Crime fighter to lead Garfield Ridge Civic

Huff is interim president 

By Tim Hadac

A civic leader with a familiar name is the new interim president of the Garfield Ridge Civic League.

Jason Huff, best known in recent years as president of the Scottsdale Neighborhood Watch, is filling a vacancy created by the sudden death of GRCL President Richard Techman.

He did so at the urging of a fellow crime fighter, Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch President Al Cacciottolo.

Jason Huff at a Scottsdale Neighborhood Watch event with CPD Officers Debra Preus and Raymond Tracy. –Supplied photo

“Jason has done an awesome job out in Scottsdale, and I’m sure he will bring his youthful energy and ideas to the Garfield Ridge Civic League and help give it the boost it needs,” Cacciottolo said. “The neighborhood is fortunate to have him.”

Huff is a lifelong Southwest Sider with roots in Garfield Ridge. He graduated from Byrne School in 1998 and Kennedy High School in 2002. He works in city government as a Department of Finance supervisor of boot crews.

When he and several others revived the neighborhood watch group in Scottsdale more than five years ago, they also absorbed the Scottsdale Homeowners Association, a once mighty civic association that had fallen on hard times.

A similar situation exists in Garfield Ridge, where the neighborhood watch in recent years has informally taken on some non-crime fighting duties, as the GRCL (like most civic groups) struggled to attract new members and even stay afloat.

If Huff and others succeed in reviving the GRCL, the GRNW may back away from some of its civic activities and focus more in crime prevention.

In an email to GRCL officers and members last week, Huff said he looks forward “to meeting everyone over the next few weeks, from the board members down to those members who make this organization what it is today. I look forward to learning about each person and working with everyone to continue this organization and make it a vital part of our community.

“I anticipate our board will continue working with other Garfield Ridge organizations and local officials to keep residents of this great community aware of important issues through events and meetings,” he continued. “In addition, while working with everyone to grow our membership with new residents and ideas we must take what previous leadership has done and let it be a footprint on how we move forward. I have the utmost respect for all who have come before me and led this organization to where it is today.”

Former GRCL President Henry Pukala thanked Huff for stepping up “and taking the responsibility of becoming a leader in the Garfield Ridge community.”

Huff told the Greater Southwest News-Herald that at least for now, he plans to wear two hats and continue leading the Scottsdale Neighborhood Watch, as well.

Founded in 1939 as the West End Civic League, the GRCL has for decades served as a non-partisan group of homeowners and other residents who work together to build a better, safer and stronger neighborhood.