CommentsMY TURN-Some of you have asked me why I haven't written about elections. I saw a cartoon recently, showing a person wrapped up in a blanket asking, "Is it November yet?" I am absolutely a self-described political junkie...but even I am turning off the TV. It’s embarrassing and I am bored, incredulous at the half-truths and outright lies I am hearing. I’m also sad that the country I love is the subject of such ridicule.
Recently I heard a discussion about adding an amendment to the Constitution stipulating that marriage is between one man and one woman. My brilliant eldest grandson remarked, "We should have an amendment barring stupid people." I’ve been amazed at the stuff appearing on social media that has no relation to reality. Even among my colleagues and friends, I find myself fighting off the desire to correct them. As a journalist, I believe I have an obligation to be neutral and not allow my personal opinions to carry added weight. I do try…and yes, I know, I don't always succeed.
I've mentioned in other articles that when I was seventeen and heard Councilmember Rosalind Wyman (who was all of twenty-two years old) speak, I decided I wanted to be the first lady Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.
In my late twenties, I decided to run for the Community College Board of Trustees. I was passionate about vocational education being expanded at the Community College level. A little déjà vu, no? It was quite an experience but it made me decide that I’d rather exercise my influence through the typewriter – and now the computer -- than to deal with the unadulterated BS coming from the electeds and their handlers.
Now, a hundred years later (or so it seems,) I believe that I made the right decision. It’s hard to believe that people don't look at all the promises Presidential candidates make and realize that they need two other branches of government to get anything done. And, of course, there’s the small matter of the Constitution to take into account. With all of the knowledge available on the internet, it’s easy to fact check any statement. No one can say after they’ve made a bad decision or statement, "I didn't know!"
Closer to home, we’re having Neighborhood Council Elections. They are just beginning but I thought I’d take a look to see how some of the new strategies for attracting candidates and getting out the vote are going.
Those of you who have been my regular readers know that I believe the Neighborhood Council system offers one of the best ways to apply checks and balances on local government. And it’s the most effective way for ordinary stakeholders to get things done…or to keep things from happening. So that we do not just survive, but are able to thrive, the NCs must engage all of the stakeholders in their geographical area. Elections are one of the best ways to gather that support.
NC elections are not a surprise. They’re held every two years and each of the ninety-six NCs have their own bylaws regarding these elections. Some vote for a certain number of Board members and the Board selects the President and other officers. Some run for a particular seat or office. Some have elections by written secret ballot and, for the first time, thirty-three NCs are using online voting. Praised be the 21st century!
It appeared that for this election, EmpowerLA, the city agency responsible for the care and feeding of all ninety-six councils, had finally come up with a very organized and straight forward election plan. The ninety-six councils are divided geographically into twelve regions. EmpowerLA hired an outside election consultant with experience with both NCs and marketing. He in turn hired qualified people to manage each region.
This has been a great experiment and the startup has had its share of glitches, especially for people signing up to be candidates. There are requirements and verification is mandatory. Councils choosing to use online voting in Region one and two are now receiving votes electronically but will also have electronic voting and paper ballots available at their individual polling places on April 2. I'm anxious to see it in action.
Up until now, the NCs had to allocate a dollar amount of their budget for election costs and that could be any amount the Board decided. The regions were able to meet, exchange ideas and perhaps pool their money for ads in a local newspaper. Everything else was up to the "Election Chair" together with the Outreach Chair. I have intimate knowledge of this since I was both election chair and outreach chair for my former NC. It was almost a full time job!
Instead of expecting each NC to find its own way, EmpowerLA negotiated agreements on all types of promotional materials, including street banners and bus benches. There are different size templates for both flyers and postcards and all the artwork has been done professionally. The NC only had to make a selection, fill in the copy it wanted and choose its own printer. They even provided addresses for each district. If an NC does not want to bother with any of these preliminary choices, it could pay $2,000 and have an expert come do it.
This new process ensures the NCs do not go over budget; EmpowerLA knew exactly what it was doing! If you are not a professional some of these tasks can be difficult to accomplish. Add to that the fact that some NC Boards have not been able to agree on what actually should be done...so nothing has been! Some Board Presidents claimed they didn't want to spend any money on elections.
I don't have to tell you that since we are dealing with different personalities, some NCs have never gotten their various acts together and could not draw enough candidates to form a quorum, let alone stand for an election. Last Friday over thirty NC's had their funds frozen. This means they are now unable to write checks for anything. Why did this happen? Because their financial statements are three months or more overdue.
The financial records that the NCs are required to keep are necessary, but truly can be onerous. In most cases, there is probably nothing wrong other than the fact that the treasurer did not finish financial paperwork and turn it in on time. It’s very seldom that we hear about financial fraud or embezzling of funds in the NC system. Poor uses of funds perhaps...but that is a subject for another article.
So here are some suggestions for the next NC elections in 2018:
Each NC should allocate $6,000 per year for the next two years as election funds. It may sound arbitrary but this would put them all on equal footing. In addition to providing the funds, EmpowerLA should hire a marketing person to help each NC adhere to deadlines and to get all the election materials completed and dispersed. This would be a huge time saver and would free up each NC to do real outreach to all the members of their communities. It also would eliminate the fiefdoms that have been created to run some of our NCs for too long. I’ll be interested to see which NCs have the same Board for more than four years. I will share that information with you.
There is another controversy brewing regarding whether or not it should be mandatory for NCs to take minutes. Although it’s not written anywhere, it should be the NCs’ responsibility to take minutes and post them on their websites. They are using public funds (each is allocated $42,000 per year) so neighbors and stakeholders deserve to see what each NC is doing! The Mayor talks about transparency; not posting minutes is the opposite of that.
The three biggest complaints that NC officers seem to have involves the amount to detail they are responsible for. Most of these volunteers have day jobs; the Charter does not even mention many of the “duties” that have evolved. It says simply says that Neighborhood Councils should bring their Neighborhoods' ideas to our local government and engage that government in the challenges each neighborhood is facing.
There is a quick way to eliminate time-consuming NC tasks and still give EmpowerLA General Manager Grayce Liu the peace of mind that things are being properly done.
Here is a rough annual budget proposal for each NC:
$4200 for someone to take minutes and transcribe them.
$2400 for an accountant or bookkeeper to do the monthly financials and submit to Board.
$1200-1500 for a webmaster to post all minutes, meeting notices, agendas etc.
For approximately $8000 dollars, the three biggest problems for both Empower LA and the NCs would disappear.
It sounds simple doesn't it? We’re looking at $14,000 dollars annually out of the $42,000 budget. This solution would take care of the elections and the nitty gritty nightmares. It would save much time and aggravation, freeing up EmpowerLA to provide leadership and help on major projects. And it just might attract more people to serve on Neighborhood Councils – people who are willing to spend their time being creative and accomplishing things for the community.
So I say to Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Len Shaffer: how about putting that on the agenda for the next meeting? Or will you and your commissioners stand down again and avoid doing something that, though controversial, would certainly be worthwhile?
(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.
Neighborhood Councils Offer Best ‘Checks and Balances’ for LA Government … Get Involved
