CityWatchLA - A Double Standard at LA’s Hypocrisy Hall

CityWatch, May 21, 2010
Vol 8 Issue 40

When visiting LA's City Hall, keep in mind that the beautiful front doors on Spring Street are for the exclusive use of City Hall staff while the back doors are for the public. This "two-tier" system of access is an apt metaphor for the double standard that applies to those who govern Los Angeles and to those who are governed.

Consider the tremendous display of irony at Monday's Board of Neighborhood Commissioners' Retreat when the General Manager of CDD reported that the money to fund the training of neighborhood councils on the management of NC funds somehow fell from the proposed budget, something he glossed over as a "mistake." This "mistake" somehow made it into the Mayor's proposed budget, made it all the way to the City Council, and is now on its way back to the Mayor for final approval.

Who watches the Watchmen?

The board retreat opened with a commitment to Transparency and Accountability and a mandate to address the impact of the proposed merger of the departments of Community Development and Neighborhood Empowerment on the Neighborhood Council system.

The 7 Commissioners were surrounded by 3 staffers from the Mayor's office, 5 staffers from Neighborhood Empowerment, 3 staffers from Community Development, 2 staffers from the City Attorney, and the retreat was facilitated by 2 staffers from Human Relations. Whew! 15 people on the clock to facilitate a board retreat for 7 Commissioners and about a dozen members of the public.

Yet nobody sounded the "Transparency and Accountability" alarm when it was revealed that a Deputy Mayor and two General Managers allowed the budget for Neighborhood Empowerment to make it all the way through the system without doing the math. It may be "budget dust" in the grand scheme of a $7 billion budget but for the neighborhood council system, $84,000 is significant.

More important than the loss of the Neighborhood Empowerment NC training budget is the fact that the very people who sit in a position of authority, contemplating "drastic measures" for the volunteers of neighborhood councils such as imposed mandatory training and funding suspensions, are not bound by the same performance standards.

The proposed Neighborhood Council review system, where city staff would rate councils and determine if they are "Low Functionality" or "Medium Functionality" or "High Functionality" and then prescribe appropriate measures for addressing their performance, should be turned on its ear and applied to those in City Hall.

The proposed matrix of performance standards is not bad. It reviews everything from Funding to Outreach to Collaboration to Technology. It's just aimed at the wrong people.

Now is the time to ask the hard questions of those folks who use City Hall's front door. It starts with "Where's the money?"

(Stephen Box writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net)

CityWatchLA - Westwood NC Certified: Becomes LA’s 90th

CityWatch, Jan 22, 2010
Vol 8 Issue 6

When the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners convenes a neighborhood council certification hearing and hundreds of passionate community leaders show up in a standing room only crowd, there is only one course of action and that is to certify the NC and to give them the full support of the city family.

It took five and half hours of presentations, debate and public comment but in the end the Commission agreed, voting unanimously to certify the Westwood Neighborhood Council, making them the 90th active neighborhood council in the city of Los Angeles.



The evening wasn't without controversy and the opponents to the certification were vocal, well-organized, articulate and well-reasoned. But for all of the debate over procedural errors, organizational missteps, and outreach shortcomings, the one simple point they couldn't drive home was why the naysayers had the right to prevent community stakeholders from organizing a neighborhood council and volunteering their time to improve the quality of life in their community.

Ultimately, the simple right to be represented in the neighborhood council system held firm and the applicants prevailed.

Councilman Koretz kicked the proceedings off (Video) by stating that he supports neighborhood councils but then proceeded to qualify that support by calling for community consensus as the necessary foundation for a newly formed neighborhood council.

He referred to the significant polarization in the community as evidence that they weren't ready for a certified neighborhood council, arguing that mediation was required and that the formation of the WWNC should be the conclusion of the consensus building process.

I disagreed and argued that the formation of the Westwood Neighborhood Council is the appropriate beginning of the journey, not the end, and that the process of involving the community, of engaging the many voices and the different perspectives is best facilitated within the structure of a neighborhood council, not as a prerequisite for formation. Apparently BONC agreed.



The idea that civic engagement is dependent on consensus is a flawed paradigm for public participation and denies the true value to be found in spirited discourse in the open marketplace of ideas.

If nothing else, the neighborhood council system is to be credited with stirring period debates over the tyranny of the majority vs. the veto power of the minority.

The public wins in discussions that educate, engage, and ultimately empower the community and it was refreshing to see hundreds of people engaged in a debate over their right to volunteer their time, to organize, and to work together to improve the quality of life in their community.

Speaking in support of the Westwood NC were community leaders from all over the city, demonstrating that as much as each community is unique, they all have a lot in common including the need to work together in order to truly represent the people of Los Angeles.

To this end, seasoned veterans of the NC system from Sunland Tujunga to Coastal San Pedro offered their support as mentors to the Westwood Neighborhood Council.

The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners are to be credited for their stamina and their wisdom and especially for creating an environment that played host to passionate emotions, enthusiastic opinions, and spirited debate.

Board President Michele Siqueiros raised the bar on effective public hearings and proved that, in spite of a lack of consensus, the community can come together and take care of business fairly, diplomatically and effectively.

(Stephen Box is a well known and long-time grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net )

CityWatchLA - DONE Selects New Brand: Goes Generic

CityWatch, Aug 4, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 62

In the land of "Hey! Look at me!" the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment has selected "generic" as their approach to positioning their brand.

Now referring to themselves as "The Department" and referring to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners as "The Commission" they have selected "LA's Best Kept Secret" as a positioning theme for LA's Neighborhood Councils. So, with tongue only slightly in cheek let’s try vanilla … ●●●

Overhead on the streets of LA was the following conversation:

"Hey, I'm going to the Commission hearing. Want to join me?"

"Which Commission, the Police Commission?"

"No, THE Commission!"

"Oh, the DWP Commission!"

"No, you know, the COMMISSION!"

"Be specific, which Commission?"

"I am being specific! It's 'The Commission!'"

"You're not making sense. What is it that this Commission does?"

"Well, they oversee 'The Department.'"

"The Department of what?"

"No, it's just 'The Department!'"

"Now you're being silly!"

"No, it's simple! 'The Commission' oversees 'The Department' and that's how it works!"

"So you're telling me that 'The Commission' and 'The Department 'work together. What do they do?"

"They support LA's system of Neighborhood Councils."

"ORLY! And what are neighborhood councils?"

"Well, according to 'The Department' they're 'LA's Best Kept Secret!'"

"So let me get this straight. 'The Commission' oversees 'The Department' which supports 'The Secret' and somehow this makes sense to you."

"Yes! You've got it!"

"Wouldn't referring to neighborhood councils as 'The Secret' be an acknowledgment of failure? After all, isn't the objective of branding to communicate and connect, not to hide?"

"Ah..."

"So 'The Commission' oversees 'The Department' which supports 'The Secret' and somehow you're good with all of this?"

"Ah..."

"Well, if all of this generic silliness makes sense to you, that makes you 'The Suckah!'"

"Hey, you can't talk to me that way! I'll go to 'The Commission!'"

Repeat mercilessly until the lawyers from the estate of Abbott & Costello sue you for ruining a good joke, this time at the expense of the public!

(Stephen Box writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net) ◘