Sunday Notes on the Neighborhood Council Scorecard

 The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners bring their empowering brand of oversight to the El Sereno Senior Center as Stakeholders and Commissioners engaged in dialog regarding the status of the LA-32 NC and discuss possible remedies for dealing with disruptive behavior among NC Members and the likes of "Procedural Bullys".  

It was not a good night for Empower LA General Manager Grayce Liu (seated second from right at front tables) as numerous LA-32 Stakeholders spoke out against the disempowering, punitive actions taken against the community-representing elective body.

The Stakeholders of the LA-32 Neighborhood Council were treated to a timely evening of interaction from the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) last Tuesday as the body conducted its monthly meeting away from City Hall at the El Sereno Senior Center. BONC Commission President Karen Mack, presided over a productive, constructive evening of dialog, that allocated ample time for LA-32 Stakeholders and other constituents from elsewhere, to broach their comments, thoughts and concerns on agenda and non-agenda items. For Empower LA GM Grayce Liu, the evening was filled with comments pertaining to the punitive, subjective Exhaustive Efforts taken against the LA-32 NC and the apparent department's embargo on filling board vacancies. Ms. Liu, did seem to have two supporters in new LA-32 NC Treasurer Michelle Corzantes. along with former LA-32 NC Elections Chairperson ( and founding member of the race-baiting and youth exploiting El Sereno Historical Society) Yolie Garcia, who both spoke against filling the vacancies (while also falsely attacking ex LA 32 NC Board Members), but who's motives must be questioned, considering their role in the inappropriate use of uniformed Wilson High School LAPD Magnet Cadets for campaigning.    



 Sparse turn out for the new (mostly Councilman Huizar recruited) incarnation of the LA-32 NC.

For "Disempowerment LA Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate/ LA-32 Overlord" Lisette Covarrubias (seen on left in insert to photo), her first meeting overseeing the new incarnation of the LA-32 NC led by her Union Labor Representative Marleen Fonseca, featured the following;

** Fonseca's inability to properly preside over the proceedings in a constructive, object manner.

** Attacks and interruptions of public speakers by the likes of Fonseca and Treasurer Michelle Corzantes.

** Disclosure that the Agenda for the Executive Committee Meeting were posted at locations (El Sereno Middle School, Ceasar Chavez and Sierra Vista Elementary among others) that were contrary to those stated on the official document. Thus, presenting a possible Brown Act Violation.

** A disjointed presiding process that merits a grievance and highlights the need for comprehensive training for new board members (maybe Lisette will drop her alleged grievance against Council for Councils in the spirit of providing objective mentoring).

** Authorization to purchase operating equipment without a complete inventory.

** A moment of leadership from new Vice-President Kaprisha Vallecillo, who disclosed that the requested item to deal with board vacancies was not placed on the agenda by Covarrubias.

For those in the audience, it was clear that Ms. Covarrubia's objective professionalism was lacking and further review should be undertaken to ascertain whether bias, has and is, being exercise with the Fonseca-led body........., and lastly, from Wednesday, she is among the wrong friends for career advancement.    

 Former LA-32 NC Vice-President (quitting the board for the third time in January) Tammy Membreno and Mayor Eric Garcetti East Area Director are all smiles.

As the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners present their first draft on proposed training and behavior standards for NC's, longtime NC Activist Bob Gelfand offers some discerning musings on the 17 paragraphs of supposed behavior modification standards as we excerpt below .......

They could have made it fairly simple, something like "our meetings run according to standard parliamentary procedure, and you shouldn't interrupt or scream at the top of your lungs. At least not more than once per meeting." 

But no. The proposed code of civility goes on for 17 enumerated paragraphs. Seventeen.  Let's take a look at two of them. 
Number 6: "I will not use language that is abusive, threatening, obscene, or slanderous, including using profanities, insults, or other disparaging remarks or gestures." (** reminds me of a certain former LA-32 Vice-President and her "mini-me", who's emails were cited by Empower LA as part of the reason for placing the NC on Exhaustive Efforts, but I digress) \
Read more »

Sunday Notes on the Neighborhood Council Scorecard

As the Region XI Group of Westside LA Neighborhood Councils go to the polls today, we inaugurate our new weekly, bloggin musing regarding the actions, follies, successes and undertakings of the City of LA Neighborhood Councils, with special attention on its noted Cast of Characters (such as West LA's Jay "Ole Yeller" Handal). 

To paraphrase noted Attorney L.H. Parker, "I'm Jay Handal and I will YELL for you!"

Note to LA-32 NC Rose Hills Community Members, the man above you seen driving a black car, with phone ear piece, that was searching for illegal campaign activity as a paid Independent (naught!) Election Administrator (IEA), has returned to his West LA NC confines.

** Blogger's Note: Bloggin time permitting, we hope that our inaugural "Sunday Notes on the Neighborhood Council Scorecard" will become a weekly blog feature. From the grieving employees of "Disempowerment LA", to the cast of characters (bloggers included) who comprise NC's across the city, the story of the continuing evolution of the City of LA's NC System, is one that merits continuing coverage (with comedic flavoring of course)---Scott Johnson.

** If there is one person among the core group of NC Activists, who is the "bark" (think loud, yapping Chihuahua) of the movement, then that person would be West LA NC Member Jay "Ole Yeller" Handal. Handal, who recently oversaw the Region VIII Group of NC Elections as its IEA (enabling CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar to tighten his grip over certain NCs), is seek re-election to the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. In "Ole Yeller's" own words, we bring his "West LA First!!" Candidate Statement (with our comments in bold).

This campaign is about putting West L.A. 1st.(Ole Yeller is territorial) We face challenges of affordable housing and traffic (a Westside Liberal sound bark?). We are challenged to make decisions on how to allocate our City’s diminished resources while the needs of our residents continues to increase (No duh). I am committed to protecting and improving the community that we live in.West L.A. 1st.means putting the people in our community first. (Another no duh) Putting West L.A. 1st.means transcending personal bias and relegating personal interest in favor of the greater good ( I left my self-serving biases and personal interest with Yolie Garcia and Huizar's staffers in LA-32). Putting West L.A. 1st.requires that we set aside personal differences to attend to the service of the residents (that's unless I can influence NC elections for personal gain). I will continue communicating (loudly) with and responding (more loudly) to our residents and businesses . Listening to and understanding their needs (Ole Yeller showcased his keen, subjective, political listening skills as LA-32 NC IEA). I will constructively propose good solutions to the challenges we face. I will continue to engage in the planning process, to ensure that we avoid problems before they affect our quality of life (which for NCs such as LA-32 are now worst thanks to Ole Yeller).

** The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners will hold its semi-monthly meeting tomorrow at 1 PM on the Tenth Floor within City Hall. In noting the agenda, we want to commend the BONC for its dedication to public participation as the following agenda items note .........

4. General Public Comments - Comments from the public on non-agenda items within the Board’s subject matter jurisdiction. This agenda item will last a total of 15 minutes and no individual speaker will be allowed more than three minutes. (15 minutes). Then for an encore .........
11. General Public Comments - Comments from the public on non-agenda items within the Board’s subject matter jurisdiction. This agenda item will last a total of 15 minutes and no individual speaker will be allowed more than three minutes. (15 minutes). Either the BONC is empowering Public Comment or the same "Disempowerment LA NEA" that oversees the LA-32 NC crafted the agenda? 

** Meet the new favorite "Disempowerment LA Grieving Employees" NC President Marleen Fonseca of LA-32



 New LA-32 NC President and EAA Labor Rep Marleen Fonseca.

If any one NC President is going be on the receiving end of empowering service from the grieving employees of Disempowerment LA, then its a sure bet that former LAPD Management Analysis II, now Engineers & Architects Association Union Rep Marleen Fonseca, would be that person.

While Fonseca does not directly oversee "Disempowerment LA Employees", her knowledge of internal "Disempowerment LA" work issues creates an interesting situation for General Manager Grayce Liu (who Fonseca has allegedly stated is a weak negotiator).

Since being voted President (despite a majority of the new board voting for now Vice-President Kaprisha Vallecillo over her), Fonseca has aligned herself with the likes of El Sereno Bicentennial "Shredding Parade Coordinator" Genny Guerrero and El Sereno Historical Society Members Yolie and Jorge Garcia (aka the "Procedural Bullys"), who's racial and vile attacks on noted LA-32 NC Community Members have been repudiated.

Judging from reports of yesterday's LA-32 NC By Laws Committee, Fonseca is already showcasing her lack of inclusion by wanting to change the name of the LA-32 NC to the "El Sereno Neighborhood Council" and not seeking to fill vacancies on the 21 person board, with the support of "Disempowerment LA" who subjectively want to down size the board to 15 members via unapproved new By-laws.

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14

A Bloggin Dialog with LA 32 Agitator Joe Cano in the Spirit of disclosing alleged, Nefarious Community Conduct

In the spirit of bloggin dialog, we reach out to noted No on 710 Activist and sometimes Mayor Sam Blog Critic Joe Cano (when not busy between repeated trips to the corner liquor store on Alhambra Road and Warwick) in the spirit of sharing thoughts on alleged, nefarious conduct within the LA-32 Community. 

Message to Cano (in hat and No 710 T-shirt), please refrain from taking pictures of children at local parks when seeking out alleged campaign misconduct (allegedly).

** A Bloggin Open Letter: Hola Joe!! Hope I'm not interrupting one of your frequent walks, back and forth, to the corner store on Alhambra Road and Warwick, but since we have not converse in person in recent months, I thought it would be the right moment to reach out across the cyber landscape in the spirit (with a sip of a brown bag-wrapped bottle of spirits you are fond of, allegedly) of engaging you in a dialog on some issues of mutual concern. Maybe its me, but it seems that in recent years, especially when a LA-32 NC Elections draws near, you have a tendency to engage in a level of rhetoric that is not healthy to the civil discourse (especially when consumption of adult beverages get mixed into one's convoluted thought process, allegedly) of issues important to our fellow Stakeholders. Thus, let me extend the invitation to join me in a bloggin discourse on a couple of recent community issues of joint interest. Please follow along below (and give me notice if you need a break for corner store refreshment walk, allegedly) ..........

A Recent LA-32 NC Budget and Finance Committee (as recorded by the El Sereno Delusional Society)

......, Joe, you and I can agree that the annual Bicentennial Parade is a worthy community public- private collaboration that merits continuing support. That said, it was disappointing to learn that you targeted egregiously LA-32 NC Board Members Anthony Manzano, Angelica Duarte and Scott Johnson (this blogger for the record), last evening at the LA-32 NC Candidate Forum. No level of disrespect from you, or any Stakeholder, should prevent elected NC Board Members from questioning how its allocated funding to this event, has, or is being dispensed ......., especially when "Parade Coordinator" Genny Guerrero states at the 27:30 time mark on the video, that previous tax records for the Bicentennial Committed had been shredded (which prompts me to ponder whether you can say quickly, SHREDDED, SHREDDED, SHREDDED, three times in a row without a spirits-induce hick-up, but I digress), moving on ......

 ...., Joe, about these letters from Wilson High School LAPD Magnet Cadets (who's identities you made public at a recent LA-32 NC Meeting and via your Facebook Page), that is the foundation for your latest insipid, baseless attack on your fellow "No on 710 Colleague". There is an old adage that when it comes to a story, or in your case, a controversy novella to cover the nefarious actions of others, allegedly, you should be objective in discerning both sides. Please note above that I have taken the time to highlight the responsible party the night at Wilson High School when I supposed acted out of character (or in truth, discovered an inappropriate use of students and potentially, misuse of public funds, to benefit a certain group of LA 32 NC Candidates), that would be LA-32 NC President Connie Castro-appointed Election Committee Chairperson Yolie Garcia (also an associated with the El Sereno Historical Society), continuing ............

...., Joe, as a taypayer, you should know that roughly $260 dollars was spent from the LA-32 NC Elections Committee Meet and Greet Budget Line Item ($1,000 total) for this supposed, objective gathering of candidates for the next incarnation of the community elective body. Thus, you should maybe send a email to the Region VIII "Independent Elections Administrator" Jay Handal (jay@empowerla), inquiring what type of election-related flyers this Cadet in Uniform were being instructed to dispense at the event. But maybe the cadets can answer that for us as we continue .........  

....., Joe, as someone who should agree with me that students should not be use for political purposes, especially uniformed Wilson High School LAPD Magnet Cadets during a school function, is it fair to ask the question, was Yolie Garcia abusing her position as the Elections Committee Chairperson by instructing the cadets to hand out a certain candidate slate flyer? Further Joe, is it also appropriate considering the disclosures by the cadets statements, made public by you, that first, an investigation be called for to discern whether public funds were being use to benefit a certain group of candidates and lastly, whether an LAUSD employee should also be investigated for her role in this as we continue below ...........  

......, Joe, its clear from the statement you provided from longtime Wilson High School Educator Elsa Gutierrez-Aviles, that the cadets were engaging in a activity which was not appropriate. Further, you can see below a copy of the "flyer" that the cadets were passing out via the instructions of Yolie Garcia. You may take notice of the candidates listed on the flyer and may be surprise to find the name of Genny Guerrero among them (** BTW Joe, is your wife a Bicentennial Committee Board Member?). Just in case you didn't know, Ms. Guerrero is also a Hollenbeck Community Police Advisory Board Member. Thus, you can understand that the use of LAPD-affiliated cadets to campaign on her behalf at a school function, should be grounds for a Internal Affairs Investigation by the department. But also in retrospect, I'm sure that you would agree that the actions of Ms. Gutierrez-Aviles merits a "Form 100" being filed with LAUSD. In ending....... 

....., Joe, it has be a pleasure to converse via this bloggin dialog, my thoughts on the issues brought to the community's attention by your refuted, insipid allegations as noted above. Its Stakeholders/Critics like yourself, that provide the motivation to serve our community with a foundation cemented in ethics and the truth. I sincerely hope that this bloggin refutation of the falseholds perpetrated against myself, by those who nefarious intent should disqualify from being elected to any public office, will lead to a LA-32-centric Grass Roots Organization that places paramount, the priority of holding our community members to the highest level of ethical and fiscal behavior. Care to be a Founding Member Mr. Cano (with a brown bag toast of course)?

 

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

Scott Johnson in CD 14



Morning Briefs on the Region VIII NC Elections Proceedings for Wednesday

Its Hump Day before Election Saturday for the Region VIII Neighborhood Councils as Independent Election Administrator Jay Handal immerses himself (subjectively?) into the Rough and Tumble Politics of Northeast LA

Is Region VIII NC Elections Administrator Jay Handal (to left of former Failure Mayor Antonio Villar) helping the cause of inclusive, positive NC Elections or merely padding his political resume by overlooking egregious violations of NC protocols?  

** Blogger's Note: Happy Hump Day to all as the eight neighborhood councils that make up Region VIII near its "Disempowerment LA-appointed" Election Day this Saturday and making sure that the candidates play by the rules is noted NC Activist Jay Handal. Handal has been contracted by the City Clerk as the paid Independent Elections Administrator to ensure that proper outreach is conducted and the elections are conducted fairly (meaning in CD 14 that Councilman Huizar's chosen candidates get priority, allegedly). The Westside Eatery Owner (when not entertaining thoughts of becoming Empower LA's GM one day, allegedly) has had a rude awaking to the state of affairs at a few local NCs, which prompted him to extend the candidate filing deadline by one week and caused him to unleashed his ego-driven ire at those who he perceives as "failing" in their task of election outreach. But judging from some of the repugnant, campaign vitriol being directed at certain candidates (including the slanderous attack on this blogger noted below), it may be Mr. Handal who is "failing" to regulate those who are making a mockery of the campaign process. But then, if the purveyors of this gutter campaign tripe are associated with the ruling political representative (Councilman Huizar?), then this is only part of the campaign process (and something to ignore, especially if one is entertaining thoughts of becoming Empower LA's GM someday, allegedly)---Scott Johnson in CD 14 

Boyle Heights is no stranger to dirty campaigning

There are some in LA-32 (including Joe Cano) who know no shame when it comes to making slanderous attacks to cover up inappropriate conduct by other candidates.

What use are Candidate Guidelines when they are subjectively enforced by a politically-connected Elections IEA?