Sunland Tujunga NC Bites Back – This Saga’s Not Over

FOLLOW UP, SPECIAL TO CITYWATCH--All hell broke loose at the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council (STNC) meeting on Wednesday night...and I mean it in a good way! For those of you who have not followed the continuing soap opera (novella) between the STNC and LA City Councilmember Felipe Fuentes, here is a brief synopsis and links to two previous articles explaining the "differences" that exist between the Councilmember for District 7 and his constituents. 

It started last year when CM Fuentes took a $100,000 from the Department of Empowerment (EmpowerLA, the agency overseeing the Neighborhood Councils.) This was left-over money from former CM Richard Alarcon – money that had been in his budget for Empower LA to hire a staff person for the North Valley. 

In his infinite wisdom, Fuentes decided he had better use for that money and he took it from the neighborhood councils because…apparently…he could. Everyone knew about the longstanding animosity he’d had with Alarcon. 

CM Fuentes has shown his disdain for the NC's in his District in several other ways like delaying projects they have initiated and not being available for meetings. This pattern of behavior has not only been directed at STNC but at others in his District who admitted they were afraid to go on-the-record for fear of retaliation. 

Fast forward to September 2015 when CM Fuentes informed the Sunland Tujunga NC that they would have to vacate their 300 square foot office in the North Valley City Hall. He had decided to lease the space to two non-profits…a space that STNC had occupied for eleven years and had a sharing agreement to do that. 

Fuentes had received approval from the City Council in both April and September to rent the VACANT space in the building. He did not mention to them that he was evicting the NC. What’s more, he neglected to tell STNC about his plans until September. 

This past Wednesday night, approximately ninety stakeholders showed up at the STNC monthly Board meeting to discuss the situation. Even though CM Fuentes had been invited, he sent two of his staff people instead. One of them, Laena Shakarian had written a previous letter to STNC, explaining that she was the “point person” for CM Fuentes. She outlined how STNC was to use (or not use) the facilities. (See letter below) 

Commissioner Lydia Grant (of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners - BONC,) representing the North Valley, informed the audience that the STNC issue would be on the Monday BONC meeting agenda. Later in the evening she spoke as a stakeholder and former Board member, telling the assembled group not to be afraid to stand up for what they believed. Remember, the NC's are supposed to be separate from City Hall, according to the City Charter. And the NC Board members are elected officials. 

Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC) Chair, Terence Gomes, explained that LANCC had approved a motion asking the City Council to allow NC's to occupy City-owned vacant space. He said, "An injury to one...is an injury to all. The other 95 NC's across the City of Los Angeles would support the stand taken by STNC." Several different NC's were represented in the audience and enthusiastically agreed.  

STNC Board member Gail Carlson told CW later, that she was appalled at the lack of response from the Mayor's office. She was in the meeting in September when CM Fuentes told her and STNC President Mark Seigel he was rearranging offices at the City Hall building. She later commented that "As non-paid elected officials, the NC provides many services to their stakeholders and obviously the community agrees." She added that she fears the two projects in which she is involved would be further postponed or cancelled all together by the CM's office. 

The meeting Wednesday night was both emotional and extremely supportive of the STNC Board who introduced a motion to send two letters:  one to CM Fuentes and the other to the City Council. It should be noted that the two Fuentes representatives refused to answer any questions from the audience. They also got up and left during the Question and Answer period of the meeting. One was the "point person", and the other the supervisor of the field staff. 

(See below, letter sent today to CM Fuentes) 

This is a great instance of a Neighborhood Council joining forces and standing up for their own and other communities. In this past Tuesday's CityWatch, Editor/Publisher Editor Ken Draper and Greg Nelson wrote about the purpose of the Neighborhood Council System. This is proud moment that totally exemplifies that purpose. Hurray!

(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist.  She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

–cw

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 84

Pub: Oct 12, 2015