After 16 years, Guzin steps down as president of WSA; Greenman elected

Windsor Square Association President Larry Guzin’s last meeting after serving on the board for 22 years—the last 16 as president—was Sat., Feb. 28. The board unanimously elected Vice President Jason Greenman as the new president. He has enormous shoes to fill.

MAYOR KAREN BASS with Guzin at the WSA town hall.

Guzin, a former deputy and assistant city attorney, was in private practice as a trial lawyer when he joined the WSA board as public safety committee chair. “The experience I had with the city was a natural fit. I had dealt with law enforcement. Addressing public safety issues is agenda number one.”

John Welborne, who joined the WSA Board in 1978 and is vice president of its land-use committee, noted, “Larry encouraged a good relationship with LAPD and senior lead officers and organized recognition of them when they retired. He had a very good relationship with City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and others before. That takes time and effort.”

“For a civic organization the main objective is to encourage connections between people who have something in common as residents of the neighborhood,” Guzin said. “Foster connection between residents, law enforcement, government officials, and the like.”

 Guzin enjoyed great success over the course of his term, as enumerated by President Greenman. “He accomplished a tremendous number of things. He was intimately involved with the establishment of the Windsor Square Historic Preservation Overlay Zone and the Park Mile Plan. He’s done tons of stuff on emergency preparedness [such as encouraging] water barrels stored in people’s houses or backyards. He put that together at a low cost for people in the neighborhood. The community planted over 900 street trees around Windsor Square; the canopy is denser than ever before. [Larchmont Boulevard] medians from Third to First streets are all paid for by the Windsor Square Association. He’s been a tireless advocate for trees on Larchmont.”

NEW WSA PRESIDENT JASON GREENMAN with wife Jeanne Williams in Oman, 2025.

 It is well known that from a hilltop vantage point the Windsor Square-Hancock Park neighborhood stands out as a green oasis in the city. Guzin has actively worked to maintain that, not just by adding to the tree canopy, but in working to add greenery wherever possible, including the planting and refurbishing of the Norton triangle, a former dirt-and weed-choked traffic island where Sixth Street and Norton Avenue meet.

LARRY GUZIN leads a Sierra Club hike in Griffith Park.

 “I love gardening,” said Guzin, which partially explains his interest in greening the environment. “We have a California native and herb garden in front of our house. Our backyard is completely exotic.” Wendy Guzin, his wife of 25 years, is the lead gardener at home, and their efforts have been rewarded with twice being featured on the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society Garden Tour.

Enjoying the outdoors is a related passion for Guzin. He bicycled to his law office on Larchmont and to WSA meetings for 10 years and is an avid hiker, leading Sierra Club hikes for 15 years. He’s trekked in harsher terrain, including through Bhutan’s Chele La Pass in 2010 and mounting the 18,519-foot Kala Patthar summit in the Nepalese Himalayas in 1982.

 He’s not above traveling in style, though. Guzin collects Morgans, owning three of the gorgeous handmade British cars, each of which have won first place in car shows. Now that he’s retiring from the WSA, there will probably be more time for long scenic drives in one of those beauties, with Wendy and daughter Zoë (when she’s not studying at Bard College or spending a semester abroad in Barcelona) along for the ride.

 When asked why he’s retiring now, Guzin explained, “I’ve tried to focus my motivation on doing my best for Windsor Square. There are good people on the board and new people could take it in a new direction, maybe in a better direction. I still have just as much affection for the neighborhood, but this is a fresh start for them. Let them change things.”

 “He’s a really solid guy,” Greenman summarized. “He’s going to leave a big hole in the community.”

GUZIN’S MORGAN collection models from (from left) 1958, 1987, and 1952.

 A hole Greenman is prepared to tackle. Greenman’s first act as president was to ask board members to suggest new initiatives for the WSA to consider adopting, but he also intends to build upon the accomplishments of his predecessor.

The semi-retired technology executive and consultant has lived in Windsor Square with his wife, Jeanne Williams, for over 25 years, and they raised their two children there.

A fervent outdoorsman, mountaineer, and hiker who has summited Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Whitney, among others, Greenman echoes Guzin’s commitment to greening Windsor Square and its environs. “It’s a special place,” he stated. “I’m a frequent hiker in the hills and one of my favorite things is to look down and see how green it is. The community landscape is an important thing we do.”

Guzin reiterated his faith in Greenman’s leadership now that the latter has assumed the presidential mantle. “Of course I’m going to make myself available to Jason for anything he needs, but I don’t think he needs it.”