NEIGHBORHOODS LA - Be careful what you wish for… might apply to the numerous comments received on my BONC analysis.
Naturally there are some (a minority fortunately) who feel that the entire Neighborhood Council (NC) system should be disbanded. One of the comments was, “There are 95 ‘fiefdom’s’ each one wanting to hold on to its parochial interests.”
There were also complaints about developers paying off council board members in order to press their development projects. Other complaints included dictatorial boards, stolen elections, “do nothing” boards who squander their money, etc. People making complaints felt they were justified. In the private and corporate world, people in a position of authority can never please everyone. If they do- they are not doing a good job.
As an aside—when I was in the corporate world and negotiating a new contract, we had an “aggravation” fee, which was on top of the usual costs, profit etc. We would add a lump sum to the total contract in order to compensate for the aggravation we knew was inevitable. The fee varied depending on the client. They, of course, never knew!
However, in the non-profit/government/volunteer world it is the same with the right to complain and not make everyone happy. The big exception - volunteers are not getting paid!
The last article discussed the make-up of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC). I asked them a series of questions. One NC pundit remarked that my questions were both “pertinent and impertinent”.
BONC Vice President, Len Shaffer, and Commissioner Linda Lucks agreed that the NC Plan Review Committee, which came up with nine procedural changes, was one of their best accomplishments. Mr. Shaffer remarked “involving NC’s in those decisions that have a direct impact on them and the NC system, as well as bringing together NC’s from all over the City for the joint plan review was a major accomplishment.” They both mentioned the “Empower LA” Awards, which according to Ms. Lucks “ shine a light on the best practices of NC’s from the seven planning areas in the City.” These awards will be given at the NC Congress September 28 at City Hall.
Most felt that seven commissioners were sufficient (per the City Charter) but there should be accountability and minimum attendance requirements for meetings. Ms. Lucks said that in her seven years of serving on BONC, they never had a problem with a quorum until this year. Last week the Mayor appointed Victor Medina, representing the Harbor area, as Commissioner. (This position had been empty for some time.) Now there is a quorum. Brevity of meeting minutes is apparently up to the President. Legally, they do not have to contain a narrative since the recordings are on line.
So “Where is the beef?” The consensus with a couple of exceptions was that BONC needs authority to carry out its policy-making decisions. That means changing the ordinance or charter. Jay Handel, NC Budget Advocate Co-Chair, stated that what he disliked most about BONC was its lack of power.
Doug Epperhart, who recently resigned his Commissioner post, felt that BONC didn’t need any more authority than it already had. He went on to say, “Any real power should lay with the individual NC’s, not BONC, and not the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.”
Greg Nelson, former DONE General Manager doesn’t think BONC needs more power. He said, “Whenever a group, such as a commission, is in charge of anything - there is little accountability. There is no one to blame if things go wrong. Plus as volunteers they do not often study the material as deeply, or know the players and issues as well. I can’t tell you the number of times that a Commissioner told me, just as they came into the meeting, that they hadn’t read any of the material we had sent them.”
Is there a happy ending to this ongoing saga? Next week I am going to bring you what amounts to the “big fix”. Of course it will be only suggestions on making BONC more effective, because those of us working in the trenches can only “advise!”
(Denyse Selesnick is 2nd Vice President/Outreach Chair of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council, and a contributor to CityWatch covering the Neighborhood Councils. She can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 66
Pub: Aug 16, 2013