Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

EXTRA! HOME DEPOT PULLS OUT OF SUNLAND-TUJUNGA! THE PEOPLE WIN!
Read the post from Joe B. and stay tuned throughout the day as he may have more updates.

A number of City Council Members stepped up during Tuesday's session on the issue of parking meters.  As we've reported here a number of communities are up in arms over both increases to parking rates as well as extension of parking meter times to midnight in some cases as well as charging on Sundays.  CMs Tom LaBonge, Ed Reyes, Bill Rosendahl and Dennis Zine were passionate advocates for their communities and the impact these changes have made on residents and business.  Unfortuanately, Transportation Committee member Wendy Greuel was less than sympathetic and more wedded to "the process."  Hopefully LaBonge, Reyes, Rosendahl and Zine will continue to hold DOT's feet to the fire and make them accountable not only for the onerous policies but for the abysmal outreach DOT did to Council Offices, Neigborhood Councils and Chambers of Commerce on the issue. Rare admission from the City's CAO during the debate: since parking meter and sales taxes rates were increased, revenues to the City have decreased.  Really? We could have told you that would happen!

Though some members of the City Council are suggesting freezing increased hiring by the Los Angeles Police Department - particularly in light of the current budget crisis and dropping crime rates - Mayor Villaraigosa is committed to moving forward with hiring serveral hundred more officers as promised.  "I have said that I will not be deterred in this effort and I think a majority of the City Council will agree with me," the Mayor told Rick Orlov.


As a follow up to his protest filed against the Northridge West Neighborhood Council over alleged violations of the Brown Act and other regulations, community activist Jim Alger Tuesday filed a public records request with the NWNC seeking a series of documents including over a year's worth of agendas, records of all expenditures, documentation of Board Members' attendance at ethics training sessions and copies of all email between board members on Alger's grievance.  Still no response to the Sister City from our request of the NWNC to tell their side of the story (sorry guys if you think anonymous insults of Alger or myself are a response, not quite the way it works).

Jim Alger Files Complaint Against Neighborhood Council

Alleging that the Northridge West Neighborhood Council has been "operating in violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act," longtime community activist Jim Alger has filed a grievance against the body requesting a series of remedies up to and including decertification of the Council board and/or removal of it's directors.

Alger tells the Sister City "They (the Council board of directors) consistently violate the open meeting law by taking up items not on the agenda and deliberately try to circumvent it with 'ad-hoc' meetings that are not legal."

Among numerous procedural matters relating to the Council's Board of Directors' activities the key point of Alger's complaint relates to a position taken by NWNC on the upcoming Proposition B on the City's March primary, a controversial measure dealing with solar energy.   Alger says that "In addition to the violation of the Brown Act, the NWNC did violate an existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Water and Power where it did not provide the required 14 days notice to the DWP (as required by the MOU) or the required 3 days notice to the community (as required by the Brown Act) prior to taking a position opposing Proposition B, the LA Solar Power Initiative."

The MOU that Alger refers to is one agreed to by NWNC and other Neighborhood Councils that, among other things, requires Neighborhood Councils to give the DWP a 14 day notice of any issue the Council Board of Directors is considering that relates to the DWP, in order for the DWP to have an opportunity to provide sufficient representation at the meeting at which the item will be discussed.

Alger told me "What annoys me is that these are not hard rules to follow. Simply place the item on the public agenda, or post a special meeting notice, and then you're in compliance. All I want them to do is follow the law, why is that so difficult?"

The Northridge West Neighborhood Council has until January 8th to select a committee of five random stakeholders to hear Alger's complaint. The committee will make a final recommendation to the full Council board for final action.  If Alger is not satisfied with the Council's response, he may follow-up his grievance with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners for further action.

We have sought a response from the Northridge West Neighborhood Council but at press time not received any comment from them.  We welcome their response, if they have one.