LA 32 Neighborhood Council on the path to Dysfunctional Ruin

LA 32 Neighborhood Council President Anthony Manzano at a recent City Hall meeting where he stated that the LA 32 NC General Board supported the retention of the Rose Hills Community in CD 14. The fact is that the General Board never voted on the issue or authorize the President to speak on the issue. It should be also noted that Manzano is a member of the Rose Hills Homeowners Association. Thus, would have a Conflict of Interest regarding land use issues pertaining to the Rose Hills Community. Vice President Val Marquez resigned after this transgression and other questionable actions by President Manzano.

Sadly another black eye for the LA 32 Neighborhood Council.

Yes, it has happen again.

When you mix personal agendas with pressure from CD 14 Councilman Jose Huizar's El Sereno Field Office Director Arturo Gonzalez to be a vessel for the Princeton Graduate's micro-management of his community agenda, then this supposed experiment in local governess will almost always fail.

Upon the completion of the last election cycle, residents and and stakeholders of LA-32 were blessed with a diverse General Board that prioritize openness and transparency as they sought to return to a neighborhood council that put community first, not personal agendas or the wishes of CD 14.

Under the leadership of President Tammy Membreno , professional conduct and service to community were paramount. The LA-32 Board also expected the same of CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar and his staff. It was this body that sought CD 14 to account for the status of the Central Los Angeles Refuge Transfer Station  Fund (CLARTS FUND). Sadly, the same level of professionalism that was exhibited by the LA-32 NC in seeking to educate and update the community on the CLARTS Fund was not returned by CD 14 staff as evident in this video of the proceedings.

     CD 14 Chief of Staff Ana Cubas at LA-32 NC Meeting, September of 2010.

Upon the resignation of President Membreno due to an increase work load at Barrio Action Youth and Family Center, the chairmanship was handed over to Vice-President Anthony Manzano, who was then elected to serve out the term of the President. Manzano soon after started to clash with other members of the board. 

First, Manzano disbanded the By-Laws Committee which had been empaneled with the task of revising the NC's By-Laws as requested by DONE. The committee had drafted a revised set of of By-Laws but were preclude from presenting their work due to the actions of Manzano. Manzano convene a new committee with himself as chair but to this day no revised By-Laws has been approved. Some board members felt that Manzano wanted the revised By-Laws to assure ample power within the presidency.

Second, Manzano held an illegal meeting which violated the standards denoted under the Brown Act. The board member who file the complaint with DONE was summery removed from his committee chairmanship the following month (September) by Manzano.

Third, Manzano placed many of his Rose Hills residing fellow board members on key committee chairmanships (which controls allocations of NC funds). Joe Manzano, the father of the president was appointed to the Land Use Committee which was chaired by another Rose Hills associate Johnny Carbajal. Both were members of the Rose Hills Homeowners Association which was founded by ...... Joe Manzano. It should be noted that the members of the Rose Hills Homeowners Association (totalling about six including the President) never recused themselves from votes on land use issues pertaining to Rose Hills.

Lastly, Manzano lost the respect of board members by not standing up to the disruptive actions of CD 14 staff (ie. Arturo Gonzalez, he has been seen numerous time laughing as unprofessional comments are directed at non-Huizar supporters and has interrupted meetings when something negative about Huizar is stated ) and their supporters. Recent meetings of the NC have seen members of the board targeted by audience members for ridicule and verbal attacks. Most if not all are targeted on non-supporters of Councilman Huizar. Joe Manzano, who many feel is running the board through his son, has numerous times interrupted board members while sitting in the audience. But the last straw for some board members were vicious, unprofessional emails sent by Anthony Manzano's close friend and board member Victor June Ayala to non Rose Hills members which were then past onwards to DONE for resolution. At this time, Manzano has not taken any action against Ayala. 

In Retrospect, will a retreat help to resolve issues within the LA-32 NC? Better yet, the question should be whether Councilman Huizar wants a strong united NC that puts community concerns before the agenda of him. As a board member who has watched the theatrics the last few months from the likes of Judy Knapton, Ruben Chavez, Joe Manzano and well-paid public servant Arturo Gonzalez, DONE may want to provide training on the the finer points of rubber stamping a certain Princeton Graduate edits. 

Your thoughts ..............

Scott Johnson in CD 14