Whistleblower hotline: (213) 785-6098
mayorsam@mayorsam.org

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Dissertation on Corruption within the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council

 Boyle Heights Connected CBO Shill (formerly mouth piece for the Fifteen Group) and Councilman Jose Huizar crony Margo Amador
 Councilman Huizar's "Girls" of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council.
Former Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council Vice-President and Presidential Candidate Sal Martinez (center) with Councilman Huizar among others.

** Blogger's Notes: -With the 2011 election of Community Activist Jose Aguilar to the Presidency of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, many activists in the community hoped that their N.C. would once again endeavor on the behalf of the people of the community, not the connected community based organizations that serve the political needs of its Princeton Graduate Councilperson. But scoring a "-3" on Councilman Huizar's Loyalty List did not bid well for President Aguilar and his allies on the BHNC. from day one, Councilman Huizar's cronies such as Margo Amador, the Del Pozo Sisters and their friends in the connected CBO Community, put roads blocks and political obstructions (with the blessing of Councilman Huizar), in the way of governance. Now, former BHNC Member Manny Aldana pens the definitive missive on the corruption within the NC and chronicles the questionable actions that saw President Aguilar and others removed from office. This blogger should note that Aldana was the target of an 100 page complaint by Amador to disqualify him from taking office in 2010, but was dismissed by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). Thus, one can see the extent that Huizar's cronies will go to attack their political enemies--Scott Johnson. .  
BOYLE HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SCANDAL:
CORRUPTION IN CITY GOVERNMENT
 
By Manny Aldana
 
March 5, 2012
 
LOS ANGELES - The Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council (NC) has been in exhaustive efforts
for almost a year now. Exhaustive efforts gives the indication of the danger of being
decertified. So what leaves us to believe that the current Boyle Heights NC has complied
with all the requirements needed to be removed from exhaustive efforts. Should over a year
of dysfunction, non-compliancy, and lack of ethics be rewarded instead of being held
accountable? Is it appropriate that other NC's have a different standard? It would be an
injustice for the community of Boyle Heights not to know the reality about the scandalous
process that has guided the current Boyle Heights NC. For silence to continue would be a
disservice to Boyle Heights and the City of Los Angeles.(Read the remaining after the jump).
On April 29, 2010, the current Boyle Heights NC had their election. Less than 200 people
came out to vote. For those who are aware of Boyle Heights politics, the position of
President would effect a power struggle between presiding Vice-President Sal Martinez, a
supporter of Councilman Jose Huizar, and current Board Member Jose Aguilar, a strong critic
of Huizar, who both ran for the position. The result of the election would be in favor of
Aguilar. The majority of the candidates elected to the Board were supporters of Councilman
Huizar, including Vice-President elect Terry Cano, a close friend to Sal Martinez.
 
The Boyle Heights NC would consist primarily of 3 groups. Supporters of Councilman Jose
Huizar, critics of Huizar, and individuals who were associated with both sides but didn't
want to be part of this division and conflict. It was obvious from the start that diplomacy
would not be inevitable but it would be difficult for the Board to function when actions by
Huizar supporters would result in irregularities and infractions to state laws and NC bylaws.
These irregularities and violations would result in resignations of many Board Members. It
was obvious that there was chaos, when of the (24) Board Members elected, only (7) still
remain. That's (17) Board Members that would resign and never complete their term.
 
From the on start, newly elected Board President Jose Aguilar would have to endure
antagonism and strong opposition from Executive Board Members, specifically Secretary
Margarita "Mago" Amador and Special Events Officer Diana del Pozo-Mora, both Huizar
supporters. This was substantiated when during the very first Board Meeting on July 28,  
2010, Aguilar wanted to appoint a Parliamentarian to assist him, but he was met with
opposition by Amador, del Pozo-Mora, and Cano. Newly elected Board President Aguilar
would later go on to claim that his efforts were being sabotaged when Board Members were
intentionally missing meetings to effect quorum (minimum number of members needed to
conduct business). This also effected the lack of establishing and implementing working
committees.
 
Back in May of 2010, an election challenge was submitted by newly elected Secretary
Margarita "Mago" Amador, a supporter of Huizar, against Board Member Manny Aldana, a
critic of Huizar. The challenge alleged that Aldana had served on the previous Boyle Heights
NC but was removed for failing to attend meetings, which resulted in his removal, making
him ineligible to run. Aldana would submit a letter to the Office of the City Clerk - Elections
Division stating that he was unjustly removed. He would send another letter specifying that
the (1) year time limit had expired and therefore making him eligible to run. On June 29,  
2010, the City Clerk - Elections Division notified the Board that the challenge against
Aldana had been dismissed.
 
In the Summer of 2010, some vacancies to the Quadrants were filled. The Boyle Heights NC
consisted of (4) Quadrants. The purpose and intent of the Quadrants was to have equal
geographic representation throughout the Boyle Heights community. Approximately (7)
vacancies were filled, including City Oversight Officer Vera del Pozo, a supporter of Huizar.
The Board now consisted of (31) members. The Boyle Heights NC needed to fill (4)
vacancies to comply with the required (35) Board Members, but then things started to fall
apart, especially with attendance. The issues between the factions began to escalate and
Board Members stopped attending meetings. By the Fall of 2010, (2) Board Members would
resign, reducing the total to (29) Board Members.
 
On January 12, 2011, Department Of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) General Manager
BongHwan Kim sent a letter to the Boyle Heights NC stating the Department's concerns.
Those concerns included: Quorum issues, unclear and outdated bylaw amendments, non-
functional committees, lack of clarity in terms of the main function of Quadrants, lack of
cohesive Board leadership, and inconsistent Board understanding of the policies and
procedures affecting Neighborhood Councils. On March 25, 2011, Kim sent another letter to
the Boyle Heights NC stating that they were placed into Exhaustive Efforts on March 19,
2011 because of the ongoing operational struggles and violations to the Plan For A City
Wide System Of Neighborhood Councils, also known as the Plan. He also stated that if the
Boyle Heights NC was unable to remedy the violations to the Plan, then decertification
proceedings would be initiated. In February another Board Member would resign, now
bringing the total down to (28) Board Members.
 
DONE would be responsible in conducting all Boyle Heights NC Board Meetings during the
"exhaustive efforts" process. Back in the Fall of 2010 Aguilar would make appointments to
the Bylaws Committee. He would appoint Terry Marquez, a resident of Boyle Heights as
Chairperson. He would also appoint Pasadena resident Yolanda Gonzalez, a rental property
owner in Boyle Heights to the committee. Gonzalez would bring in Venice resident Ivan
Spiegel, an ally who had worked with her when she was a member of the Venice NC.  
Spiegel had already been appointed Parliamentarian by Aguilar and was advising the Board
during the meetings. Aguilar would later come to the realization that trusting these (3)
individuals would lead to his demise and that bringing them in did more harm than good
because they would contribute to the sabotaging. With unethical and disloyal friends like
these, who needs enemies. 
 
During the March 30, 2011 Board Meeting, the Board voted to not fill board vacancies, a
decision that was strongly opposed by several Board Members, mostly Huizar critics, who
expressed their concerns regarding the lowering of representation for the extremely large
Boyle Heights population. The Board also voted to amend their bylaws, including making all
Board Members At-Large Members, stripping Executive Board Members of their titles (with
the intent to strip Aguilar of his Presidency), eliminating the (4) geographic Quadrants, and
reducing quorum from (18) to (15). The motion was made by Margarita "Mago" Amador and
seconded by Terry Cano, both Huizar supporters. Aldana was the only no vote. He would
later indicate that he didn't agree with the idea of making everyone At-Large Members
because the concept of At-Large, for example, could include an individual who is not a
resident of Boyle Heights who comes into Boyle Heights on Sunday just to attend church.
He was concerned with this concept because it would make it easy for outside interests to
"take over" the council. He was also concerned with the undermining of Aguilar as the
President. Aldana would also criticize the Bylaws Committee for the amendment
recommendations. The Bylaws Committee was Chaired by Terry Marquez and guided by Ivan
Spiegel. These changes to the bylaws had a negative impact and enormous consequences.
By the conclusion of the meeting, (3) more Board Members would resign, including Outreach
& Educational Officer Saul Zepeda. This now brought the total even lower, to (25) Board
Members.
      
During the April 5, 2011 Board Meeting, (7) Board Members would ask to be excused and
leave the room because of a possible "conflict of interest" when an agenda item for the
allocation of funding for various organizations was reached. At this same meeting, bylaw
amendments were made, including further reducing Board seats from (35) to (23) and
reducing quorum (minimum number of members needed to conduct business) from (15) to
(13). (2) more Board Members would resign after this meeting, again lowering the total to
(23) Board Members.
 
During the April 27, 2011 Board Meeting, Mago Amador had proposed moving the May
General Board Meeting to the Community Service Center at Pueblo del Sol. Aldana would
indicate to the membership that the motion was out of order because the item wasn't
specified on the agenda and the Board had already voted to have all regular Board Meetings
at the Boyle Heights Senior Citizen Center back in October of 2010. That action was made 
after much discussion. Some time between April and June 2011, (4) more Board Members
would resign, now bringing the total to (19) Board Members.
 
During the June 29, 2011 Board Meeting, the Board, as a result of the current bylaw
changes, selected (picked) new Officers, including new President Rocio Gandara. By this time
Aldana had become very concerned over Parliamentarian Ivan Spiegel's involvement in the
Board's business including the privilege of speaking during meetings. The Parliamentarian is
suppose to advise the President, not run the meetings. Things were beginning to be a little
more clear now to Aldana. Bylaws Committee Members Terry Marquez, Ivan Spiegel, and 
Yolanda Gonzalez were not Board Members to the Boyle Heights NC. Spiegel and Gonzalez 
have been very involved with the Venice NC. Gonzalez owns property in Boyle Heights but
lives in Pasadena. Spiegel has no stake in the community of Boyle Heights. Marquez is a
resident who Aldana had a previous dispute with over her commending of the East Los
Angeles Community Corporation, a controversial organization with close ties to Huizar, that
Aldana blames for the extreme density problem in Boyle Heights.
 
The dysfunction, non-compliancy, and lack of ethics by the Boyle Heights NC was
substantiated when a grievance was filed against the Boyle Heights NC on July 7, 2011 by
Board Member Aldana. But the grievance would not be processed because according to
Deputy City Attorney Darren Martinez and DONE Project Coordinator Lisette Covarrubias,
grievances could not be filed by a Board Member against their NC or other Board Members.
By early July 2011, (3) more Board Members would resign, including Terry Cano. Bringing the
total now to (16) Board Members.
 
Jose Aguilar, Manny Aldana, and William Morrison, all critics of Huizar, would fail to attend the
July 27, 2011 Board Meeting which resulted in their removal from the council. This brought
the total to (13) Board Members. The exact number needed for quorum. Aldana was more
interested in putting the Boyle Heights NC into compliance than a position on the Board, that
he decided to miss a meeting that would result in his removal, so that he could submit
grievances.
 
During the August 22, 2011 Board Meeting, the Board would make the most draconian bylaw
amendment. It would be to a section dealing with grievances. Boyle Heights NC Bylaws:
Article XI; Grievance Process, would now specify, "... the Board can refer the matter to an
Ad Hoc Grievance Panel ...". This would give the Board the power to decide whether or not
grievances would be handled. This was a recommendation from the Bylaws Committee, which
was chaired by Terry Marquez and of course DONE who didn't want grievances to be heard
because it would certainly decertify the Boyle Heights NC. Not a surprise that the motion
was made by Mago Amador and seconded by Vera Del Pozo, both Huizar supporters. Included
in the amendments were reducing the total number of Board Members from (23) to (19) and
quorum from (13) to (10). Amador even tried to reduce the number of Board Members even
lower, to (15), but it wasn't approved. What was the intent of diminishing community
participation in the Boyle Heights NC. Cronyism could not be more obvious.
 
Aldana would go on to file (3) more grievances in the Fall of 2011, but this time including
DONE in the allegations because staff members were accomplices and acted in some of the
violations specified in the grievances. The allegations in the grievances were in regards to
violations of state law, specifically the Brown Act (open meeting law), the Plan, NC bylaws,
and the lack of handling these grievances. The item to handle the grievances was put on
Boyle Heights NC agendas as required, however, incredibly, the grievances were not
reviewed and were all dismissed by the Board. Recommendations to dismiss and not review
the grievances was made by DONE and the Office Of The City Attorney. Therefore, Aldana
would specify in the final grievance that that the grievances were not addressed and that
the Boyle Heights NC had violated the Plan, Administrative Code, and their bylaws for not
handling the grievances. They also failed to comply in forming a grievance committee to
handle these grievances as stipulated in their bylaws.
 
On October 10, 2011, Board President Rocio Gandara would resign from the Boyle Heights
NC. She indicated the reason in her resignation letter, that the Boyle Heights NC was 
"plagued with problems". Denis Quinones and Velvet Holguin would resign at about the same
time. Bringing the total number of Board Members to now (10). The exact number needed
for quorum. 
 
On October 26, 2011, (10) Board Members would show up and fill some of the vacancies
and just barely save the council from being decertified. The Board selected (picked) (4)  
new Board Members. It was at this meeting that Eddie Padilla, an ally of Huizar, was  
selected (picked) as President of the Board and Michael McClure, another Huizar ally, was
selected (picked) as the Land Use Officer. This was a major contrast between the election
and selection process, due to the changes made by the Bylaws Committee. Padilla became
President by a selection process and a vote from (6) Board Members, whereas former Board
President Jose Aguilar was elected by the community with over (100) votes.
 
During the November 30, 2011 Board Meeting, Diana del Pozo-Mora, a Huizar supporter, was
selected (picked) as Vice-President by a motion from her mother Vera del Pozo and a vote
from another member of the family, Brittany Ponce De Leon. Isn't this a conflict of interest?
Courtney Jacobs would resign after this meeting. Leaving only (7) Board Members from the
original (24) that were elected on April 29, 2010. At this point, the current Boyle Heights NC
had been reduced by more than 70%.
 
Aldana would appeal to other departments within the city. He attended (3) Board Of
Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) Meetings. BONC has the duty for setting and
overseeing policy and putting rules and regulations into effect in regards to NC's. They
never responded. In fact, at one of those meetings, Aldana had distributed a folder which
included all the grievances filed, but Deputy City Attorney Rita Venegas did not allow the 
Commissioners in viewing the documents. He met with DONE General Manager Kim and his
staff (Leyla Campos, Grayce Liu, and Lisette Covarrubias), but they condoned the lack of
redress of grievances by the Boyle Heights NC. He tried to meet with City Attorney
Trutanich, but his office never responded. He requested a meeting with Deputy Mayor Larry
Frank, but he chose not to meet. He even tried to set up a meeting with Councilman Huizar,
but his staff said that he was never available. Aldana appeared before the City Council in
January and again no response. Recently Aldana has appealed to the State Of California 
Attorney General - Department Of Justice and the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
Included in the appeal is all of the evidence against these public servants.
 
The majority of Board Members on the current Boyle Heights NC who are responsible for the
dysfunction, ineffectiveness, and lack of ethics are still on the Board. DONE General
Manager BongHwan Kim condones this disregard for the public trust by not addressing the
issue. Kim would rather look the other way instead of doing the ethical thing, decertifying
the current Boyle Heights NC. So why did the above mentioned city agencies and
departments refuse to inquire, investigate, and follow through on addressing these issues?
What was the political rationale behind this? And who had the most to benefit from this lack
of oversight, scrutiny, and transparency? Councilman Jose Huizar. The "plague of corruption"
continues in Boyle Heights and in the City of Angels.
 
 
Manny Aldana is a defender of the Public Trust who is advocating for Honest Government
and the Rule Of Law & Order. He is also a former Board Member of the Boyle Heights and
South Central Neighborhood Councils.

Labels: , , , ,

9 Comments:

Blogger g said:

WHY DOESN'T JOSE AGUILAR RUN AGAINST HUISAR FOR COUNCIL. IT SEEMS TO ME HE COULD BEAT HIM HANDS DOWN. THAT COMMUNITY HAS PUT UP WITH TOO MUCH BULL. I THINK JOSE A MIGHT BRING WHAT'S NEEDED.

March 22, 2012 6:56 PM  

Blogger BHNATIVE said:

Part I After reading this article I agree with much of what is written, however, it is a one sided article. Yes there was much of misuse of power by the wrong people that had political connection, and yes the BHNC may have a majority of Huizar supporters. Aldana’s did have valid points, and complaints that had to turn into grievance due to the lack of response from DONE.

When Aldana was dismissed from THE BHNC for excessive absence, they may have been right, he was absent excessively, and he never participated in the events. Although, Aldana did not seem to questions the rest of the members absences, and some with the same excessive of absences should have also been dismissed, but only Aldana was targeted. This was wrong and DONE and City Attorney, or the BHNC did not properly respond or satisfied the grievance to Aldana and to many of stakeholders sided with Aldana because of the unprofessional way of dealing with concerns that were serious violations brought forth in the complaints and in the grievance, Aldana is right.

Terry Cano, the Vice Present during Aguilar’s Term, had abuse the absentee rules too, she should have been dismissed too, yet no one was looking at other members with just as much absences.
The violation of what Aldana call as a Brown Act violation was not exactly a Brown Act Violation, but it was BHNC Bylaws and DONE violations, both required posting at five different locations specified in the bylaws or standing rules.

March 24, 2012 12:11 AM  

Blogger BHNATIVE said:

Part II The Agendas disclosure stated, the five required locations and addresses, and also a requirement of Bylaws was to have an electronic mailing notification, which was not used consistently, and when it was, it did not meet the 72 hours requirement.
The notice were many times not posted, and if posted they were posting in one location, and not consistent, never posted at the location of the meeting with 72 hours in advance. The reason this is not a Brown Act Violation because the requirement under the Brown Act is that it must be posted at least at one location. However, Aldana could have made the arguments that all this was done with the intentions of the community not to be informed, and that was documented by the BHNC signing sheet, a violation in the intent to keep the notices from the general public.

The pre Aguilar board had made up their own rules even amended the bylaws without proper approvals or notification. They also made a pack between them to stop the activity at the quadrant level; again no one was notified to the changes. When stakeholders call to get information about the Quadrant Meeting, or even their own members questioning the lack of continue meetings, the Secretary Amador would notify the caller that they no longer were supporting the quadrants meeting or activities, and she proceeded to explain to some of the quadrant Chair that it was in violation of the bylaws to have quadrant meetings. Yet DONE seem to turn a deft ear to all the complaints from 2008 to 2010, the secretary Amador was running the BHNC under her own made up rules.

March 24, 2012 12:13 AM  

Blogger BHNATIVE said:

Part III. Aguilar had to post one or two of the meetings because Amador refused to, she also refused to send out the electronic notices when ever, when she did, it was a day before the meeting, did not comply with 72 hours.
During the general meeting dealing with the grievance filed by Aldana, they refused to move it to a committee as required by the bylaws, making excuses that they did not have a committee established to handle the grievance, so they decided, with DONE present at the meeting, to answer the grievance at the General Monthly Meeting stating that the Brown Act violations should be address to the State of California, not to D.O.N.E, this is not a joke, this was said by Grayce Leu.
At that time I felt there was no hope, DONE was as either stupid, or ignorant, and unprofessional to deal with serious grievance file of violations of everything in the bylaws or the Brown Act. Although, Aguilar had good intentions to do his best as the President, he did not have the experience to deal with continue corruption of the current board members.

I had asked Aguilar to resign and ask the rest of the Executive Board to do the same, but he refused to do it. One of the Executive Board members did agree to resign with the President, Aguilar, however, the secretary Mago would never agree. The only choice we had as to ask all of the members as to how they wanted to proceed, they all requested to get rid off all of the Executive Board Members and start clean, they voted to make all members atlarge during the time the BHNC was declared under Exhaustive Measures.

March 24, 2012 12:19 AM  

Blogger BHNATIVE said:

Part IV Aguilar had appointed me as the ByLaw Chair in January, and I started a week later to begin the meetings to rewrite the bylaws according to the requirements presented on the new format approved by DONE. Aguilar or Aldana did not participate in the bylaw committee as members or as stakeholders to attend the weekly meetings, Aguilar showed up one time, and Aldana never did. I would reach out to all the members of the BHNC to attend some of the meetings, I also distributed the minutes weekly to everyone so everyone would keep up with the changes proposed. DONE had their own ideas as to what they wanted in the bylaws, and I had to clarified that it should be the decision of the committee not of the Parliamentarian or DONE.
At the end of this project, finishing the draft for the new proposes bylaws, DONE and Mr. Spiegel pushed and forces certain things on the bylaws. One was selection vs. elections for the Executive Board seats, although, the bylaw committee turned it down three times, DONE per instruction from DONE pushed this motion on the agenda, at the same time the bylaw draft was presented for approval to the BHNC General Board. Ivan Spiegel presented the motion to the general board, with DONE present, but only allowed explanation and requested the vote of the selection, and the second option was not presented or explained, and no discussion was allowed. I rejected and oppose the procedures that DONE and Mr. Spiegel pushed on the agenda. The members did not realize this was happening, they new I was very dissatisfied with the actions taken, but had no idea what they had just voted for. The worst is that Aldana and Aguilar, neither were there to really look at these changes and support me or back me on it, or question the amendments. The bylaw committee did an excellent job, but also were not that experience with the bylaws to understand some of the consequences that some of this decision would come later.

March 24, 2012 12:21 AM  

Blogger BHNATIVE said:

Part V The reason I did not support Aldana, because he would disagree and walk out of the meeting, instead of trying to attempt to discuss it with the rest of the board, I was not a BHNC member, and I was not considered one, only chaired the bylaw meeting, so I had not final vote or say at the General monthly meeting except allowed to speak from public comments..
I had gone to Mr. Kim, and explained that Ivan Spiegel was presenting changes to the bylaws, and according to him was directly from DONE, Grayce, and I wanted to know why was it that DONE not submitting this recommendation in writing to us, instead of having Mr. Spiegel representing DONE. Mr. Kim told me, Mr. Spiegel had no right to be doing that, that he was only a parliamentarian, and did not represent DONE, and should not be presenting DONE’S recommendations, but only Grayce. Mr. Spiegel did interfered with the decisions of the board, and I had to many times stop him from continuing to attempt to change the committee decision. But like I said, I was pretty much on my own trying to stop Mr. Spiegel because he was out of order many times, and the bylaw members were very good when it came to discussing all issues, however, they also were somewhat confused as to what Mr. Spiegel role was and they did question Mr. Spiegel.
Aldana and Aguilar did not follow through on a timely manner on all this issues, although, Aldana would file and make the complaints, they were not supported by Aguilar, and Aguilar would not follow the processed. Aguilar is not organized to follow through as a President or a committee leaders, and refused to learn and use Robert Rules of Order. The BHNC did what needed to be done, to move forward and get out of Exhaustive Measures, taking DONE out the decision making of their agenda, and reinstating the their budget plan. The members have done a superb job, the President, Eddie Padilla, are an excellent leader and chairs the meeting according to the guidelines set by the rules and regulations he must adhere to. He has introduced humor to the meetings, which has been a change in attitude for all of us. He makes it a more relax atmosphere for everyone attending. All Board members are doing as much as they can, and going above and beyond to get stakeholders to participate in the process. They have accomplished success for the Boyle Heights Community, and I wish them luck and success to continue as it has. My recommendation to Aldana and Aguilar is to move forward, I still have reservations for some of the members that have been in the Executive Board, that were part of the dismay of the BHNC. We all need a second chance, and lets look at the positive side, and hope this individuals have learn their lessons too. Also, all this would have not change for the better if it was not for your complaints and grievances files, we did not get any results or closure for ourselves on the complaints, but there was positive results for the community, and that is what it matters to me. I am very proud of our BHNC and believe each one of those members and stakeholder participating will continue to change for the best. There will always be individuals that challenge the system.

We may not always agree with the decisions, but we must respect the vote of the majority.

March 24, 2012 12:24 AM  

Blogger Mago said:

To clarify what is being said. The grievance for Aldana was dismissed because I as the Secretary did not document his absences in the minutes during roll call, an error on my behalf. The City Clerk did not accept the sign in sheets as proof that Aldana only attended 2 meetings in one year because no one is required to sign in.

A mailer to give him the opportunity to resign was mailed to the address provided by Aldana in Boyle Heights, however, because he does not live in BH he claimed he never received it.

Electronic notifications are only done as courtesy and not required under Brown Act. the Librarians notified me that Meeting Postings for meetings were intentionally removed by "certain community members". A tactic to file grievances of Brown Act violations. In order to prevent this from continuing, we have set up a system where we obtain written verification by the Librarians and HACLA staff stating date and time of each posting.

Aldana is quick to point out that Yolanda Gonzalez is a resident of Pasadena and only a rental property owner in BH, well so is he, he has not and does not reside in BH he is a resident of South Central and also was removed from the NC board.

Quadrants were only to make recommendations to the 35 member BHNC board, however, prior to our appointment to the board Quadrants were making motions which clearly was a violation according to DONE, because the board consisted of 35 members and not 7 so all motions and expenditures needed to be made by the BHNC membership of 35.

When Aguilar was Chair for Quadrant 2 they utilized BHNC funding to give themselves plaques and paid for an expensive catering which is clearly a violation under the funding program.

Aldana's grievances are being dismissed because they allege Brown Act violations, and any Brown Act Violation must filed with the District Attorney who has juridiction over such complaints and or violations.

For for the record Mr. Scottie, my name is Mago not Margo and I am a strong and very proud supporter of Councilmen Huizar, proud to have worked at HACLA for 14 years and proud to continue to serve my community. I don't claim to know everything, but one thing I do know, is that I am part of the change and a believer of RIGHT period!!!!

Margarita "Mago" Amador

March 27, 2012 6:31 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Well, the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council is again in danger of decertification, the lack of leadership from Padilla, and the lack of developing team efforts, the members of the BHNC are trying to do what they can, but there is no coordination of efforts. The BHNC needs new members, and hopefully this election will allow for new stakeholders to participate making some changes from a group control by Councilmen Huizar. Some of the current Executive Board members are not eligible to run as Executive Board members, as they have serve two terms, and some more, which the bylaws clearly state that Executive Board members cannot serve on the Executive Board more than two terms. The same people that manupulated the BHNC into deicertifcation are back as a team on the BHNC membership. four Board members and committee members resign due to the lack of respect for the stakeholders and community, and the lack of participation from some of the BHNC board members, which just show up at the general meeting, and do not participate in any events with the BHNC or serve committees as required by the bylaws. The President has no idea, they are continuing to violate the bylaws by not complying to set up certain committees, and the adhoc for Grievance comminity. They think if they do not have a committee they do not have to deal wih the issue. We do not have a grievance Committee so we cannot accept grievances. We have the most corrupt city in the country, 2nd to Chicago, and that corruption is definetly a culture that has taken over in Los Angeles, and more so with some Neighborhood Council which no one is monitoring for lack of funds. I seriously believe that if the city has not way of monitoring an agendy to insure the people money is used correctly and efficiently, they should not have the agency(ies) like NC.

August 17, 2012 9:49 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

SAL MARTINEZ, X-VICE PRESIDENT, X-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR BHNC, is back with the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, with over 82000 stakeholders in Boyle Heights, why is it the same people stay on the board, specially those that put the BHNC in possible diciertification, however due to the committee for the By-laws chair by Terry Marquez and the bylaw committee were able to delay the certification, and the BHNC was placed on exhaustive measures. How many of those people that were part of the bylaw committe continue to be part of the BHNC, they have been driven away by current members that continue to hold on to a seat, and do not take responsibility for their actions. They still believe that the reason they were put in exhaustive measurers was due to the President Jose aguilar, if that was the case he would have been recall by the board, yet those people that were part of the Executive board together cause the almost dicertification, and lucky to have ended up in Exhaustive Measure for a interm period. There is only two members left in the BHNC that were direct participants in the ByLaw committee that save the BHNC. How many terms can this people serve, Huizar has it under control with his people.

August 19, 2012 2:56 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

Advertisement

Advertisement