This Letter was hand delivered to the DONE public meeting on 4-27-02

April 26, 2002

Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Board
305 E. First Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Northridge Community Council respectfully demands that it’s application to become a certified council, which was filed in November of last year, be placed for certification on the agenda for your 5-7-02 meeting to be held in Sun Valley.

Your staff has disagreed on two issues and improperly removed our certification from the 3-19-02 agenda on 2 days notice. All community notices had bee sent and posted. No serious objection to our group was raised from the community except for Harry Coleman that wanted a 6-month moratorium which at the same time he has stoles or name and claims his group in the real Northridge Council.

The first is the issue of empowering the stakeholders as defined in the charter, the ordinance, and the plan.

The second, which is not as critical, is whether or not we can be a nonprofit corporation, which is also allowed within the plan.

There were other housekeeping items in our bylaws, which we changed in a sense of cooperation to suit your staffs’ requirements even though we felt that the changes were unnecessary. You staff apparently has accepted all those changes.

The failure of your department to act is dis-empowering our community, and making a mockery of the press releases from the mayor about empowering the stakeholders to make decisions that concern the community.

Your plan states specifically that if DONE fails to act within a 10 day period, the application goes to the full board without recommendation. See our demand letter dated 3-18-02, attached, for more information. Here are the relevant portions.

"December 7, 2001 was the absolute last date our Application could be "deemed received" by DONE. At that point, DONE had 10 business days to evaluate the Application and submit it to the Commission, per Section IV.2.(b)(iii). The 10 days ended on December 21, 2001
Section IV.2.(b)(iii) states
(iii) Once an application has been deemed received by DONE for evaluation through the processes described in (i) or (ii) above, DONE shall have ten business days to evaluate all applications as submitted. At the end of its ten business-day evaluation period, if DONE determines that all or some of the applications are complete according to DONE's evaluation, DONE shall forward the application, any accompanying information, and its recommendation to the Commission for consideration. If DONE fails to evaluate or forward the application (and any accompanying information, including its recommendation) to the Commission within said time period, DONE shall automatically forward the application without a recommendation to the Commission for consideration.

Our new bylaws were modified specifically to try to overcome your staffs’ objection to being a town hall forum giving the power to the stakeholders. Instead, as a compromise, we gave the stakeholders the right to determine the advice to be given to the City of Los Angeles. Our Bylaws now use the language directly from the charter.

We just received a recent e-mail from the DONE staff stating that even this limited empowerment to the stakeholders "is problematic".

We believe the time has come to move this issue to your board for a commission vote on whether we have the right to empower our stakeholders to the extent granted within the charter.

We find it unacceptable to our stakeholders your staff position demanding that we develop a miniature council, which has all the power, and grants to stakeholders only the right to elect that council every two years. We believe empowerment means the stakeholders have the rights allowed by the charter.

Section 906. Certification of Neighborhood Councils.
906. (a) By-Laws. Each neighborhood council seeking official certification or recognition from the city shall submit an organization plan and by-laws to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment showing, at a minimum:
(6) guarantees that all meetings will be open and public, and permit, to the extent feasible, every stakeholder to participate in the conduct of business, deliberation and decision- making.

Here are our revised bylaws

5. Stakeholders shall make the decisions, to the extent feasible, on advice given on matters that concern the neighborhood. Such decisions shall be based on a vote by Stakeholders at a Council Meeting. The council will conform to the LA City Charter Section 906.6, which states in part "guarantees that all meetings will be open and public, and permit, to the extent feasible, every stakeholder to participate in the conduct of business, deliberation and decision- making".

We think you should also look at all the councils you are certifying to see if they grant this specific right to the stakeholders, which is clearly stated in the charter, ordinance, and in the plan.

You, and the stakeholders in the community, should know whether the neighborhood councils you have certified empowers the stakeholders in the neighborhood or are just another group of yes men organized by the City of Los Angeles.

Even more insulting was the option suggested that we allow the stakeholders to vote and our council could override the voters. You may remember that is exactly what the L.A. City Council got the legislator to do to block secession in the '70s.

As a side note, we fully intend to continue representing the neighborhood in whatever city runs the valley.

Charles Brink for the Council

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