A 36-year-old former U.S. Marine was named the new president of the Country Club Civic Association this month.
Michael McNerney has replaced long time association leader Marcia Pavlica as the new voice of the neighborhood group — and he hopes other younger families will follow his lead.
“We need to work more on community building, especially with newer homeowners,” said McNerney. “That way we can build even more neighborhood pride.”
McNerney has only lived in Country Club for five years, having grown up on Laconia Avenue near Pelham Parkway. He now lives in a two-story home with his wife Patricia, eight-year-old son James, and two-year-old daughter Maria.
Since moving, McNerney has quickly become a mainstay at community meetings, winning support from his neighbors.
He was elected with nearly three-fourths of the vote over the incumbent Pavlica at the civic group’s June meeting.
McNerney said he inherited a zeal for civic duty from his parents, who served as original members of the Allerton Avenue Association.
And the former Marine is calling on his neighbors to sacrifice the time and turn out for Country Club’s monthly meetings, which start up again in September.
“Some people will sit on social media for hours,” he said, “But they won’t give two or three hours for a meeting.”
McNerney moved to Country Club for the same reasons many flock to the quiet residential neighborhood — its “top quality of life, beautiful homes, great neighbors.”
The newly minted association president said he’d protect that quality of life by continuing to keep an eye on the ongoing city sewer reconstruction project, and tackling petty crimes such as car break-ins.
He said he’s personally stopped numerous people trying to break in to a car in Country Club, and added that he was happy with the 45th Precinct increasing nighttime patrols in the area.
But McNerney floated the idea of starting a community-watch program to help relay more information to local police.
Other items on his agenda include combating the illegal renting of one-family apartments into two or three-family apartments.
“Country Club remains a wonderful place to live,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t still have our issues.”
