Mayor Sam Blog Exclusive: Another "Do as I Say, Don't Do as I Do Moment" from Empower LA, with help from Councilman Huizar?

In a Mayor Sam Exclusive, we disclose the alleged actions of an Empower LA Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate, acting contrary to established Department Directives regarding the Exhaustive Efforts status of the LA-32 Neighborhood Council.

Was "Disempowerment LA NEA/LA-32 NC Overlord" Lisette Covarrubias acting rouge in contradiction to a Department Directive (sign by her) which limits the LA-32 NC to working towards its next Elections?

**Blogger's Note: In a Mayor Sam Exclusive, we disclose emails that allegedly highlight inappropriate conduct on the part of an Empower LA Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate (NEA), who's supposed actions, as noted in a email by CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar Staffer Julio Torres, should be cause for an investigations whether the integrity of a Empower LA Directive against the LA-32 NC were violated and if a Brown Act violation took in regards NC involvement in the upcoming "Fourth Annual El Sereno Kite Festival". As previously noted in a Mayor Sam Post, Covarrubias was the Empower LA Staffer who oversaw the LA-32 NC's placement on Exhaustive Efforts which limits the elective body to working on its upcoming elections. Yet the email below from CD 14 Staffer Julio Torres is a cause to ponder whether Covarrubias, in concert with the NC President Connie Castro in circumventing her own crafted, Empower LA Memo, as noted below.

Was there any public notice of the coordinating meeting, or meetings involving the LA-32 NC and the Offices of Councilman Huizar, Mayor Garcetti, along with LA County Board of Supervisor Gloria Molina, for the "Fourth Annual El Sereno Kite Festival"?

In response to concerns from current LA-32 NC Treasurer Anthony Manzano, Julio Torres stated the following .........

 

From: julio.torres@lacity.org
To: rosehillsreview@yahoo.com
Cc: julio.esperias.jr@lacity.org, dominovm@pacbell.net, val@valsdesignstudio.com
Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 2:22 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kite Festival.

How are we excluding LA-32? They are invited partners per Connie and
Lisette. Anthony, why are we debating a flyer? This is a community event
that has grown and will be widely attended, it's for families in the
community at the end of the day and not about some flyer.*Julio Torres*
Field Deputy
Office of Councilmember José Huizar
City of Los Angeles | Council District 14
El Sereno Field Office
4927 Huntington Drive North | Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(323) 226-1646 office | (323) 226-1644 fax
julio.torres@lacity.org
*For regular updates and to sign up for our E-Newsletter, please visit our
updated Jose Huizar CD 14 website
<http://cd14.lacity.org/index.htm>.  Click on the icons below to follow us
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On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 2:08 PM, ANTHONY MANZANO
<rosehillsreview@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>    I am contacting you with an issue that was brought to my attention,
> including a phone call, regarding the name of the event. As most people
> involved are aware, the LA-32 NC created this event. Last year a change was
> made by those who favored El Sereno and removed the NC as it was from
> inception. Now, it appears that the event is exclusive and gives a false
> perception of the true intent.
>    Perhaps calling it the Ascot Hills Kite Festival, or leaving it as the
> LA-32 Kite Festival is what is best for the community. There should be no
> reason to exclude those that inspired this event.......
>
> Rose Hills Review,
> Anthony Manzano

 ...... thus, judging from Torres email, CD 14 has no inhibitions when its comes to pirating a NC-created community event ......., and outing the role the NC President and Empower LA NEA allegedly played in this. But according to Covarrubias, that is not true, as noted below.

Again, dubious congratulations are merited to Councilman Huizar for another act of hypocrisy in complaining about its exclusion from the planning of the proposed Jay-Z produced Concert at Grand Park this summer, while being a supposed accessory to a possible Brown Act Violation involving the LA-32 NC's in the "Fourth Annual El Sereno Kite Festival"

When Covarrubias was asked about her role in the planning of the Kite Festival, she emailed the following ........

Good Morning Mr. Johson,

I hope this email finds you well.

In response to your questions and as a point of clarification, neither Department Staff nor I have never been involved in coordinating and approving sponsor /support for the kite festival on behalf of the LA 32 NC.

Given that fact, I am unable to answer any of your questions.

Best,

(Lisette Covarrubias)

Thus, we now have a classic. political "He said, She said" which merits an investigation into inappropriate conduct by an Empower LA NEA and more seriously, an official probe to ascertain whether a violation of the Brown Act took place, via the inclusion of the LA-32 NC, without public hearing and approval of its General Board.

But, in ending this post in the spirit of a teachable moment, we bring you this paragraph of political hypocrisy from LA-32 NC Kite Festival Thief Councilman Huizar ..........

"When you're talking about a proposed event of this magnitude, with 50,000 (people) expected, multiple-day street closures, beer and for-profit ticket sales at a public park, it is imperative that we have an open, inclusive dialogue in ensuring it's a good fit for the neighborhood and if it is, that concerns are mitigated well in advance,"

....... that is a "Do as I Say, Don't Do as I Do Princeton Graduate" in his best hypocritical form.

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14

** For the record, I am the LA-32 NC Recording Secretary, but the comments above are solely my own and do not represent a formal LA-32 NC Policy Position.