HOT Morning Briefs of the Los Angeles Political Machine for Monday

It should be time to say SAYONARA to any future political aspirations for Unlawful Cubafornia State Senate Presiding Officer Kevin Alexander of Leon (aka. K.A. Leon) as The Sanctuary State Bill Author invites Pacifica Services (and his Appointee to the High Speed Rail Commission) Ernest Camacho, on a Junket to Japan.

From the Facebook Page of State Senator Holly Mitchell: State Senate Presiding Officer K.A. Leon (in gray t-shirt) and Ernest Camacho (third from right in white shirt) in Japan with other members of the Cubafornia Junket Delegation. 

** Blogger's Notes: A bloggin KONNICHIWA to all, especially to Unlawful State Senate Presiding Officer Kevin Alexander of Leon (aka. K.A. Leon, or the Politico Self-branded as Kevin De Leon), ......, and his Junket Companion Ernest Camacho of Pacific Services. K.A. Leon appointed the Pacifica CEO to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors last Spring. Thus, one can surmise that Camacho spent his time in Japan absorbing information on recent incarnations of the famous Bullet Trains .......... and pondering how his company can someday replicate its past Central Basin Water District Billing/Handout Practices, in garnering some future spoils.

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Longtime Glassell Park Activist Maggie Darett-Quiroz Appointed to Board of Neighborhood Commission (BONC)

Mayor Eric Garcetti appoints former Glassell Park Neighborhood Council Member and Community Activist Maggie Darett-Quiroz to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) as the East Area Representative, replacing Olivia Rubio.

2014 Photo of Maggie Darett-Quiroz (and infant child) via KCET.

** Blogger's Note: Mayor Eric Garcetti has appointed former Glassell Park Neighborhood Council Member and Community Activist Maggie Darett-Quiroz to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) which oversees the City of Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils. Darett-Quiroz, once confirmed by the City Council, will replace Olivia Rubio as the East Area Representative on the BONC Committee. In 2014, the former GPNC Board Member was featured in a KCET Profile which we have linked to----Scott Johnson.

Your thoughts .............
Scott Johnson in CD 14 

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) \
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And now a few moments with Greg Nelson

One of our readers posted this gem:

Sorry Higby, but now what he's the main writer for Citywatch, Greg Nelson has become the "Andy Rooney" commentator on all things City Hall, a doddering, out-of-touch, deposed king among gadflies.

He's using his extra time now to recycle all the inane memos he sent upstairs while working for two mayors, and which all got promptly ash-canned because they were . . . well, inane.

- "Didja ever notice that 'Public Works' can be a noun and a complete sentence?"

- "Why is it that the notices from the city's EARLY Notification System, always come out in the LATE afternoon?"

- "BONC would be much better suited to do what DONE does, and have DONE do what BONC does now. I don't know why, it just looked pretty when I diagrammed it in crayon on my placemat at Denny's this morning."

- Neighorhood councils were created to teach stakeholders how to blow bubbles without getting soap on their shirts. Look it up; it's in the revised city charter."

- "They have neighborhood councils in Butte, Montana, you know, and their board members get to park their cars on sidewalks without getting tickets. We should try that."


Ignore him. Not like in "ignore him and he'll go away" - because he has nowhere to go, but you'll be less frustrated if you do.

Neighborhood Council Denied Again

We reported Thursday on the plans of the Mid Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council to split into two.

For some time, members of the Council felt that at nearly 70,000 residents, the Council's area was too large to effectively serve the community. Two councils could more aptly do outreach and engage the stakeholders.

The Council was instructed to appear before a meeting of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners to plead their case. Though the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment felt there was no clear process for a boundary division, the recommendation of the department and its general manager, Dr. Carol Baker Tharp, was to allow North Hollywood to go ahead and then use that Council's experience as a template for additional council's citywide who wished to undertake a similar process.

However, at 3:25 p.m. the day of the meeting, Dr. Tharp informed the Council in an email that she was changing her recommendation to the BONC to deny the application, based on the advice of the City Attorney. Citing issues with the petition signatures as part of the application Tharp told the Council "The people who worked with you are no longer here, so this is no one's fault but my own. I was trying to help and I screwed up. Just as you are frustrated, so am I." Little solace to the members of the Council who showed up at 6:00 p.m., as instructed, to express solidarity and support for the proposal. Following Dr. Tharp's recommendation, the BONC removed the item from consideration.

During a period of open comment by the BONC members, Commissioner Diane Middleton told the crowd that they had been "misled." If they walk out of the meeting thinking the reason for the action was some technical error with the application, petition signatures, etc. they are mistaken. There is nothing the BONC can do as far as expediting the Council's request because nothing will happen until DONE, BONC, the City Attorney and City Council establish a complete policy. And of course the implication is this will be months later.

"The people who worked with you are no longer here, so this is no one's fault but my own. I was trying to help and I screwed up. Just as you are frustrated, so am I."
Dr. Carol Baker Tharp
General Manager, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

No wonder people are alienated from their city. No wonder its hard to get good people involved in Neighborhood Councils. With bumbling bureaucrats at DONE and a lack of leadership by their oversight body, BONC, its unlikely anything will move forward.

And they wondered why the Valley wanted to succeed.

Full disclosure: I was recently appointed to the Mid Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council and support the breakup.

Breaking Up May Not Be Hard to Do

For some time, the Mid-Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council has sought to make like a cell and divide. Initially the Council wished to split into three separate councils, but it was later determined that it was more practical to split into two councils.

The Council's primary view is that at nearly 70,000 residents, the area served by the Council is too large to be effective and representative. Nearby councils, such as Toluca Lake, have far fewer constituents and receive the same level of funding as North Hollywood.

Because this has never been done before, the City's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and its oversight panel, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners has been stymied on how to make the Council's wishes happen. With no defined breakup process in place - and a growing number of councils citywide who wish to follow suit - DONE is seeking to develop a smooth process.

Thursday night, BONC will meet at 6:00 pm at Maurice Sendak Elementary School at 11414 Tiara Street in North Hollywood to consider North Hollywood's application. Staff has recommended that they be granted their request, with the understanding that no further approvals be granted until a solid process is in place and North Hollywood has been requested to help advise on the development of the process.

Full disclosure: I was recently appointed to the Mid Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council and support the breakup.