Neighborhood Councils Wasting Money?
This comment was so good I had to elevate it to a post.
Neighborhood Councils ARE NOT for the City Council members to send people to who want the CC's officeholder account money.
Neighborhood councils are here because groups of activists all over the city weren't able to get their voices heard because they couldn't compete with the special interest money. Now they have money to be productive, not give it away in gifts that the CC members send to them.
They should be spending their money on things that will enable them to get things done. Outreach, education, office space to be organized, lobbying, etc.
Boy Scouts, schools, sport programs, etc. are not why they are here. They aren't "feel good" groups of board members.
How about secretaries, someone to do their research, mailers, fliers, newsletters and continuing education classes that relate to the city?
Someone to do all of the things that volunteers can't do because they're overloaded -- just the way the city wants to keep them. Bogged down in paperwork and giving their money to city agencies that our taxes are already supposed to be paying.
Neighborhood Councils ARE NOT for the City Council members to send people to who want the CC's officeholder account money.
Neighborhood councils are here because groups of activists all over the city weren't able to get their voices heard because they couldn't compete with the special interest money. Now they have money to be productive, not give it away in gifts that the CC members send to them.
They should be spending their money on things that will enable them to get things done. Outreach, education, office space to be organized, lobbying, etc.
Boy Scouts, schools, sport programs, etc. are not why they are here. They aren't "feel good" groups of board members.
How about secretaries, someone to do their research, mailers, fliers, newsletters and continuing education classes that relate to the city?
Someone to do all of the things that volunteers can't do because they're overloaded -- just the way the city wants to keep them. Bogged down in paperwork and giving their money to city agencies that our taxes are already supposed to be paying.
Labels: neighborhood councils
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 9/21/2007 12:35:00 AM
28 Comments:
Thank you Mayor Sam. Too bad I can't use my name. People will have my head.
But do you agree or disagree? You may be just trying to create controversy, but I stand by my anonymous self.
To the neighborhood councils: Spend your money on fighting city hall. You don't have to spend your own money anymore.
You don't have to use them to plant trees if you don't want to. You don't have to fund public school library books. You especially don't have to spend the money on city agencies who are just trying to jack your money. Tell your council member to take a hike.
The "Scouting Rep" seeking money for Scots that never make it to a Neighborhood Council Meeting is none other than Mark Siegel of the Sunland Tujunga NC.
Mark is the permanant boyfriend of the NC chair, Cindy Cleghorn (who must not be to keen on the scouting shorts because she keeps rejecting his proposals). ANYWAY -- Siegal is also an "Independent Election Administrator" where he gets paid by the city to monitor NC elections. So far 50% of his elections have resulted in challenges and reversals.
Talk about a slush fund... what the hell is that? Conflicts of interest and incompetence. Your tax dollars at work.
1255
I definitely agree.
Spending money on flowers, emergency supplies, cameras, etc is not the purpose of neighborhood councils.
I know a lot of clowncil members who think they can tell their NC"s what to do and how to do it. Its absurb that whenever a NC does something in the community that is positive the Clowncil member immediately wants credit and want THEIR NAME ON THE FLYER and all of a sudden get involved. Its bullshit because if the NC doesn't do it then that clowncil member doesn't help them when they need it. Since when does the clowncil member's NAME have to be added to everything in their community even though they have nothing to do with the event. Clowncil's don't want to be upstaged by NC's
Huizar is notorious for getting his name on everything. I'm suprised it not on the porto-a-potties at the "El Grito" celebration. The Mayor is a photo hound; Huizar in print hound.
The neighborhood empowerment web site states "If you have a well-designed budget, allocating enough funds to cover general administrative costs, activities, community improvement and outreach events, you will be on track with your Neighborhood Council’s goals." So I read it to mean - YES it's meant to be spent to get citizens involved and to keep the volunteer ship afloat, and YES it can be used in "select" community projects, but the priority for the money is admin and outreach rather than for the projects themselves. Counter intuitive perhaps, but this is govt remember. Most of the stuff the NC's do on a volunteer basis to comply with law is done FOR PAY by the folks in LA city Govt. Sure, if I'm a Scout leader or just Joe Citizen, and I spend a weekend planting trees, building benches, painting a public senior citizens center, I do that as a volunteer, but I don't see a anything unreasonble to spend money on like, certificates for the kids and some materials for a project that may not be a high city priority but may be an important local priority where funding is not realistically available. I generally agree this is should not an local entitlement program - it is $$ that must be spent to fight against the professional lobbyists swarming city hall.
Lots of points to cover here.
Yes, the NCs should spend more of their time and money changing how decisions are made at City Hall, but when have they ever been provided with the training to know how to do that? It's knowledge that City Hall doesn't want them to have.
If an NC feels that it is spending too much time on paperwork, which is pretty much to deal with the $50,000 a year that they don't have to accept, they can use part of that money to hire people to do the work.
Mayor Sam: What's wrong with spending money on cameras and emergency supplies? What if the cameras are given to the police, or used to record nuisance violations that are then turned over to the city for action? What if the emergency supplies are used as a way of reaching out and involving more people in the NC? Why shouldn't NCs take a leading role in organizing their neighborhoods in the event of a major disaster? Who else is doing it? If the big one comes, and your home is too dangerous to live in, do you know where to go? Is there a plan?
The bottom line is that each NC gets to decide how its wants to spend its time and use its money, except for some common sense uses that are banned by the City Council. It's a democracy thing.
you must be kidding! right? the LA32 cannot even get their shit together to get their "April's" elections going - the LA32 pres is to full of himself he and his cronny, lapdog, VP were the only ones in riding in lamest 4th of July parade in El Sereno. Did anyone ask Hugo why he celebrated the 4th and rode in the parade although he refuses to say the flag salute at their meetings? what's up with that MEChA boy? did you get permission from Marcos Aguilar to ride in the parade? did you bring to the "Social Justice Committee" for approval?
Hugo - you are just an ignorant wannabe popular guy - it's not working!!!!! (by the way stop shaving your eyebrows - the Rupal look is not attractive on you!)
ay hugo! get a life stop being such an annoying MECHISTA! STOP your insane blogging you racist muck! you are good at dishing it and have the nerve to send out a "happy thanksgiving" message after all the shit you talk about the "whites" killing the raza... ang go around getting all kinds of free shit to get your daughter into a private school and getting scholarships from the "white system"... get a life fool!
LA32 covers the El Sereno Community only (the very "creative" name since their zip code is 90032) it has about 54,000 and the f'ng moron president is hugo garcia and he is a total waste of time- he made it possible to get rid of the last loser just to become a bigger loser in that position. His biggest worry right now is how to clean up after his buddy marcos aguilar (spit) and kissing up to the rose hills area of el sereno because he is afraid of the reps on the board from that area....another loser trying to become somebody...
the vp is ray gutierrez another wannabe somebody... the frik and frak show....
Now, Mr. President Garcia, LA32 NC, do not dilute yourself and think that 5 people in the audience at your last general meeting lacking quorum (two meetings in a row now!) represented 50 members. It is ludicrous and insulting to have driven not only good people on your board away but also community members who had the best intentions to support you when you decided to go after the last loser (Acosta) and lying to all of us that you were the best thing since sliced bread. And by the way, your Social Justice Committee, which you run because its chair is never there and you knew that was going to happen, is just a way to continue your MEChA ways; funny, you were a nobody in college and like Marlon Brando said boy (you) could have been somebody; I (you) should have been somebody but it never happened with you - guess old habits die hard!
Nothing like NC 32 posts. Can't wait for Hugo to call for Genocide Trials for the "WHITE PEOPLE" that run his kids private school. Also wonder how that "religious school",or "AZTECA MADRASA", is doing
9:08 commenting on 9:26
Good points all - especially the emergency supplies and organization - the one thing local city govt should do more of but don't see the priority.
Insofar as the "training/knowledge" you are right - city council does not want you to have it unless it benefits them. Unfortunately - or may fortunately, this is the sort of thing that it is better to learn on the job and be ignorant at the start- how many folks have started something they couldn't back down from and commented that if they knew how hard it was, they may not have even tried.... we are on our own folks....
Some N C's want the security cameras for their neighborhoods, and it makes sense for the money to come from the N C budget, instead of an assessment for each household. Another case of churning up a lot of smoke when there's no fire. N C's aren't stupid except apparently the ones on the eastside, which sound like the rest of their districts. An exception.
I agree with this post 100%. Maybe it's because our neighborhood was active before NC's were implemented and we are one of the groups who couldn't compete with special interest money/lobbyists as volunteers. I know there are many neighborhood councils out there who don't know what to do with the money. This is where DONE should step in and educate, educate, educate. Planning and Land Use 101, 102, etc. because everything communities complain about all start in Planning. Whether it's traffic, schools, landfills... it all starts with Planning. Our neighborhood council spends money on outreach and continuing education classes. There will be times, although not often, when we will gift money for something we feel worthy that could be considered the responsibility of the City. Last month we gave money to the West Valley Alliance - the group who covers the graffiti because they simply can't keep up and we appreciate their work. Take a look at your property taxes and you wouldn't want to buy a public school library books. Not in our neighborhood at least. One PTA president at a school within our boundaries is a professional fundraiser. They don't need us for money, ESPECIALLY if they don't participate and look at us as ATM cards.
When people come and ask for $10,000 - I wonder why they think they're worthy of one-fifth of our money that could be spent on mailers that go to every household in our district.
That Tujunga is put forth as an example of why NCs were formed is just too damned clever. Cindy Cleghorn, et al, are by their daily behavior their own damned indictment. They are a bunch of bozos who, were they to wander out of their trailers, would last about half a second.
NCs were formed for no other reason than to occupy idiots' time in a way that the below story shows:
DWP supervisor: "He was fucking up, not doing his job, y'know? So, we gave the guy a $3,000 credit card for expenses."
Journalist: "Three grand? Is that not a waste of taxpayer's money?"
DWP: "Sonny, three grand ain't shit compared to the lawsuit that woulda happened if the asshole sued the city for firing him. This way, ya see, he spent the money on non-approved expenses. He violated his contract by stealing money. We told him we would let him go quietly. We saved tens of thousands of dollars by gibving him enough rope, but not so much as to kill him, just make him gag non-stop. An annoying noise, yeah, but it's not like he threw up in the back seat and made us stop the car."
J: "I see."
Can you say, Glassell Park Neighborhood Council?
The office manager, Art(I support Home Depot) Camarillo, wants to buy a copy machine for the GPNC office. What for? There's one already at the community center where they have "their" office. They also spent over $5000.00 for their new web site and the company they hired isn't posting any of their agendas. You have to play "hide and seek" in Glassell Park to find them because they are NOT posting them where they should be posted.
And then there's Bradley...
They are a complete insult to the community of Glassell Park.
I never gave a damn about Bradley, frankly, until reading the Letter to the Editor in yesterday's CityWatch about how he reacted to scheduling a "diversity" forum during Rosh Hashannah, when Jews couldn't go. Did he apologize for the oversight? No, he ranted that HIS religious rights were being violated by people who are selfishly putting their religion ahead of his own. (How dare those Jews have their own Holidays which don't coincide with Kwanzaa or his version of "Christianity?") What a total idiot and lowlife the guy is.
Now, anything anyone says about him is too mild: why does that N C let him stay in charge?
Does motion of support shock any of you? LA32 Neighborhood Council comprised of good and bad apples. Take your pick and some are darn rotten. The attendance at LA32 NC Meets are at highest 6 stakeholders. You can hear crickets by 9pm.
(OH, and "Hugo" don't owe any dead mayors on any backwater blog based dozens of miles away any explanations of anything). Just because the folks here shot their mouths off about who should win in CD14 elections when you never even had a vote here doesn't mean you can creep your opinions into local schools, too.
By the way, I know that El Sereno area where he “teaches” very well. It’s got one heck of a scary separatist community. It LOOKS like the shantytowns of Quito, Ecuador, complete with antiamerican graffiti, Chiclet sellers and symbols of leftist militancy. Some of those groups are very secretive. Last time I was there, some money seemed to be coming in to some of the “community centers” there. Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez is real popular and that’s the place you go in LA if you want to go to a pro-Hugo-Chavez event. I suspect it might be one of those places where Chavez is financing certain things, some of his operatives were actually there a few months ago. Stay away from racist El Sereno.
hey carmelita did they get a quorum? or did Hugo have "proxies" sit in for those board members that did not show up? did every stay for the entire meeting? including the "seeds? or was it as always "just for the show"? keep us posted since you seem to be the spokesperson for the LA32NC...
Hugo Garcia
Agent
World Financial Services
Why on Earth is there so much venom directed toward Cindy Cleghorn? And Mark, for that matter...
Did everyone get bored with name-calling the Mayor?
What could Cindy or Mark have done that would cause someone to call them bozos or accuse them of conflict of interest violations or of being incompetent?
In one breath you claim a conflict of interest of some sort and then in the next post, you say she rejects her boyfriend's requests for money. (more than once) I'm confused.
Cindy is a well-respected community leader who was chosen to sit on the NCRC. Her boyfriend is paid to monitor elections. What is the problem? Was there a problem with the STNC election that I'm unaware of?
You want conflict of interest? Look at the North Valley Area Planning Commission. That's where you'll find the developers and real estate salesman making decisions that they really have no business making.
The people of the North Valley should be outraged and on a letter writing campaign to the Mayor rather than bashing his appointments to the 912 Commission and her significant other.
You people baffle me and I'm not easily baffled.
Choose your battles. I agree with the poster who said that Home Depot is only temporarily stopped. It's not over..
Greater Cypress Park NC just approved $900 to give to the day labors (illegals) annual soccer day event. It is for the food. I don't know if they live or maybe work in Cypress Park, but I wish they could throw a party for me for $900. Someone even got up and said that they needed it because the minutemen were after them.
Neighborhood Councils have been providing these functions:
- advise City leaders
- support community events
- oppose City decisions
view, http://www.lacityneighborhoods.com
Yet, the draft plan only mentions that the function of the Neighborhood Council is to "advise the City leaders" (paraphrase). It is trying to diminish their capability to do the other functions, 1) support community events and 2) to oppose City decisions.
The Neighborhood Councils are being neutered by the City !!!
Some people don't agree with the Neighborhood Councils buying items for community events and organizations, eg. Boy Scouts. I disagree. Sure, this is bound to cause scandals. But, these organizations can't afford these things. I say, make these payments clearly public knowledge, with all budget expenditures open to public viewing (like on websites) and then let the chips fall where they may.
Also, where are you Zuma Dogg, when there is a cause that you can actually effect change? Do you think that advise to the FBI, as you did in another post, is anything other than "blowing hot air"?
From the City Charter:
ARTICLE IX
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT
Section
900 Purpose.
901 Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.
902 Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
903 General Manager.
904 Development of the Neighborhood Council Plan.
905 Implementation of the Plan.
906 Certification of Neighborhood Councils.
907 Early Warning System.
908 Powers of Neighborhood Councils.
909 Annual City Budget Priorities.
910 Monitoring of City Services.
911 Appropriation.
912 Review.
913 Transfer of Powers.
914 Effect of Ordinances.
Sec. 900. Purpose.
To promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs, a citywide system of neighborhood councils, and a Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is created. Neighborhood councils shall include representatives of the many diverse interests in communities and shall have an advisory role on issues of concern to the neighborhood.
THIS IS WHAT THAT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL PLAN IS SUPPOSE TO PROMOTE, AND NOT IMPEDE!
Continued:
Sec. 908. Powers of Neighborhood Councils.
Subject to applicable law, the City Council may delegate its authority to neighborhood councils to hold public hearings prior to the City Council making a decision on a matter of local concern.
THAT'S IT! NCs have no other powers.
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