The war against civilian volunteers - Sarno MUST go!
As we reported last week, Lisa Sarno Interim General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment has been busy putting together a list of alleged bad acts committed by Neighborhood Council Members. She then showed up, without notification to anyone, to a committee meeting and launched an attack against the very system she is supposed to be helping.Forget the fact that no Neighborhood Councilmember has ever been found to have committed any ethical violations whatsoever, Sarno is hell bent on using anecdotal evidence from years past to smear the entire system.
It is akin to calling the entire City Council, past, present and future, corrupt because a few of them were nailed for money laundering.
What Sarno is attempting to do is 2 things:
1) Inflict as much damage in a system that threatens the status quo in this city and ensure its failure
2) Obtain as much policing power for DONE as possible.
"The purpose of DONE is to ASSIST Neighborhood Councils, not control them," said LANCC Senator and Vice Chair Jim Alger, "while I did not support it previously I must now join the chorus in calling for the Mayor to fire her immediately. She is doing too much damage too fast, the system can not afford to have her there any longer."
The Sister City agrees. We have been reporting for some time that, with the encouragement of a few Councilmembers, Sarno was up to no good. Just 48 hours before her ambush, Sarno stood before a packed room of Neighborhood Council Boardmembers and didn't say one word about this report that was supposedly to "help" Neighborhood Councils.
"Sarno never said a word about the release of her pending shocker while addressing a room full of Neighborhood Council leaders at Saturday's Citywide Alliance of Neighborhood Councils." Said former DONE GM Greg Nelson, "If the purpose of this effort, as stated in the report, is to help Neighborhood Councils, you would think at the least a heads-up was in order."
"I was familiar with enough of the incidents to know that many of them occurred years ago, and have long since been resolved. But the report doesn't give us that information. Disturbingly, the report paints Neighborhood Councils as lawless, unethical, uncivilized, and dangerous people."
Now inevitablyly some dum dums will post information about election turn out, and various other "evidence" to prove that the system idysfunctionalal. If they really weren't threatened by the system, they wouldn't be trying so hard to undermine it.
In the meantime, Mr Mayor you did the right thing with your veto yesterday now do the right thing and FIRE Lisa Sarno.
See Greg Nelsons full response at CityWatch here.
Posted by Councilman John @ 11/21/2006 12:45:00 PM
47 Comments:
Why do you go there?
Why anon do you want AV to fire Sarno?
Sarno is executing direct orders from St Villar Jr. (yes the mayor).
BTW, folks, the DONE board is subject the LA City Ethics (ie the Ethics Commission). Weirdly, the actual neighborhood commissioners aren't. I don't know why that is, but if you doubt my facts, call the CEC. They'll tell you the same.
Want to talk about complaints? How many complaints have been made against DONE? Or even Sarno "if you will" herself?
Councilman John,
How about I "out" you.
Everyone else in the past and currently is a known person - why not you?
Today seems like a fun day.
WHAT'S WITH THE PHRASE "IF YOU WILL?"
Dear Better than you,
I can out you too. Don't you love Fabian's ass on a sunny day?
Considering Councilman John is actually several people, good luck with that.
Lisa Sarno inserts the phrase "if you will" like a valley girl says "like".
It is indicitave of a lack of eeducation and a desire to appear more intelligent. Of course it ends up just looking and sounding pathetic. It has become a joke at City Hall.
My guess for CJ would be Greg Nelson but what do I know... or even care?
Sarno has sacraficed whatever good will she had with NC's. AV needs to show her the door.
"CHUB SARNO"
IF YOU WILL, you are simply acting on the direction that was dictated by "HIS POLLONESS". The legacy of the "POLLORAIGOSA ADMINISTRATION" will be the attack on "local democracy" (ie.NCs, Term limits). Just wondering, will you report on the antis of the "MADRASA COUNCIL" that is LA 90032?
"CHUB SARNO"
IF YOU WILL, you are simply acting on the direction that was dictated by "HIS POLLONESS". The legacy of the "POLLORAIGOSA ADMINISTRATION" will be the attack on "local democracy" (ie.NCs, Term limits). Just wondering, will you report on the antics of the "MADRASA COUNCIL" that is LA 90032?
Sarno & Co see NC's as obstacles. And by the way
Sarno knows NC's don't have community pool. NC Elections are clear evidence of the public's lack of interest.
What would city hall lose from Sarno's action. NADA.
Instead City Hall GAINS power.
I am sure not all Neighborhood Council Board Members walk on water. Some oversight may be needed.
Anytime a particular handful of Neighborhood Council members do not like what the City Council, the Mayor or DONE is doing they declare WAR.
There is a story about the boy who cried wolf. You should read it some time. This refrain that the big bad City is attacking Neighborhood Councils is getting old and no longer seems to ring true to me.
Lisa Sarno aka Gabbage Patch is the biggest loser in CD14. She is hated throughout the district for her rude, condensending attitude towards constituents. Add to that she's the stupidest person around. She's controlling, obnoxious and a pain in the ass. No one will work with her and if she shows up to any community meetings she will get SLAMMED
Don't be TOO sure, false goddess. I can GUARANTEE she doesn't treat CD14 constituents like human beings however. . . I've been hit by the bitch's rolled up newspaper for DARING to question why things in CD14 take five times as long (minimum) to get completed under AV than they did under Pacheco.
Doesn't that imply NC's HAVE power?
There are ways to insure higher public participation but the city isn't interested in that because as the NC's gain power the City Clowncil loses it.
If you got hit by her rolled up newspaper, she should have been reported against this type of abuse. There is no room for bullying, and if Lisa Sarno is doing, or has done this, we will keep a close eye on her. It is the people's will that she cannot break. If Lisa is human as some say, then we will see how she handles and treats constituents (human beings), if not she will have hell to pay for the wrongdoings to people in our city.
BRAVO Lisa Sarno. You tell the truth! I have personally been the subject of a smear campaign by a Neighborhood Council as were many in my Neighborhood. It was vicious, unrelenting and filled with lies all under the guise of the NC. Greg Nelson knew about it and did NOTHING! He is trying to cover his behind by refutiating Lisa Sarno's comments. The harassment continued until LAST MONTH. Is that what is mean by the past???
3:45 Of course oversight is appropriate, assuming NC's could DO anything other than just give advise.
However, it isn't a matter of NC's declaring war on the City, in fact we never have. Jack Weiss all but declared war on the Neighborhood Councils a few months ago. This is just the latest exchange of gunfire.
That being said, either the Mayor fires Sarno or he will be held accountable for endorsing her actions.
Oh God:
Reporters for the the Daily scribes here is the breaking news.
Councilman John on occasion has been Greg Nelson and Jim Alger, with posting from other NC sympathizers.
What the "Councilman John" types do not know is that Mayor Frank the genious he is installed a tracker program on the website.
Not sure Higby ever had the password for it, so IP addresses all around.
By the way -- IP addresses are public information - so calm down freak shows.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen (looks at Better Than You and raises an eyebrow in question):
Better than me? Now THAT's something I would give two tuppence to see. Perhaps you are, but then again I suspect you are someone else who can't be himself, savvy? The world is full of thems that are better than us, and sooner rather then later they find themselves simply out in the noonday sun.
Let me tell you a story about someone else who was simply out.A woman named Barbara, Countess of Shrewsbury. Barbara was amusing for a while and served a purpose. But when Barbara set out to curry favor with the King by supplying him with names of persons anon that had information most damning, she overstepped her bounds. Barbara found herself set aside, if you will, and instead of being invaluable became instead irritating.
My point is this; Ms. Sarno has already gone off the plank and been set aside by you gentle folks. Now she's flailing in the water and looking for something to put her hooks into so she can pull herself out.
I would suggest doing what occurs naturally in the ocean. Them that thrash attract them that feed, savvy? Well? GET BUSY.
3:58pm
Please tell us how you really feel.
Lame arguments like that where you are calling everyone Gay shows you are a discrimatory/racist pig.
Not the other way around/
Capt. Jack Sparrow:
A tuppence is already two pence.
So two tuppence would be four pence but sounds damn silly.
By the way, while I want Ms Sarno to be unemployed, Calling her names will not be tollerated.
So far I have removed 8 posts, so play nice kids.
4:01 PM I can honestly state you have no idea what you're talking about.
And how would ANYONE place an io trace on blogger.com? Give people some credit OK.
Making false claims while attempting to act as if you have some authority or knowledge on the subject is pretty sad... even for an anonymous poster.
Let's start here...
1) Noone would have the athority to place an ip tracking cookie onto a site they don't own and to do so would be a Federal crime.
2) Even if an ip tracking cookie were used, an ip address is useless since it doesn't identify a person without records from the internet provider.
3) An internet provider wouldn't release those records without a court order
4) If all the above were covered by your super duper tracker 2000, I use a secure tunnel which means that even my internet provider can't access where I surf.
Now go play on the freeway super slueth.
YOU TELL HIM CJ!!! OMG this is funny!
Oh and Captain Jack... "if you will"... Laughing my ass off!
Sarno must go!
fniplpeGOOD TO KNOW THE CENSOR IS TAKING AWAY OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH. IT'S OK TO CALL AV NAMES, BUT NOT SOME GIRL.
THIS IS A FUB IFY. (IT MEANS NOTHING BUT IT MAY BE CENSORED, SO DON'T READ IT)
Let's see how this board quiets down tonight. Be off all you valleyites to your big meeting.
the n.c.'s have absolutely no effect on city business. they are not repesentative, have nothing to do except account for the money they are thrown (as in pigeon food) by the city.
the n.c. players are either naive or chumps, or maybe they know something i don't.
the whole concept of done is dung.
Dear reader, two tuppence makes a nice cha-ching sound as it goes into the till. One fourpence makes for deep pockets, savvy? Sort of like asking a small child if he would rather have one quarter or two dimes and a nickel, and having the child take the two dimes and a nickel because there's more in the hand.
It seems the only people that believe the NCs are valid are the
NC board members. As a stakeholder I stopped attending mtgs in my area as the majority of the board were there to protect special interests only. There has been no evidence contradicting this.
Neighborhood Councils serve no one but themselves. They are a bunch of powerless Councilman wannabees who use their "perceived" power to further their own causes with absolutely no regard to what the neighborhood wants/needs. It is a joke. No one in my area even knows what the NC is and they are going on their 4th election.
Interesting how everyone completely ignored the 3:52 post of the person who was singled out by a NC. NC's can do great harm in a small community by spreading rumors and lies about those who diagree with them. I know because IT HAPPENED TO ME TOO. Did any of you read the list provided by Lisa Sarno's letter? Imagine YOURSELF as the VICTIM of a power hungry Board Member(s). Sarno must go? I say Neighborhood Council must go!
Hello, Hello, Anyone There?
Clowncil members do not want to get rid of NCs. The phones in the field offices have stopped ringing. Haven't you noticed? They have succeeded in throwing all of their whiners and most of the complaints into the laps of the NC members while they raised, and raised again, their salaries.
The infrastructure is falling apart-sewers, water, transformers, streets, sidewalks, services, schools - it is all a humungus mess. Does the Clowncil give a shit? Hell no!
They've hoodwinked you NC flunkies into doing their work for them for nothing. They hold you under their thumbs. No salary, no respect, no clout, just lots and lots of work and lots and lots of chaos.
Hang in there. Love you.
Oversight of NC's is necessary. Sarno is doing the right thing. Most NC members have nothing to worry about. It is just a few bad apples that give NC's a bad name.
2:51 a.m.
Get some sleep.
Who better to do this work -- 23-year-old field staffers who can't find the main intersection of your NC area, with Mapquest?
It's called "empowerment," doofus, and. Many NC people know the ropes and the department contacts at city hall better than the city staffers.
Let them go back to getting photo ops for their bosses. We're getting things done in NC-land. If it's not happening where you live, fire your NC board and start over.
What was troubling about Lisa's report was it was one sided. Why didn't she outline all the positive things NC's have done throughout the city. IN fact many have done more for their districts then the clowncil members. True residents are showing up to NC meetings asking for help because the clowncil members aren't doing their job. To those who continue to criticize and attack the NC's I say without ANY MONEY they campaigned using good old hard work and got 226,000 people to VOTE NO ON R. That's a hell of a lot of people and the clowncil with their $1 million campaign got only 100,000 more for their money. Now that's sending a message.
7:16
That's a bogus silly assertion. NCs did NOT get 226,000 people to vote AGAINST Prop R.
Check out the votes "against" Prop "F" (that no one knew ANYTING about) -- the "technical change that NO ONE was against and NO ONE campaigned to defeat. 138,000 (more than HALF as many) voted AGAINST that, as voted against Prop R.
More than 1 in 5 voters (that's 20+ percent).
Fact is, 20-25 percent of L.A. voters will vote against ANYTHING the city puts forward. If the city found a way to feed and clothe every homeless person in L.A. at NO cost, past, present, or future, 20-25 percent of L.A. voters would vote AGAINST it, regardless, just on contrarian "principal."
That means a LEAST half of the "no" votes on Prop R were just that -- "I'm against everything" votes.
No NC "leader" nor ANYONE else in the city convinced that larger portion of the "anti" vote to oppose the city. That group votes "NO" every time.
A million bucks for the campaign couldn't get those 1 in 5 voters to vote "yes" on anything.
Greg, Greg, Greg..... if you had not done so much damage while you were GM people would not have to clean up after you.
You knew about all this problems from harassment to embezzlement to inappropriate, hostile treatment of board members in the NCs... you knew about physical threats, you were even recipient of some of them .... oh Greg I am really disappointed in your sore loser's attitude....
Do the math, that's less than 100K REAL anti Prop R votes, maybe 1 in 6 really opposed it.
If that.
Losers.
Sore (sour) losers!
Nelson's pissed because his "legacy" of supposedly creating a working system of NCs has had 3 major hits in as many months. An ill-timed, naive attempt to force council files, a STUPID attempt to go to war with City Council over term limits (just to clear the decks for a dozen wannabes), and now the skeletons he hid from BONC and E&N for four years have come out . . . in force, and mostly unresolved.
His rebuttal is as limp as his leadership skills . . . "someone was removed from City Council in handcuffs, too!" (One of the Mayor Sam cling-along crew members, no doubt).
When a city council MEMBER is removed in handcuffs by the police for disrupting a meeting (comparing apples with apples), get back to us, Greggie. Most of the disruptions reported this week were NC "leaders" themselves acting up, not lunatic stakeholders playing "look Mom, I'm on TV" for Ch. 35.
No NC Boardmember has ever been removed from a meeting in handcuffs...
The City Council did have our old friend Martin Ludlow in handcuffs however... COUNCILMAN Martin Ludlow.
No NC Boardmember has ever been found guilty of misappropriating any funds...
4 CURRENT City Councilmembers were fined by the ethics commission for MONEY LAUNDERING.
You fuckers want to go toe to toe, let us compare the PROVEN allegations against 15 members of the LA City Council against the UNPROVEN allegations against over 3,000 past and present board members...
Toral NC system this year: 1385
Total COMPLAINTS: 18
Total PROVEN allegations: 0
THAT is comparing apples to apples... oh and one more thing... person who received the most complaints in the entire system:
LISA SARNO!
Does it really mean anything if Sarno is fired during the very young NC system being implemented in Los Angeles?
I do agree she is lackluster, but the NC system and this blog should be placing pressure and exposing the mayor, council, and more powerful city departments. The NC system is underfunded plus under-represented (so many NC members are squeaky-wheels who desire office & have no real grassroots experience towards real social issues). However, I agree with having the system, it will just take time and more activism from genuinely concerned community members to improve the system and relationship with the government system.
Remember, if Sarno does go...the powers that be will replace her with a "loyal" Antonio or City clowncil ally--in the same respects that most NC leadership are bogus and obnoxious people.
I'm not saying anything can be perfect, but I propose the NC system and this blog should stop the gossip rag and continue to discuss relevant public policy topics. The discussion gets out to the officials (through their minions they call deputies) and in other manners.
The point is 6:21 AM, Council does not want to get rid of NCs, because you all are doing the work for nothing. That provides more money for the Council to squirrel away on their pets and pet projects.
"The Duffus is the fella
who gladly works for nothing
so I can save my moola
without so much as huffing."cw
If you want to see why neighborhood councils need some help, and some supervision, just look at the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council, and the corrupt/crinimal mind of their president, Art Pulido. It is amazing how a thug can hold so much power, and how DONE will do nothing about it.
DONE legally can't do anything as they have no policing power, nor should they.
Is it a smart idea to have the NC's fall under the perview of the City Ethics Commission? Maybe, if they were given more authority. However as an advisory body, what would be the point?
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