MY TURN--I think there is such a thing as the "Dog Days of Summer" since my usual sunny disposition ... glass half full demeanor ... seems to be out of sorts of late.
There is a litany of things that are annoying me, aside from the heat. I am disappointed in our local government ... not all of them, but a majority. Like many of you I studied the LA Times report card for our elected officials and other than switching Ron Galperin to a B+ and Mike Feuer a B- I thought they were pretty accurate.
Mike Feuer has done some good things, but his staff seems to always be afraid to make bold decisions. I realize that they don't want to put the City in any situation where they could get sued, but some of the stuff is just nonsense.
I'm going to add to the criticism that my fellow CityWatch LA colleagues, Bob Gelfand and Jay Handal, have written about The City vs. Neighborhood Councils, in the last couple of weeks. Two years ago I authored a series of articles in CityWatch entitled "Is BONC BUNK?" I have not been their cheerleader. Having The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) appointed by the Mayor to LEAD the ninety- six Neighborhood Councils in theory ...sounds great.
General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, Grayce Liu, entertains people from all over the world, who want to see how our Neighborhood Council works. They are all very impressed. The way it is supposed to work is impressive; however, that is not reality.
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, I know that Commission appointments are supposed to be on merit, but really they are for the most part "thank you's" for political support. That would be OK if there was at least some knowledge in the Commissioner's background to warrant this post. Check out the Department of Water and Power Commission and view backgrounds of the people serving on that very important body.
There was a very recent vacancy on the BONC Board. The recently resigned commissioner was really battered and bruised by the Neighborhoods in his region. NC Boards are not shrinking violets and they vented their frustration on him. At least he had some experience in the NC system. The newly appointed Commissioner for the Harbor region has no NC experience.
The good thing is that out of the seven members ... most have been an active part. The problem is leadership. Going to their meetings is a little like watching paint dry. Add to that the very convenient time and location … 1p.m. on Second Monday at City Hall. Supposedly once a month they hold the meeting in the field in the evening. The problem is that it is not publicized so very few in that region show up.
The reason they don't have meetings in the evening is that the staff would need overtime. The regional specialists are also supposed to attend individual NC meetings. That happens occasionally. Someone said to me recently, Why do we make it more convenient for the staff, who are paid well, as opposed to the volunteers who don't even get gas money!
So...BONC had an election for President and Vice-President. The big secret is someone in the Mayor's office called a few Commission members and told them who to nominate and vote for. This is in spite of the City Charter stating that the NC's should be independent of the City politicos. This election was different. The anointed knew who they were as did staff (I assume) and when someone else was nominated it caused real confusion in the entire meeting. They weren't sure how to handle it. After a lot of going back and forth with legal opinions from the City attorney, the election results were as pre-determined. It's a little discouraging. BONC needs a strong leader with vision, not one just versed in the Brown Act or legalese.
Here is my list of other current Disappointments:
1) Veterans were all going to be housed by the end of 2015, now the talk is 2017 and nothing much has happened.
2) DWP is going for higher rates and when I asked the Rate Payer Advocate (he is supposed to represent us consumers) he told me that it would take him 90 days to analyze the impact on the proposed plan. I wonder if the decision will be made before his study is finished?
3) We are getting guilt for taking more than five minute showers, but our illustrious LA County Supervisors are getting their cars washed two or three times a week according to a Wednesday article in the Daily News.
4) Los Angeles was only number TWO in the country for time spent in gridlock something like 80 hours. Washington DC was number ONE- but not by much. So where in the Mobility Plan does it specify cuts in time spent in the car in gridlock?
5) Why does Street Services only pick up the specific items reported when obvious trash is in the near vicinity?
6) Street Vending isn't going to disappear, so which plan will be adopted and how many public meetings will be held?
7) When will the media stop publicizing Donald Trump? Can anyone in their right mind see him as President of the United States? The things he talks about doing are fine if you are a dictator but we still have three branches of government.
8) Why can't the "little houses" be utilized in City owned areas to house the homeless?
9) Since LA has won awards for transparency in government, what is the problem in informing everyone about the details in the recent Mayor/Union projected contract?
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ONE GOOD THING
Last week Assembly Member, Patty Lopez, held a meeting on the High Speed Rail situation. She said she wanted to listen to her constituents. That usually means presentations by "experts" and a bunch of rhetoric. Imagine everyone's surprise when she had people gather around tables and discuss their positives and negatives in small groups. The findings were delivered to the entire audience
No one was bored and everyone participated. They were people from Save Tujunga Canyon, Sylmar, a major landlord from the City of San Fernando, a biker from Valley Village representatives of special interests, NC's and interested stockholders etc. No one left until all the table presentations were given. This was on a Saturday afternoon.
I haven't been invited either by Council members Felipe Fuentes or Nury Martinez or Representative Tony Cardenas to a meeting of this type. For someone who is a neophyte in the political arena, Lopez has the right instincts.
Anyone have anything to add to my "gripe" list? Please share.
(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist. She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 70
Pub: Aug 28, 2015
