Winds of change - Neighborhood Council Senate to meet at City Hall
The ink is barely dry on the nomination of a new DONE General Manager but already their seems to be a seismic shift taking place amongst the Neighborhood Council system. The rallying cry for war is being replaced with a call to work together, and there seems to be (for now anyway) the feeling that the Mayor got this one right.Whether the NC's begin to turn the corner of cooperation over confrontation is largely dependent on what happens in City Hall (for example do the NC's get attacked in City Council Chambers or have one mandate after the next forced upon them in violation of the City Charter only to be later repealed) but an interesting thing hit this old dead Councilman's inbox this morning. The Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Senate Agenda.
There it was, in bright red letters; "Different location than normal. Los Angeles City Hall Room 1035." Say WHAT??? I had to read it 3 times and send an email to verify it wasn't a cut and paste from another agenda but alas, it is true.
What's the big deal you might say? Well, proximity for one. I am not the only person who has long questioned why this body didn't meet in City Hall considering it only makes sense, that is where everyone is. OK they are meeting on a Saturday but it is a start.
Secondly, and more importantly is the symbolism. "I don't know if you can read too much into the move to City Hall, but you can definitely feel the winds of change," LANCC Senator and Vice Chair Jim Alger said in an email this morning, "It is fair to say that a state of war no longer exists." I disagree with Alger, I believe much can be read into the move, especially when compiled with other things including his own statement.
The soon to be former Interim DONE GM Lisa Sarno was allegedly bucking for the permanent job but instead has been expelled from the entire system. Her heavy handed tactics have been lambasted by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, NC Members and the City Council
alike. Even Jack Weiss visibly showed disgust at Sarno when she attempted an awkward tap dance around the question of whether DONE had the authority to order Neighborhood Councils what to spend their money on - as it turns out, they don't. "C'mon already, either you do or you don't" he said throwing his arms in the air at a recent City Council Meeting.
The Mayor, not seen as particularly friendly toward Neighborhood Councils, has appointed someone who, it appears, the Neighborhood Councils view as a defender and someone they strongly approve of. Alger, who among others has been at the forefront of the resistance movement now says a "state of war no longer exists" and the LANCC Senate is meeting in City Hall.
No, I am going to have to say that much can be read into that. It appears that a new era of cooperation is upon us and that is good for everyone, except maybe us at the Sister City -- what will we have to talk about?
Blog away dum dums.
Posted by Councilman John @ 2/28/2007 08:45:00 AM
24 Comments:
Show of hands, please: does anyone out there care about the Neighborhood Councils?
NC90032 #1
VIVA PARRA!
Wacko Walter, do you see CJ disrespecting your rants? NO...
that's just bad form for a fellow blogger.
The meeting is downtown only because the other facility is unavailable.
It's not disrespect. I'm just curious. Obviously he's very interested, and I gather others are, too, but I don't know how many. Personally, I feel as though NC's distract and divert politically active and aware people who could and should be hammering away directly at City Hall.
Yes Walter, we know because you say that every chance you get.
How many bloggers here give a shit about half of what you say? Not many.
Your'e always pro-real estate, pro-development and fuck what the community has to say (like home depot) which is why you will never WIN an election. So instead you sit here go on one rant after the next.
Zuma Dogg just moved up a few notches in my book. At least he does something.
Walter, I care and many others do as well. People such as yourself seek to end public participation all together. Some of the highest comment numbers have been generated by NC issues.
Sounds like plenty of interest.
It certainly does appear the rhetoric from the NC's and City Hall has died down, that's a step in the right direction.
very interesting
we know who councilman john is
the same guy is hating on walter here
eesh!
Wacko, the subject matter of Councilman Yawn's postings are no more or less interesting to the public at large than your own. Neither one of you gets a smattering of attention or responses. The few that do bother to post on his are the half-dozen hardass, under-elected NC board members -- who only bother if someone suggests they're unmandated and really just playing the NC game so they can take a number and stand in waiting to become the next city council candidate from nowhere (that's where your "high comment numbers" come from 12:17, hyperbolic thin-skinned defensiveness).
Anybody remember the "straw man" from a few months back. Read the nearly identical (though more diplomatic) pre-appointment pronouncements of the new GM of DONE, especially on the topic of NCs being wholly unrepresentative and under-representative (i.e., "elitist").
How long before the honeymoon is over and she gets crowned as the "straw woman" (or worse, Sarno II)?
How loooooong? Not looooong!
At least your posts are shorter and to the point, Wacko, (not written like some "what I did for summer vacation" 7th grade essay). That's good thinking on your part - why bother penning 1,000 words when no one reading any of them, right?
12:30, "why bother penning 1,000 words when no one reading any of them, right?"
then why did you?
I love when some jackass accuses the NC's of "under-representing" their community and calling them "elitists." Then they accuse them of being unemployed, homeless, and a variety of other charges.
Pick an argument and stick with it OK?
When you say "under represented" you mean "white" you racist prick. Is it true that more "white" people are involved? Or some alledgedly higher economic class is more involved? Yes. Why? Because the disenfranchised tend not to get involved in a system that has failed them.
Then these bozos talk about "outreach" and miserable turnout but the city does zilch to produce any outreach.
If it were up to the elitists on the 4th floor, NC's would spend 100% of their funds on outreach so the NC could be ignored in city hall.
Walter, wtf? Do I do that to you?
I care about NC's, that's what I am here for. To report on NC happenings.
Gheesh
I just read all of this and the funny thing is this is Trujillo, Alger, Mitchell and Wacko talking to each other. Though at least Wacko has the balls to use his own name.
fa shizzle ma nizzle whatup biotch?
12:40
You "read" (must have, cuz you responded), so you is, by definition the "nobody" reading it.
Sorry, nobody, you swallowed that whole.
(But if you would have read it ALL, you'd know who "responds" . . .
" . . .the half-dozen hardass, under-elected NC board members -- who only bother if someone suggests they're unmandated and really just playing the NC game so they can take a number and stand in waiting to become the next city council candidate from nowhere . . ."
Begin you campaign, now, time's a-wasting.
Attend, or watch any E&N commission meeting, Review Commission, BONC meeting, City Council meeting where NC issues even "might" be addressed, etc., etc. and just WAIT for the small but familar lineup during public comment.
Same five names called every damn time, waxing philosophical about how to make NCs perfect and "fix" DONE, or fix "the system" or fix the definition, or the plan, or. . .
And, I'll bet if you had access the pile of resumes for DONE GM, most of these same philosophizers were delusional enough to send their CVs in, too.
If any one of these spent the time they do driving across town to meetings, sitting through meetings, cornering commissioners and councilmembers before and after meetings, e-mailing or phoning commissioners and councilmembers, posting their proposals on listservs, setting up new sub-committees of sub-committees - to meet some more . . . If they spent that time doing something like, oh, OUTREACH, or planning mmunity improvements INSIDE their NCs, or just getting involved with the 9 out of ten stakeholders there that have never heard of NCs: THEN maybe the NC system would begin to work better.
What a hoot, Gadflies Anonymous needs to start a chapter at the NC Congress -- that's assuming they can get on the CROWDED, circle-jerk agenda.
"Let's talk about which committees to form next to talk about which commission or other city entity we should have joint meetings with to discuss what to talk about at our next meeting, in order to complete our agenda for the current meeting, and begin agendizing methods for creating more efficient agendas to address the need for more meetings about where meetings should be held -- and then let's e-mail our responses to all that back-and-forth, until we can get out next meeting 'fix'."
If mo and mo meetings could grow NCs in this city, it would take weeks to count the ballots at their elections, instead of 12.5 minutes elapsed time.
Maybe it should be a chapter of Meeting-Attenders anonymous.
I just saying the people who spend there time at NC's should instead band together to pressure the City Council and Mayor to do what they want.
As for the hater comments, I'm sorry you're so filled with rage. It must be a hard world for you.
Just you watch, any day now, the new GM of DONE, if she's to be in any way effective at all, will be branded "Ms. 'Hater'".
Don't mistake passion for anger.
Get some of the former, and you'll see.
Uh, yeah. That's it. You're not angry all the time; you're "passionate." Mmm-hmm. I'm sure that's it.
Correction: "I just saying" should be "I'm just saying."
I think Alger got screwed on this one or maybe like some are saying he knew about it and is pretending not to have.
On Saturday Antonio is having his big Beautiful Clean up LA day starting at city hall. Now all of a sudden LANCC group is meeting at city hall the same morning. Antonio isn't a dummy and perception is everything. He wants it to look like the LANCC supports him and what better way then to have them at city hall with him on his kick off. Jim dumb move It is way to soon to say "the war is over." You and your people are being used for appearance sakes. Did you know about it or are you playing BOTH sides???
Hello everyone... I hate it when I hget misquoted. What I said was "a state of war no longer exists" not "the war is over". I also said that you shouldn't read to much into the LANCC meeting being at City Hall. C'mon guys, give me a little bit of credit. :)
I am quite aware of the Mayors event and the thought was that it would be easier for NC members to head upstairs to the LANCC rather then schlep to some other venue being the DWP wasn't available.
It was a move out of convenience not some big political gesture. That being said, the tone of things certainly appears to be better... which was the point I was trying to make in my email.
Li'l Jimmy has put away his gun and went to work. Now that he has to punch a time clock, he does not have time to engage in unwarranted assaults on the DONE staff.
As a high priced labor organizer, I wonder what poor working man he is enriching himself off of.
Gee, wonder how many people knew where Jim worked... maybe 3?
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