NEIGHBORHOODS LA-One would never know by looking at the soft spoken, elegant man sitting with me, that he had such a colorful and controversial past. Councilman Bernard Parks (8th District South LA) served as Los Angeles Chief of Police from 1997 to 2002. He is now in his second term on the City Council and Chairman of the Education and Neighborhoods Committee.
That, ladies and gentleman, makes him the effective Boss of the Neighborhood Council System. Having previously served as Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, he is well prepared to handle the sometimes abrasive, and always challenging, ninety-five Neighborhood Councils.
Councilman Parks served on the panel “NC’s the Next Ten Years” which I moderated at the recent LA Neighborhood Congress. He had made some interesting and rather controversial comments, so I wanted to follow-up and ask him what he really thought about the Neighborhood Council System and how it functions.
We had a wide-ranging frank discussion on a variety of related topics. If the NC system was asking for a report card to measure its success over the last ten years, I expect he would give us overall a C+…maybe a B -.
He believes that NC’s are far too parochial and small-minded in their outlook. Some are far more interested in the power of the office instead of solving problems. They spend more time discussing procedure and parliamentary rules than they do in filling their mandate. It is no wonder that most do not get a large turnout at meetings because they don’t accomplish much and are really boring for the audiences. Councilman Parks said that, “Outreach is not Outreach unless you get results.”
He expressed surprise that it took ten years to figure out the definition of a “factual based stakeholder”. Even more important - he expressed dismay at the lack of inclusiveness evident in many Neighborhood Councils. According to the Councilman, NC’s should be working with all of the organizations in their respective neighborhoods including schools, religious organizations, service organizations, other non-profit community organizations and yes, even the business community.
“If NC’s want to be the umbrella organizations for their regions, then they need to have a lot of spokes,” said Councilman Parks. Many different points of view should be encouraged because that is what makes a community. He went on to say, “If there are a hundred religious organizations in the community, then that is 100 opportunities to get people involved.”
At the Congress, Councilman Parks mentioned his dissatisfaction with the Brown Act. The City Attorney’s office has a group just dedicated to making sure the City Council doesn’t breach the Brown Act, so he said how can a group of volunteers be expected to follow all the rules?
He also said that Roberts Rules of Order and the Rosenberg Rules are just too many rules. Transparency is important, but rigid meetings are stultifying and do not encourage stakeholders to attend more than once - unless there is a controversial issue on the agenda. A majority of the Board meetings he attended were boring and a waste of people’s time (me: Amen!).
He said that although many NC’s want more independence from City Hall, instead of taking the initiative they ask for permission. Each NC has its bylaws which should govern their actions. He read the articles I had written on BONC and responded to some of the conclusions in the articles.
When it came to having more influence on choosing an EmpowerLA General Manager he said that is the prerogative of the Mayor to choose his team. However, there is nothing stopping the NC’s from sending a list of qualified candidates for the Mayor to consider.
When it comes to the desired 60-day notification NC’s want to consider a council motion; he dismissed it by saying that the City Clerk posts all of the motions and file numbers every day. Committees considering legislation have numbered files. It is easy to check on www.lacity.org and see what is posted. If one is interested in a certain file they may request notification when that file has any changes or action.
NC’s are great on loudly complaining to the Council about things they don’t like, but weak on taking a pro-active stance or presenting projects. How many NC Board members ever attend the Councilman’s Education and Neighborhoods meetings?
When asked if EmpowerLA (DONE for you purists) should have more funding and additional personnel, the Councilman responded that every group in the City wants both those things! When 72% of the City budget goes to Police and Fire Departments, there isn’t a whole lot left over.
To get more people involved, Councilman Parks recommended each of the 1700 plus NC Board members be responsible for recruiting eight to ten new community members to attend meetings, serve on committees, run for board positions etc. Using the multiplyer effect, it would make the NC’s truly representative- instead of just claiming to represent almost four million Angelenos.
Most NC’s spend quite a bit of money on elections to try to get a substantial turnout. If these people are interested enough to vote- they are prime candidates to recruit and involve in the NC. There should be on-going targeted programs to engage them now instead of waiting for the next election.
I get the impression that Councilman Parks would like to see a more aggressive stance from the Neighborhood Councils. He wants them to give him projects; to challenge him if they don’t like something; not to take “no” for an answer- at least the first time. Stop complaining about lack of power and influence, stop submitting nonsensical grievances; stop whing and do something about it.
Coming from one who has endured some really tough battles in his political life…it sounds like good advice. Councilman Parks will be speaking at a future Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC) and you will be able to get his take on making the NC’s work better first hand. I guarantee you won’t waste your time or be bored!
(Denyse Selesnick is Vice-Chair of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and is a contributor to City Watch covering activities about NC land. She can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 90
Pub: Nov 8, 2013