CommentsEASTSIDER-I don’t know how many people remember the Wizard of Oz, but after a long and heroic quest, Dorothy discovers that in the end the all-powerful Wizard is in fact a kinda pitiful human being.
BONC, DONE and the hidden City Attorney (Mike Feuer) are starting to remind me of that story.
I’m not going to push the analogy too far. After all, I’m not Dorothy, and my dog is Yoyo, not Toto. On the other hand, BONC and DONE are starting to look a lot like Dorothy’s evil challenges on the yellow brick road.
First, A Public Records Act Closeout
After bouncing into Public Records Act purgatory, and concluding a quest since at least August, I have finally gotten the definitive answer to the question I posed in a Citywatch article you can find here.
“BONC and/or DONE have recently unilaterally imposed Bylaws on the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council, and I have been informed by other NC members that they have done the same for them.
I can find no legal authority for this in either the BONC or DONE websites, and I can find nothing at all about Neighborhood Council Bylaws on either site. I am requesting any and all information regarding the process of Neighborhood Councils requesting changes in their bylaws, as well as any and all information regarding either DONE or BONC's authority to unilaterally impose changes."
Please consider this a formal PRA request to the Department.”
Well, by golly, that request did one whale of a job. Not. Evidently using something called “NextRequest -- Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software.” WOW! There evidently being no live human beings at DONE capable of responding to a straightforward request, the gods of technology spit out the answer.
It was a miracle.
“Pursuant to Government Code §6253.9, the Department has identified approximately 39 pages of records with regard to this request. If you would like a hard copy of all of the records identified, the cost to copy these documents would be $3.90 This amount is calculated pursuant to the Los Angeles Administrative Code, Article 4, Section 12.40 (b), the cost is $.10 per page for documents.”
This statement was accompanied by two separate pdf files. The second one I’m still puzzling out. It was a copy of the California Corporations Code, Section 212, relating to bylaws for a Corporation. Really. I’d ask how the Corporations Code has anything to do with Neighborhood Councils in the City of Los Angeles, but it would probably take a month or two for them to tell me that they could find “no responsive document.”
So let me go through the other documents in order:
1) Ordinance 186760, relating to Neighborhood Council Age Requirements and Optional Youth Board Seat.
2) Ordinance 186761, relating to the definition of a Community Interest Stakeholder
3) Empower LA’s Neighborhood Council 2018 SELECTIONS, “Selection Procedures Stipulation Worksheet” (I think they meant the 2018 NC Elections)
4) the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils, as last amended in December 2013
That’s it.
Why the PRA Response Was Both Laughable and Pitiful
My God. Even a staff member for Raquel Beltran’s version of DONE would shudder at this mishmash of a nothing burger. And even within the response, there are documents which absolutely prove that BONC and DONE simply do not have any legal authority to unilaterally change NC Bylaws.
First, there’s the California Corporations Code. I would love to know what it has to do with a public advisory system, but I think we all know the answer.
Second, there’s nothing in the Age/Youth Board or Neighborhood Council Stakeholder Ordinances that have anything to do with my Bylaws question. Same for the Empower LA’s 2018 SELECTIONS.
Third, there is something in the amended Neighborhood Council Plan that is on point. At page 4 of the document, dealing with the certification of Neighborhood Councils, it clearly states that the NC wanting certification must submit bylaws, and goes on for some two pages to say what the NC has to cover in their proposed bylaws.
You will be shocked to find that there is nothing in these requirements having to do with BONC and/or DONE having the authority to unilaterally change them. Quite the contrary. Article IV (Certification Process) only gives DONE review authority over bylaws. You can read it in the document at page 8.
Further, and perhaps something General Manager Beltran should read, or possibly even hand out to the troops, we have at page 15, the provision of how a Neighborhood Council can change their bylaws:
“A Certified Neighborhood Council that wishes to change or adjust it bylaws shall complete an Application to Change or Adjust Bylaws, as prescribed by DONE, and submit the application to DONE for evaluation. DONE staff shall have ten business days from the receipt of the application to complete its evaluation.”
It goes on to detail the process. And that’s what the actual Plan says, unlike the patently improper unilateral implementation DONE is doing.
Oopsie! What They Left Out
Speaking of public information, if anyone from BONC or DONE read a recent column of mine (hint, hint), they would already know that bylaws are the business of the 99 Neighborhood Councils, with BONC and DONE only having review authority.
That column was called, “Don Quixote Meets LA City and is DONE in!”
“And specifically relating to bylaws, we find the criteria embedded in the Charter itself:
“Sec. 906. Certification of Neighborhood Councils.
(a) By-laws. Each neighborhood council seeking official certification or recognition from the City shall submit an organization plan and by-laws to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment showing, at a minimum:
- the method by which their officers are chosen;
- neighborhood council membership will be open to everyone who lives, works or owns property in the area (stakeholders);
- assurances that the members of the neighborhood council will reflect the diverse interests within their area;
- a system through which the neighborhood council will communicate with stakeholders on a regular basis;
(5) a system for financial accountability of its funds; and
(6) guarantees that all meetings will be open and public, and permit, to the extent feasible, every stakeholder to participate in the conduct of business, deliberation and decision-making.”
You will notice that nowhere in the actual Charter is any delegation of these rights to BONC and/or DONE. Period. They simply exist as a review step as a Council determines how they want to conduct business.
Maybe they can have NextRequest include the City Charter in its search algorithm.
The Takeaway
I’m certainly not going to question how much the NextRequest software cost, because I’m afraid to ask.
And I’m not going to call out DONE and the staff for lying about bylaws changes. Mostly because they would have to actually know what the rules really are in order to be lying. And it is embarrassingly clear that they have no knowledge of the Charter, the Plan, or much of anything else.
The case of General Manager Raquel Beltran is more complicated. It is clear that under the hegemony of Gracie Liu (I can’t believe I’m saying this) these DONE takeover changes would have never taken place. First, because she had been around the system long enough to know the rules of the road. And that under the Charter, DONE is there to support the Neighborhood Councils.
Second, Grayce knew that her “real” job was to keep the lid on the Neighborhood Councils, so they did not embarrass our thin-skinned Mayor, Eric Garcetti. Certainly, this real mandate does not envision a newbie appointee running around doing a takeover of the Neighborhood Councils. Not smart, even if BONC doesn’t know the difference.
For Beltran, the job was a totally new venture, since she was a policy wonk, and had a minimal idea of what the Neighborhood Council system is actually all about.
Finally, after her much touted 99 Neighborhood Council “Listening Tour,” we have yet to hear the lessons learned by Beltran, or even what if any analysis came out of this “can duck for a year” initiative. Either way, her actions are inconsistent with her GM role.
To bring this tale to an end, if you and I are to believe the PRA Response, there is no document regarding BONC, or DONE, which contains any mention of any Deputy City Attorney reviewing, recommending, or acting on anything that either agency has done. Before promulgating all these new rules. Come on.
Finally, I’m going to take on the City Attorney’s Office. I believe that the Wizard of Oz, Mike Feuer, is in fact, a not too successful wizard, pretending that his NC Council City Attorney liaisons are all powerful while we never get to see one, even as they are the attorneys legally responsible for allowing BONC and DONE (their actual clients) to perpetrate this madness.
Hiding behind the curtain.
PS: Having depressed everyone, and to end this on a positive note, for fans of the Wizard of Oz, you can find a free copy of the e-book here.
(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
