FIRST PERSON - When Neighborhood Councils were first initiated back in 1999 everybody was hopeful that the “locally elected representatives” would actually be there for the immediate community and its constituents by helping to make a difference in the neighborhood.
Improvements were supposed to be done via tree planting, new parks, more parking, less littering, etc. as well as outreach and communication between stakeholders and local government, but in the end neighborhoods ended up with a majority of board members who only seem to have their own interests at heart first.
I cannot say that this is the fact for all NC’s citywide, but I sure can tell you that the Hollywood NC’s seem to make up that type of board member conundrum.
Just to mention a few, Mr. Scott Campbell, for example, is a board member of the Central Hollywood NC (CHNC). He has also put his hat into the race to become an elected representative on the East Hollywood NC (EHNC) and on the Hollywood Hills West NC (HHWNC), while at the same time hoping to be re-elected to the CHNC.
Tom Meredith, board member of the Hollywood Studio District NC (HSDNC) is running for re-election to that board as well as for a seat on Hollywood United NC (HUNC).
David Bell, board member of the East Hollywood NC is hoping for re-election to this board as well as seeking an elected seat on HSDNC’s board.
While there seems to be nothing illegal about this, it seems not kosher to a lot of people. So far any member of the public can be on several NC boards as long as they claim to have a stake in that community they say they want to represent.
I have attended my share of NC board meetings and it always amazed me to hear board members talking about them being volunteers and that they all have their hands full with their own lives, too.
Yes, one’s own life should always come first, but the question remains as to why would one decide to volunteer one’s time on a Neighborhood Council if the time to volunteer for their community is so scars?
How can anybody “serve” one’s community when spreading one so thin by being on a different NC’s to “volunteer”?
Where would one find the time to actually serve the community they are supposed to represent?
So many questions and so little time before the September 16, 2012 elections to get them all answered before the voters swell into the polling places.
Elections for the HSDNC have not been all that easy in the past anyway and with the current list of candidates it comes to show that there is a lot of desperation when former board members make up a story about a challenge kicking them off the NC after being elected to the board by their voters.
Desperation and deceit is something that the public could expect from higher city offices, but encountering it on this lowest level of City Government is something that perhaps the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) and even the City Attorney’s office should take a look at.
Even though DONE, after all, oversees the Neighborhood Councils citywide there is little to no chance that they actually follow up on these types of things due to their budget.
The 2010 election challenge was filed by me and ruled upon by the City Clerk, which resulted in disqualifying eight candidates who were part of a slate that misused the HSDNC Logo and leaving the voters with the impression that the HSDNC board endorsed those on the slate that was handed out.
Now, ”… after two idle years with the HSDNC”, to use the words of HSDNC candidate and former board member and parliamentarian of the HSDNC Harry Plapinger, he has planted himself in the “Business Tenant Governor” category and hopes to be re-elected to the board.
His complete candidate statement as of August 29, 2012 reads:
“I served as the Parliamentarian for the HSDNC for approximately five years, through 2010. I ran again for a seat in 2010, and, along with several others, won by popular vote. However, the Election Division decided to ignore the vote of the people, accept a challenge and place on the Board individuals who had lost.
Now, after two idle years with the HSDNC, but with involvement in the Selma/LaBaig/Harold Way Historic Neighborhood organization, I have decided to run for a seat on the HSDNC board.
It is with great hope that I will be elected to the board – along with others who are concerned with the lack of movement by the current board – and that we’ll again take the opportunity to bring about recognition by the City of the help we should give to our stakeholders.”
It seems that the 2010 challenge still sits in the wrong spot of his stomach as it does for his fellow candidate Glenda Kelly who claims that she “won a seat on the board. But the City Election Division decided to throw out the winners and install the losers due to a challenge.”
Ms. Kelly’s complete candidate statement as of August 29, 2012:
“I was the HSDNC Treasurer from 2005 – 2010. We had a very productive board. I ran again in 2010 and won a seat on the board. But the City Election Division decided to throw out the winners and install the losers due to a challenge. The rule concerning that challenge was changed after the election.
At any rate, I really enjoyed the ability to serve my community. I would be honored to serve again if the opportunity is presented. I was also one of the founding members of the HSDNC.”
The reality, however, is that neither one of them was on the HSDNC 2010 election ballot. Here is a link to the election results of the 2010 HSDNC.
Looking at these results and the votes received by all candidates of that election I wonder how Mr. Plapinger could have “won by popular vote. … ” or Ms. Kelly “… won a seat on the board. …” if neither of them even ran for re-election? What is their game? What is their plan? What is wrong with them?
Do they really believe that they ran in 2010 or could perhaps this years’ summer’s heat have some sort of influence on their memory? It certainly is not the truth that is influencing their minds.
Another untruth is the fact that, according to Ms. Kelly, “The rule concerning that challenge was changed after the election.”
The 2010 challenge was based on the fact that the HSDNC logo was used on a Slate promoting various candidates and implying that the HSDNC endorsed those candidates. This rule is still in place in the current Election Manual, which would make any use of the NC logo challengeable. It is listed under Article XV: Challenges / Challengeable (roughly fourth point down).
In the past Mr. Plapinger and Ms. Kelly were active members of the HSDNC, by organizing community events and truly venting development projects before either saying Yay or Nay. – So why resort back to tactics that blew up in their faces back in 2010, when they created a slate using the HSDNC logo, and later disputed that they did?
What can the public expect of candidates who decide to lie about the past just to be elected to a Neighborhood Council board? Is it okay for anybody to fabricate a story that makes them sound like victims by distorting the truth? If the truth is lied about, how much trust can the public put into them if elected to the HSDNC or any other NC for that matter? You decide.
(Ziggy Kruse is an activist and reporter for www.HNN-TV.com. She is also a former Board Member of the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council. Ziggy can be reached at [email protected]. Ms. Kruse views are her own and do not reflect opinions of either the staff or management of CityWatch.)
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 71
Pub: Sept 4, 2012