|
THIS IS THE MAIN NEWS PAGE
|
 |
|
|
SPECIAL MEETING CALLED ON STREET REPAIR
 President Todd Robinson has called a special meeting of the Palms Neighborhood Council and its Representative Assembly to approve the priorities for street repair within Palms.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, in the IMAN Center at 3376 Motor Ave.
This is the first time that neighborhood councils throughout the city have been asked to weigh in on plans for fixing streets. The process was instigated by former Mayor James Hahn but was continued by new Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
 Robinson announced that Palms's Committee on Transportation and Roadworks "did formally approve the selection of Midvale as first choice [top map] and Jasmine (starting from Venice going north for as much as the budget would allow) as second choice [bottom map]. Watseka was also evaluated, but considered as being in far better shape than the others."
He said he faces a Dec. 31 deadline to forward Palms's choice to the city's Bureau of Street Services. Each neighborhood council is allowed to weigh in on $100,000 worth of street repair to be done during 2006.
|
•
Cliff Cheng replaces long-time leader Terry Robinson as head of Neighborhood Watch
|
|
 Neighborhood Watch leader Terry Robinson has resigned and turned her duties over to Cliff Cheng (left), who has lauded Robinson for her "tireless, single-handed service."
 The announcement was made at the regular meeting of the Palms-Westside Village public-safety organization on Dec. 7.
Robinson (right) has been on duty for "six or seven years" She was also praised by LAPD Senior Lead Officer Anthony Vasquez, who said that she had brought a moribund Neighborhood Watch "back to life" when she took over.
"We've accomplished a lot," Robinson said.
Cheng said he wants to put a stress on emergency-response training of the sort offered through the L.A. Fire Department. He also wants to obtain speakers who will offer "a lively 30 to 45 minutes" at the Watch gatherings, which are held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays just before the Palms Neighborhood Council meetings.
|
Palms Assembly puts citywide Congress of Neighborhoods on hold
|
|
Will the Palms Neighborhood Council join with a citywide Congress of Neighborhoods now being formed in order to have an influence on L.A.'s policies?
That is a question left for a later meeting as the Representative Assembly on Dec. 7 failed to make a decision on a request to that effect by stakeholder Cliff Cheng.
Cheng was accompanied by Jackie Lamishaw of Winnetka and Bob Gelfand of Coastal San Pedro; all spoke in favor of the plan.
"This organization does exist and will continue to exist," Gelfand said. "You can either watch it or participate."
He said that neighborhood councils who work together could "leverage their influence" with city government, and he claimed that the City Charter states that the councils should come together as a Congress of Neighborhoods.
The only opposition came from Secretary George Garrigues, who said he "mistrusts people who use the word power when they should use the word service."
He said he didn't believe the Palms Council had enough participants to work with the new Congress, but Cheng said he would volunteer to do so.
The discussion ended with a statement by Facilitator Alejandro Soschin that the idea could be placed on the agenda for the January Assembly meeting.
The Web site for the fledgling Congress of Neighborhoods is www.LancCongress.org.
VAN NUYS SAYS NO: The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council on Dec. 14 rejected a bid to join the Congress of Neighborhoods on the grounds that the congress is seeking "to usurp power."
In a press release, Van Nuys President James (Jamie) Cordaro suggested that there be 15 congresses throughout the city, one within each City Council district.
That would keep any congress from "rubber stamping on issues far removed from an area in which they have no stake," he said. |
| OTHER ASSEMBLY ACTION: Alejandro Soschin, representative for nonprofit organizations, was re-elected Facilitator of the Assembly for a three-month term ending March 7, 2006. He acts as chair of the meetings and sets up the meeting place each month. He also consults with the President in setting the agenda for the meetings. |
ACTIVISTS SEEK PALMS PARTICIPATION IN MAR VISTA BOUNDARY TALKS
Assembly sets aside the motion for now
|
After a prolonged discussion, the Palms Representative Assembly on Dec. 7 delayed any action on a request to lend its support to a mediation process regarding the Westside Village boundary issue.
The matter will probably be brought up again at the Assembly's next regular meeting on January 11, 2006.
The Assembly is the governing body of the Palms Neighborhood Council. |
EXCERPTS FROM PALMS REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING OF DEC. 7, 2005, CONCERNING THE WESTSIDE VILLAGE BOUNDARY ISSUE
The issue presented to the Representative Assembly of the Palms Neighborhood Council at its regular meeting on Dec. 7 was a proposed motion by George Garrigues, secretary and a Westside Village resident, as follows:
DECEMBER 7, 2005 /AGENDA ITEM NO. 11
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. Article IX of the Los Angeles City Charter of 1999 states that
"To promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs, a citywide system of neighborhood councils . . . is created. Neighborhood councils shall include representatives of the many diverse interests in communities. . . ."
2. The Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils, approved by the City Council on May 30, 2001, states that neighborhood council boundaries "should, to the maximum extent feasible, follow historic and contemporary community and neighborhood borders, and shall utilize natural boundaries or street lines and be geographically compact and contiguous."
3. The Plan also requires a "good faith effort towards achieving a diversity of Community Stakeholder representation" by collecting signatures that, "to the maximum extent feasible, reflect the broadest array of Community Stakeholders who will actively participate in the proposed Neighborhood Council."
4. Article V of the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils states that “A Certified Neighborhood Council may petition the Commission to adjust its boundaries.”
5. Palms, founded in 1886, is the oldest district in West Los Angeles.
6. Westside Village was a subdivision of 788 single-family homes built in 1940 to the northwest of the original community of Palms.
7. The Mar Vista Community Council was certified by the Los Angeles City Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on August 13, 2002.
8. As a result at that certification, the original Westside Village tract and adjoining areas of apartments and older residences (cited below as the "WV district") were included within the boundaries of the Mar Vista Community Council, where it is known as "Zone 1."
9. The WV district has approximately 12,000 residents.
10. In late 2003, a petition campaign was begun by Westside Villagers in which more than 200 signatures in that area were obtained in favor of joining the WV district with Palms in a unified "Palms-Westside Village Neighborhood Council." According to the petitioners, these signatures, "to the maximum extent feasible, reflect the broadest array of Community [Westside Village] Stakeholders who will actively participate in the proposed Neighborhood Council."
11. On March 15, 2005, in a Mar Vista CC opinion ballot, stakeholders of the Mar Vista CC (including those from the WV district) voted affirmatively on the question, “Should Westside Village (Zone 1) be part of Palms Neighborhood Council instead of Mar Vista Community Council?”
12. The Board of the Mar Vista CC decided on April 12, 2005, however, that it
1) Does not support any boundary change at this time and urges all of its Zones to work with each other and with its neighbors in adjacent neighborhood councils on all pertinent regional and local issues.
2) Supports and encourages the development of newly-established, adjacent neighborhood councils, and looks forward to cooperative and friendly relations with all of its neighbors.
3) Will not consider a border change until the matter has been appropriately and thoroughly discussed and a true consensus is reached by the stakeholders of any affected individual Zone.
13. The Palms Neighborhood Council was certified by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on December 14, 2004, and its first election was validated in June 2005.
14. In summer 2005 the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission agreed to be the mediator in the above-mentioned dispute.
|
| Resolution
Move to accept the attached Statement of Facts and order them to be incorporated in the minutes and to adopt the Resolution as follows:
1. The Palms Neighborhood Council through its Representative Assembly believes with the Mar Vista Community Council in "cooperative and friendly relations with all its neighbors" and that the dispute must be thoroughly discussed after sufficient outreach to all Westside Villagers.
2. The Palms Neighborhood Council believes that a decision must be reached by consensus, election or some other method of settlement.
3. The Palms Council agrees that it will cooperate with the Human Relations Commission and will send a representative or representatives to all meetings called by the commission or its representatives.
4. It agrees that it will welcome the addition of Westside Village to the council and will amend its bylaws and will petition the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners for a boundary change if that is part of the settlement to be reached.
|
Notes on the Assembly meeting
GEORGE GARRIGUES, Secretary: "It is simply amazing and shocking to me that the Mar Vista Community Council, without notifying the vast, vast majority in Westside Village, went ahead and annexed my apartment building . . . and all of the residences, the businesses and everything else got sucked over into Mar Vista on the strength of 15 signatures that Mar Vista used to form a neighborhood council."
RICHARD LEIB, a Westside Village resident, spoke from the audience in favor.
GARRIGUES read the statement and made the motion as above. Seconded by ASAD YAVARI.
LEN NGUYEN, field representative for City Council Member Bill Rosendahl: The process by the Human Relations commission is targeted primarily to the parties within Westside Village that were involved in the dispute, with copies sent to the presidents of the Mar Vista and Palms neighborhood councils, which were "tangentially" related to it.
Still working out the meeting date — will probably have it in "mid-January, later January."
Will send copies to the Palms president "as a courtesy."
At the request of Assembly members, the words "consult and" was added to Point No. 3. (See the revised text below.)
LORI DONAHOO, Charnock Ranch Historic Business District: Want to know the difference between the Human Relations Commission and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners [known as BONC].
DEANNA STEVENSON, representing the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment: The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners could ask the BONC to mediate any issue.
NGUYEN: There are two issues. One is a boundary dispute, and the other is the way the issue has been argued or presented.
"Mediation in a community where conflict is going on. In this case the commission will try to get both parties in a community where there is dispute in a room to get them talkng, to lower the tension — to bring out the issues of concern — that could be the boundary, that could be the way in which the issue has been argued or pursued, that could be . . . to find if there are ways to resolve those problems; if not, maybe to increase understanding between the parties so that there isn't such divisiveness, and hopefully the community of Westside Village will benefit as a result, regardless as to whether a determination has been made on the boundary.
"The boundary dispute is not what the Human Relations Commission will decide on; it may be an issue that will be discussed as a source of conflict."
DONAHOO: "What is the reason the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners will not participate in a boundary change at this time?"
STEVENSON: "If the two parties are not in agreement on a boundary dispute, the Board is not going to make a decision that will change the boundaries."
GARRIGUES: "There's never been a decision. it's been a non-decision. . . both [neighborhood] councils have to agree."
TODD ROBINSON, President: "It really seems the first part is internal . . . within Mar Vista Community Council and Westside Village. the only role we could play is if Westside Village decided to separate from Mar Vista. is that correct?"
GARRIGUES: "There's a legal, and there's a moral or philosophical role. The legal is that the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners is the organization that makes the boundary change. At present the boundary change has to be approved, in this case, by Mar Vista and Palms.
"The moral and philosophical part is that the Assembly — or council -— is the spokesperson for the Palms neighborhood, and there has been an egregious wrong to the Palms neighborhood made by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners. . . . the motion states that we must cooperate with the Human Relations Commission.
"This meeting that Len is talking about is supposed to be between me and Rich [Leib, the other principal person in the petition drive] and the Westside Village Civic Assn. I have no argument with them [the Westside Village homeowners group]. If they want to come aboard, that's fine.
"I believe the Palms Neighborhood Council — the Assembly — has to take a positive stand in this matter and say that 'Yes, we believe there should be mediation and we believe there should be "consensus, election or some other method of settlement." '
"All they [the Mar Vista board] said is that they wanted consensus; well, how do you get consensus? You may have to have an election, . . . and the Assembly has to take a moral and philosophical stand in favor of this process which the Human Relations Commission is attempting to accomplish."
ROBINSON: "In order for Westside Village to be redrawn into Palms, we have to specifically request that. Is that correct?" [Answer: Yes.]
MARIO BRUHWILER, Motor Residential District representative: "I'm just wondering how it's going to work out if we agree to say that if we'd like Westside Village as part of the Palms Neighborhood Council but the Mar Vista Neighborhood Council disagrees with that. What kind of impact would that have on our future relations with an adjacent neighborhood council? . . .
"I think that the wording has to be changed that we would approve of Westside Village being part of the Palms Neighborhood Council if the overwhelming majority of the Mar Vista Neighborhood Council or their stakeholders wish for that to be so.
"Basically the Mar Vista area proper would have to say that it's OK for Westside Village to become part of Palms, and I would agree with that taking place, but I'm not going to insist that the Mar Vista Neighborhood Council allow for Westside Village to secede if they're really against it.
"I mean, I'm not saying I'm opposed to your attempts, but I believe there has to be more outreach in your area. I think you're going to get a lot more done that way than to ask the neighborhood councils in this area to support your maneuver."
NEAL ANDERBERG, Studio Residential District representative: "It's my understanding that the Westside Village area and the residents there have been represented by the Mar Vista Community Council for two years now . . .
"I think it's a relatively poor showing, no matter how many signatures you guys have. It seems like an army of two to us, because I don't see more than two people here talking about it.
"Now I know that — I kind of get the feeling that the Palms Neighborhood Council should be the last group you guys should talk to about getting this to happen, and that these 200 people should be showing up at a Mar Vista Community Council meeting, and saying to them that 'we're not being fairly represented by this community council, and that we would like to move our area to the Palms Neighborhood Council,' and if it agrees with that, then I'd be more than willing to vote or motion to allow that to happen to allow Westside Village to become part of Palms."
ALEJANDRO SOSCHIN, Nonprofit Organization representative: "One thing I do want to say, I think it's pretty clear this is an issue that raises a lot of passion on both sides of the debate. Whether it's two people, or 200, or the entire neighborhood, it's definitely something that has created a lot of tension, passion and concerns about the process.
"One thing we could agree on . . . is to say that the Palms Neighborhood Council, recognizing the importance of a positive relationship between neighboring councils . . . and maybe recognizing that this is an issue that is currently creating tension within the boundaries, on the boundaries, around the boundaries, I think it would be in everyone's interest to have this resolved and by whatever means necessary, whether it's human relations mediation, whether it's the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners — whatever mechanism — I think Palms could make a statement saying 'We would want this issue to be resolved, because once it's resolved, we don't have any outstanding issues with Westside Village, with the Mar Vista Community Council, we can work with them closely, we don't have concerns about we're supporting this group and not that. . . .'
"That is something we can push forward . . . are we courting secession, are we undermining another neighborhood council? We are just starting to build networks and relationships, and I think it would be detrimental to undermine them, but I think we should support the resolution of something I think obviously creates a of tension in this community."
GARRIGUES: "I agree with that and would agree to leave off the statement of facts and leave off Point 4 of the resolution. Points 1, 2 and 3 would answer the objections that I've heard tonight. . . .
"The Mar Vista board says it has to be by consensus, but there has to be some other method of settlement. If there's no method of settlement, there's no decision reached."
Stressed need for Point 3.
"We need somebody from Palms to go up there, and even if it is just to sit and take notes, but to be in the room at least when this mediation process is taking place. I think that No. 4 we can do away with; it might be a little premature."
ROBINSON: "It seems that it still stands as an issue that is still primarily between the Mar Vista Community Council and one of its zones, and it makes it a little bit difficult for us to be taking a stand on something that almost needs to be decided from within, but I do understand also that there's a large constituency within that neighborhood that does believe that they should be in Palms.
"Is there a method . . . that we could take that leaves it within Mar Vista but encourages them to do some of the items that we're talking about without the formal stance by the Palms Neighborhood Council? My thought is that we're the next step after decisions are made within."
ANDERBERG: "I entirely agree with Todd on this issue . . . a certain member of the Mar Vista Community Council" says their perspective is that the Westside Village Civic Assn. "represents the stakeholders to the Mar Vista Community Council" and if others want to join Palms they can do so "if they are in the Palms-Westside Village Neighborhood Watch or something like that."
BEA STEELMAN of Palms, JOSEPH ZIMRING of Palms and LEIB spoke from the floor.
DONAHOO: "A very, very important issue." Moved to table.
Motion to table was adopted with no objection.
The motion as tabled is given below.
|
Resolution
1. The Palms Neighborhood Council through its Representative Assembly believes with the Mar Vista Community Council in "cooperative and friendly relations with all its neighbors" and that the Westside Village boundary dispute must be thoroughly discussed after sufficient outreach to all Westside Villagers.
2. The Palms Neighborhood Council believes that a decision must be reached by consensus, election or some other method of settlement.
3. The Palms Council agrees that it will consult and cooperate with the Human Relations Commission and will send a representative or representatives to all meetings called by the commission or its representatives.
|
|
|
