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THIS IS THE URBAN ISSUES PAGE
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IN THIS SITE
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Some links on these archived pages are not operative.
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This NONCOMMERCIAL site is a harmless hobby of George Garrigues, who has lived in the Westside Village district of Palms for 12 years. These pages have no connection with any organization.
Send him e-mail with corrections and comments.
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COUNCIL, MAYOR ARE ASKED TO CHANGE CITY LAW ON NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS
Boundaries could be shifted upon petition
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Thwarted by the opposition of General Manager Greg Nelson of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, the manager of a petition drive to change the neighborhood council boundaries between Mar Vista and Palms has shifted his focus to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council.
Nelson reported to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on Sept. 20, 2005, that "There is no provision in the laws that govern the neighborhood council process that allow for one part of a certified neighborhood council to be moved to an adjacent neighborhood council without approval from both neighborhood councils."
He did not address the possibility of changing the laws.
On Dec. 6, 2005, George Garrigues, one of the organizers of S-U-P-E-R (Strong and United to Preserve Everyone's Rights), presented such a suggested change to the commissioners at their regular meeting in the City Hall, but there has been no response on the part of the board.
"We've just about given up on the city bureaucracy," Garrigues said in a statement. "We're turning to elected officials who are more accountable to the people."
He said he had delayed presenting the petition until a recent reorganization of the City Council had been completed, with new members chosen for the Council's Education and Neighborhoods Committee.
He said the proposed ordinance and list of petition-signers will be handed to Westside Village City Council members Bill Rosendahl and Jack Weiss at a meeting of the Westside Village Civic Assn. on Feb. 28.
It has already been presented to the Education and Neighborhoods Committee and to Mayor Villaraigosa as well.
The proposed ordinance (below) would allow the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners to make a boundary adjustment on the request of a petition signed by at least 200 stakeholders.
"This is the same number of signatures required to form a council in the first place," Garrigues told the board at its December meeting. |
| PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO ALLOW A NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARY CHANGE UPON PETITION
S-U-P-E-R • Strong and United to Protect Everyone's Rights
PMP 11, 3500 Overland Ave. 110 • Palms-Westside Village • CA 90034-5696
310-839-7708 • December 6, 2005
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN FOR A CITYWIDE SYSTEM OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS (PLAN).
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 174006 became effective on (give date); and
WHEREAS, said ordinance contained a section titled "Certification of Neighborhood Councils" wherein were set forth qualification and criteria for Neighborhood Council certification; and
WHEREAS, one of the criteria set forth was that "The proposed area, to the maximum extent feasible, follows historic and contemporary community and neighborhood boundaries, utilizes natural boundaries or street lines and is geographically compact and contiguous"; and
WHEREAS, the City Charter requires that said boundaries "do not divide communities"; and
WHEREAS, said ordinance did not provide any specific remedy in case said boundaries did not fulfill the requirements of the ordinance or of the City Charter; and
WHEREAS, the City Charter states that the citywide system of neighborhood councils has as its sole purpose "To promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs"; and
WHEREAS, said ordinance provides for the adjustment of boundaries only upon petition of a certified neighborhood council, which limitation may or may not have the effect of promoting "more citizen participation and making government more responsive"; and
WHEREAS, an adjustment of boundaries under those conditions would require amending the bylaws of two or more neighborhood councils, usually by a two-thirds vote of the Governing Body, which requirement would hinder the responsiveness of government to local needs; and
WHEREAS, a petition has been filed with the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners by more than two hundred Los Angeles city residents for adjustment of boundaries of the Palms and Mar Vista certified neighborhood councils; and
WHEREAS, the general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, in response to a request by the acting chair of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, has stated "There is no provision in the laws that govern the neighborhood council process that allow for one part of a certified neighborhood council to be moved to an adjacent neighborhood council without approval from both neighborhood councils,"
NOW, THEREFORE, THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES DO AMEND SECTION 4 OF ORDINANCE NO. 174006 TO READ AS FOLLOWS (the addition to the existing ordinance is in italics and the deletion is underlined):
Sec. 4. Boundary Adjustment.
A. Adjustment of Boundaries. A neighborhood council or any group of at least two hundred Stakeholders may file a petition with the Commission to adjust its boundaries the boundaries of a neighborhood council or councils.
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