On Friday night, we were advised that the Mayor’s office wants to postpone next year’s Neighborhood Council elections until fall 2014 or spring 2015.
The reason?
They are broke.
Again.
Still.
In addition, Mayor Villaraigosa’s office wants the Neighborhood Councils to pay for their elections, roughly $7300 for each of the 95 Neighborhood Councils, almost $750,000.
For a city that has a 16 percent voter turnout, and keeps asking the question why, the answers are simple.
Nobody trusts the elected officials.
Last year, the Neighborhood Council elections were run smoothly by the Dept. of Empowerment. We turned out almost 20,000 voters, in some cases more than entire City Council districts in last week’s primary election.
So do Neighborhood Councils have to get in bed with the unions so that we can run the elections, and then do their bidding for them?
Do Neighborhood Councils have to go to the City Council for their 2 minutes to complain to empty and recycled chairs about the treatment we get?
Or do Neighborhood Council members need to band together and file a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for continued flagrant violations of charter section 911? (Isn’t it fitting that the section always in trouble is 9-1-1?)
The answer is the latter. Now is the time to go above the Measure B campaign, or the Prop. A campaign, retain an attorney and sue the city for their violations of Charter Section 911.
Let our voices be heard.
Call Mayor Villaraigosa’s office. Tell them “No more cutting elections, no more cutting our funding. Give us our elections. Pay for them in full. And stop violating charter section 911.”
Jay Handal, Chair: West L.A. Neighborhood Council, and Co-Chair: Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, may be contacted at sgrest@aol.com
