NC WATCH-This past Tuesday evening, I was invited to the first meeting of the StakeholdersEmpowerment Enlightenment Coalition (SEEC) by Mary Armenteros, core member.
The explanation for the meeting, which was held in North Hills (SFV) was basically- a group of people angry with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (EmpowerLA) for not performing what they considered their duties. They took issue especially with the Funding Department since some had had their 2014 budget “swept” back into the Department.
They were angry with various NC Boards who ignored the rules; played loose and fast with Brown Act regulations and were oblivious to their community stakeholders’ opinions. In other words the crowd was frustrated and unhappy with Neighborhood Councils.
Sounds like a “meeting of the disgruntled, no? They had decided to call a meeting because of the unhappiness displayed at the September meeting of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC). I attended that meeting and as I am usually tough on BONC, I decided to give them a summer holiday and not comment on the meeting publicly.
But since it gave impetus to this new group, I can tell you that the September 2nd BONC meeting was not a happy one. Several NC’s in the South San Fernando Valley received 10-year certificates and talked about some of their accomplishments.
Some of the other NC’s attending were not happy and expressed quite vocally, their displeasure. If you have ever been to a BONC meeting it is pretty much like watching paint dry. They have an agenda (City Attorney staff attend) so they do stick to the rules. They have been working on two issues for six months and finally managed to pass a small portion of one of them. They draw a small audience most of the time and there are three or four regular attendees who always have some comments on agenda items.
In order to be fair, it is not really the Commissioner’s fault. They really have very little power and aside from certifying or decertifying NC’s and suggesting policies to EmpowerLA- that is the scope of their work. There are seven Commissioners representing all parts of the City and appointed by the Mayor. Five of them are recent appointees of Mayor Garcetti. I could see their utter frustration about the sometimes ponderous explanation of why something couldn’t be done. Most of the time they spend waiting for the City Attorney’s office to come up with the “proper” language.
This particular meeting started off with about 25-30 people and by the end of the meeting, aside from the Commissioners and staff, there were four of us in the audience. Not only did they manage to chase away the rest of the audience but also they were boring themselves to sleep.
On the other hand … the meeting of the SEEC had more than 30 attendees with about 12-15 different NC’s represented. No one left until the meeting ended, and then people stayed to talk to each other.
The organizers put the meeting together right after that BONC meeting. In a couple of weeks they developed a web site, prepared formal presentations and were prepared to make a policy statement. The main point seemed to be forming a watchdog group to insure that NC’s were adhering to the Brown Act.
William Kuzmin from Granada Hills NC had done a very thorough look at the law and how NC’s continually break it. He advised how individual stakeholders could file complaints, file grievances and try to get their issues solved. (Kuzmin VIDEO here).
As many of you know I am not a big fan of the Brown Act. I’m definitely in favor of transparency and openness but there are so called “Sunshine Laws” that have accomplished the same thing without the stifling and archaic Brown Act rules. As was mentioned in my article last week-the City Council members break it almost every day.
A grass roots group devoted to making sure the Brown Act was being enforced in the 95 Neighborhood Councils will not fire the imagination. Maybe I’m a cynic, but I don’t think it would gather hundreds to its fold; although, there is a small group of Brown act devotees who would probably be ecstatic,
BUT, there is a germ of an idea here that could be very effective. Someone at the meeting commented, “I am a stakeholder and we elect the NC Board. They don’t have the right to ignore us, cut off comments and pay little or no attention to anything other than their own agendas.” That is not a new story. It happens all the time. Most stakeholders get discouraged and figure they can’t fight City Hall so why bother trying to convince their NC to pay attention.
From the emails I receive (and thank you so much for not just reading, but also commenting)…and from talking to as many people as I do, I detect an undercurrent of NC dissatisfaction and frustration throughout the City. Maybe it’s more obvious now that we have an administration in City Hall who is not afraid of change. Who is actually seeking new ways of doing things more efficiently; trying to create more good paying jobs; and actually paying attention to making life more livable for residents of LA.
Most of the complaints at the SEEC meeting were lodged against the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE for you purists). One very angry gentleman commented the only ones they were “empowering” were themselves. EmpowerLA doesn’t deserve all the blame. They are an easy target. In their defense they are definitely understaffed and have a meager budget to handle 95 different neighborhoods.
General Manager, Grayce Liu has an unenviable job. We haven’t seen this much enthusiasm and hard work coming from this department head since the first GM, Greg Nelson. At the same time she needs to be tougher. We have to remember she cannot perform miracles. She is blamed for the poor performance of the Neighborhood Empowerment Analysts (NEA) who are assigned to help the individual NC’s. She inherited the staff. She has to answer to her Bosses and all of the NC regulars, who constantly bombard her with complaints, while she tries to “keep calm and carry on.”
When a volunteer group got together to help out NC’s in trouble, the NEA’s filed a grievance with their union. They complained that the volunteer group was trying to take their jobs away. As far as I know that still hasn’t been resolved.
Some of the NEA’s have been caught giving wrong information and are not very supportive. In one week there was 100 different meetings. How can five people cover all of them? You would think they would be grateful for the help?
This is why a “Stakeholder Coalition” could be very valuable but NOT to monitor Brown Act violations, although the blatant breaking of rules should be of concern.
The Charter says that the purpose of the Neighborhood Council is to bring local government issues to the stakeholders and vice versa. What could be considered more involvement than a group of stakeholders making sure that their NC Board reflects the opinions of the community…not just the Board members?
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Everyone has an agenda of one kind of another. That is how movements start. There is a small group of NC people who have been around for the duration and really don’t want change. They may be afraid of losing their power base but by suffering from the notorious “founders syndrome” they are putting up obstacles and barriers.
I don’t know if SEEC will generate wide spread support. They will have to enlist all areas of the City if they want to have any influence. The obvious step is to hold their meetings in more convenient locations. They also need a higher purpose than catching Brown Act infringements. They need to stress positives for their coalition. Gripe sessions are therapeutic, but have no staying power. The Tea Party is a great example. (More about SEEC here.)
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I do believe that the Neighborhood Council is in a dangerous place. We can liken it to a small business, where the owners work night and day to make sure it is successful. They finally get to the point where they are making a little money; hiring additional staff; and they run the company like they did in the beginning stages. They micromanage their staff; do not allow for ideas that they didn’t propose; are uncomfortable with easing control and are afraid of change. This is where the NC system is right now.
The LA Neighborhood Congress is this Saturday at City Hall. The five Neighborhood Alliances, representing all parts of the City, are going to present their best idea to take the NC’s to the next level of success. This is the closing session and I am the moderator. It has been a pleasure to work with them. They are engaged and have new or modified ways to increase the NC influence and end results. So, when I think things are going down hill-there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
I look forward to seeing many of you there. If you haven’t registered click here.
Denyse Selesnick is a contributor to CityWatch covering activities, policies and foibles in NC Land. She is Co-Chair, Program Committee for the LA Neighborhood Congress to be held September 20 at City Hall, and a former officer and Board member of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council. She can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 76
Pub: Sep 19, 2014
