Jenny Pirie, Peter Kastner and Jeff Mudrick A Short History of Ocean Park, Ocean Park Community Organization, 1982, (With a 1983 update.) 15 pp. 1983, 1982, 1979
"The newly realized ability of people to be in control of their own neighborhood was not just limited to crime prevention: residents organized successfully to prevent the demolition of the Fourth Street Courtyard, near Hollister north of Ocean Park Boulevard. And, more significantly, over 200 residents jammed the Church in Ocean Park in the autumn of 1979 in what was the beginning of a long campaign to control Main Street development and its effects on the neighborhood.
"But the Block Club network set up by COMMUNITAS was only the precursor to the establishment of a broader "Neighborhood Congress" which was convened in December, 1979. The goal was to create a permanent, independent, and self-sufficient neighborhood organization for all of Ocean Park.
"On December 8, 1979, over 300 residents attended the First Ocean Park Congress. At that Congress, OPCO was created-the Ocean Park Community Organization - a permanent organization with a small staff and a steering committee made up of Ocean Park residents, which would deal not only with crime, but with all areas of community concern."