrol hours throughout the neighborhood. Your membership directly supports a safer and more connected community!

Help Shape the Digital Front Door of our Neighborhood!

The Mt. Paran-Northside Citizens Association is seeking a volunteer board member to manage our website and monthly newsletter, which are key tools for keeping neighbors informed and connected. This is a small but impactful role that helps showcase who we are, what we do, and how all neighbors can get involved.

What you’ll do:

Assemble and format the monthly newsletter for publication using provided content

Update website pages with community news and announcements

Send occasional member emails

Keep website information current and accurate

What you need:

Comfort with basic computer tasks (no coding required)

An eye for clean, simple formatting

Ability to commit about 2 hours per month

Attend one-hour monthly board meeting via zoom

Willingness to learn our systems (training provided)

Why it matters:

Our website and newsletter are often the first impression neighbors have of Mt. Paran-Northside. Keeping things up to date plays an important role in community engagement.

Interested in filling this role or want to learn more? Please contact Kathy Ghirardini at 404-583-9771 or kathyghirardini@gmail.com.

Welcoming Robin King to the MPNCA Board!

Robin grew up in Pennsylvania and has lived in the Mount Paran-Northside area for 24 years. She worked in Washington, D.C. after graduation from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She moved to Atlanta to work for Southern Company, parent company of Georgia Power, where she held various positions in marketing and advertising. In 2002, Robin decided to stay at home to raise her daughter.

She has been on the board of Jackson Elementary School PTA, Fernbank Museum, the Atlanta Girls’ School and the Atlanta Chapter of ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) where she is still a member. Robin is President-Elect of Northwood Garden Club. She enjoys playing tennis, pickleball, reading and traveling.

Infrastructure Update

We have much to report this month on several fronts.

Email Address for Reporting Discrepancies

We now have an email address listed on the MPNCA website where you can simply click and report infrastructure discrepancies and have already received several actionable items. Keep them coming! The email address is: infrastructure@mountparannorthside.com

Inventory of Discrepancies

Over the holidays, we conducted a complete inventory of the most significant discrepancies across our entire MPNCA neighborhood and created a spreadsheet for use in reporting issues through the ATL 311 system. From the overall list, we identified 11 of the 40 total issues that are CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUES and are actively working with the City of Atlanta to get them corrected. Of note, there are several collapsed storm drains that need immediate attention that we are working hard to have repaired.

Discussion with City of Atlanta Ombudsman

We have established communications with the City of Atlanta Ombudsman, Ms. Amber Ware. Amber has been especially helpful in gaining visibility on our critical safety issues. We had a very productive conference call with her to emphasize the need to correct these issues and to reinforce our willingness to work with city officials. We also emphasized the need for updates to the 311 system to make it more efficient and supportive of infrastructure maintenance operations.

Road Conditions

While we have taken specific steps to address many infrastructure discrepancies in our neighborhood, there is more work to be done! Our roads are generally in poor condition and need attention soon. Please know that we are working diligently on this issue as well and will report back to you once we have more information.

Upcoming Activities in Chastain Park

Chastain Park is close and convenient to our neighborhood and offers a variety of activities and volunteer opportunities year-round. The Chastain Park Conservancy invites you to take a look at their latest newsletter and enjoy the beauty of nature and recreation without a long drive!

Click here to read Upcoming offerings include gardening workshops, a wine tasting event, and the opening of a new outdoor classroom!

December Security Patrol Report

Neighborhood Reminders

Members of our MPNCA Board and Security Patrol help keep our neighborhood both beautiful and extremely safe. Members of the MPNCA can receive daily house checks when they are out of town, which provides great peace of mind. Our officers walk the perimeter of your home to ensure there are no issues. If there are packages left on the front porch, the officers move them to someplace less obvious. This is one more example of the MPNCA offering value to the neighborhood for 41 years and counting!

If you are an MPNCA member and would like the MPNCA Security Patrol to check your home while you are out of town, please call or text 404-538-8946 or email security@mtparannorthside.com. This service is only available to MPNCA members. Please ask your neighbors who are not members to join by emailing MPNCA MEMBERSHIP.

We should always be aware of our surroundings and watch out for each other as a community. If you have any questions, please reach out to MPNCA SECURITY. We are stronger together, and the MPNCA serves all of us!

Additional Safety Information

Connect Atlanta is a new public safety program that allows police, fire, and public safety professionals to better assess and rapidly respond to criminal activity and emergency situations and to enable investigators to easily gather evidence in case of an incident.  This is accomplished by registering your security cameras with APD.

Check crime statistics for any Atlanta area by accessing:ATLANTA POLICING PROGRAMS.

Always call 911 before you call the Security Patrol.

Contact the on-duty officer  with questions about the Security Patrol by phone or text  at 404-538-8946, or email MPNCA SECURITY.

Stay Safe,

Alicia C. Gant, MPNCA Security Chair

Detective Drew Bahry, Security Team Lead

During December we had one crime reported, a theft from auto reported from Whitewater Creek Park. There was also a missing package reported off Harris Trail. (It should be noted it’s not known for certain if this was a theft or a case of mis delivery.) This compares to zero crimes reported in December 2024