Smith is Full of It!
Smith, who normally spends a good chunk of Council meetings asleep, has been pushing his plan to force Neighborhood Council board members - unpaid, unperked, volunteers who serve their city and have only advisory powers only to be subject to exposing their personal finances as well as that of their families and partners.
Tuesday the Clowncil approved this farce; however major kudos must be given to Janice Hahn, Richard Alarcon, Tom LaBonge and Dennis Zine who voted with the people. Janice Hahn was dead on when she said there was far more shadiness around the Clowncil Horseshoe than in all the Neighborhood Councils combined.
Yet Greig was all about Neighborhood Councils in this video. Feel free to count up all the other promises he broke.
Please go back to sleep Greig.
Labels: dennis zine, greig smith, janice hahn, neighborhood councils, Richard Alarcon, tom labonge
Posted by Michael Higby @ 1/14/2009 03:00:00 AM
16 Comments:
How great is it that no one thinks enough of Greig Smith to even post a comment about him (other than this one).
"Smith, who normally spends a good chunk of Council meetings asleep..."
That's a lie - Higby you're one who's full of it. That photo of him with his eyes closed was from a 5 hour long council meeting where he shut his eyes for less than one second.
Smith is the only one of the council members who had the guts to ask neighborhood councils to disclose conflicts of interest. By the way, since when are YOU against transparency - the neighborhood councils get $50,000 a year of taxpayer money!!!!!! They waste it, do nothing with it, and in some cases spend it on stuff for themselve.
Put your pajamas back on and crawl back into your little blogger cave.
You don't like the disclosure requirement? - then lay out some reasons why, instead of diverting attention away from the real issue at hand by making personal attacks on Smith.
You were almost too late 1030. Mitchell Englander finally stepped up.
Even if Higby is lying that Smith sleeps (I've seen him snoozing before) it is one lie. This video is packed with lies.
1037 dontcha know that Higby has special rules for himself.
We can't expose Zooma Dog for the fraud that he is, but he can call Jack Weiss a jackass, and suggest that Smith snoozes through meetings.
The truth is, Smith may sleep thru meetings, but at least he's there, unlike Jackass Weiss.
So... 10:37, 11:49 11:53 and 11:55 is Greig Smith or one of his Spin-holes.
Go back to sleep, Spin-hole. I mean, Greig. Go back to sleep Greig. Yeah.
Mr. Smith compels you to take this down.
I mean, take this down, or else zuma tard is going to appear on Night Line and really let him have it!
Haha. Did you hear that Zuma Dog ISN'T going to be on Night Line tonight!
Haha
Mitch:
You're right. Greig shouldn't be portrayed as someone who always sleeps during the Council meetings just because he caught on camera doing it once.
He should be judged based upon his record and his actions.
As he showed on Tuesday, he has no need for independent Neighborhood Councils holding him accountable. Like his former boss, CM Hal Bernson, he would prefer another version of NCs in which he appoints and unappoints the members.
Greig's efforts on Tuesday showed that he is the biggest enemy of NCs. They are just advisory. The $50,000 they get is small potatoes, and that's why the Council earlier used a provision in state law to exempt them from filing Form 700s.
You go way off the deep end by saying that NC members spend money on themselves, and hint that they do so in an illegal way. If you know that to be true, tell someone.
DONE and the City Controller approve and audit the expenditures.
NCs are supposed to spend money on the NC. The law expects them to -- outreach, food for meetings, office space, office help, newsletters, etc. It's all part of how they maintain their independence.
Frankly, I'd rather have Greig sleeping during the Council meetings than dreaming up ways to attack the watchdogs.
Shut up Alger.
Even commissioners on advisory boards have to disclose their conflicts of interest.
I think it is a good idea. If you are part of a body that advises, it is imperative that the public knows if a conflict exists.
Hypothetical example:
A neighborhood council member pushes for digital billboards and calls upon his/her fellow members to endorse the nightmare. This member is an employee of ClearChannel.
Now, wouldn't you want to know where this person earns his money?
Sorry, I'm with Greig on this one. I'm all for NC's and think they should continue to be voted in the way they are now and not be appointed by City Council or the mayor (in case Mr Smith pushes for that). However, I do think it is fair that their community knows they do not have a conflict of interest on matters before them.
5:04 - 2:37 wasn't me but I second every word they wrote. (When will you fools ever learn I post under my own name? Do I seem shy to you???)
That entire Council office is run a 6 year old who treats everything like it is a campaign trick.
These are people Mitch. I know you don't give a damn but some of us do. The people you are supposed to serve who are being taxed into the poorhouse while City Hall breaks one promise after the other (of course raising their salaries the entire time). And don't give me that "tied to judges" crap. You don't HAVE to have it that way if you didn't want it to be.
If you guys think Smith was bad, just wait until the former lobbyist weasels his way into CD 12.
The conflict of interest case that just occurred in Northridge (Greigs district) is a perfect example of why the NC's SHOULD file these forms.
NC's do waste money on the most frivolous things--pens, hats, t-shirts, etc., etc. To pretend this is community outreach is BS. And they should disclose their sources of income and that of their spouses. If they don't want to comply with this then they should not serve on NC's.
As for Smith, he has more brains sleeping than the other 14 awake...so if he needs a snooze once in a while that's fine with me.
Good Morning Mitch, glad yu could join us.
1. If someone on an NC board works for Clear Channel, others will know aobut it. The conflict laws that apply to City Council members still apply.
2. None of the rumored conflicts by the Northridge board appear to be conflicts of interest. Wanting to buy drapes for the local school isn't a conflict.
3. City commissioners have to fill out the disclosure forms because they made some final decisions on things, and are legally city officials.
NC board members are not, and the amount of money they deal with is peanuts.
4. Since city departments spend money on hats, pens, etc. as part of their outreach, why shouldn't NC's be able to? Have you seen all that stuff that the Public Agencies and DWP give away at fairs and meetings?
5. Requiring NC volunteers to get mired in paperwork and bureaucracy will just keep the good people away.
3:53 try reading the complaint. One of the boardmembers was diverting city funds to his own newspaper for advertising. They acknowledged the conflict.
And 6K for drapes is ridiculous.
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