CommentsEASTSIDER-Ineptitude is too kind a word for DONE’s actions ever since they canceled all Neighborhood Council meetings and thus disempowered the thousands of NC stakeholders and Board members from doing the very tasks they are in a unique position to help with.
Recently, on April 24, General Manager Raquel Beltran sent out an email blast with the following bureaucratic verbiage:
“As part of the EmpowerLA Virtual Governance Plan (EVG) in support of Neighborhood Council (NC) virtual meetings officially beginning on May 1, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (Department) has developed companion virtual meeting learning opportunities and resources. These resources follow City of Los Angeles virtual meeting protocols and the best practices for the recommended online application.The resources are responsive to feedback and responses from a survey of NC leaders.
We are pleased to release the EmpowerLA Neighborhood Council Virtual Governance Protocols (EVG Protocols), which follow from the aforementioned EVG Plan and related timeline released April 17.It is important that board members review this set of EVG Plan Protocols as they provide recommended guidance on how to best administer NC meetings in a virtual governance environment.
Invite to Virtual Governance webinars for NC members
Pursuant to the EVG Timeline, the Department is hosting webinars to support NCs getting ready to hold virtual meetings. Our Virtual Governance webinars are being held in a series, which maps to the three phases outlined in our EVG Plan.
The last session of the EVG Phase I webinar on “Robert’s Rules Made Simple” parliamentary procedures happens this Monday evening April 27th from 6 - 9pm, so, make sure to RSVP for EVG Phase I here. Monday’s webinar repeats the material presented during the Thursday, April 23 webinar.It is being offered a second time for those with limited ability to join during daytime hours. You’ll be able to learn from and get your questions answered by professional parliamentarians in this webinar.
In addition, two webinars for EVG Phase II: Running Virtual NC Meetings are planned for the coming week. These sessions - which will be led by the Department - will provide an overview of the ,EmpowerLA Neighborhood Council Virtual Governance Protocol (EVG Protocols) and will demonstrate the technical aspects to hold a virtual public meeting.
Topics covered will include: posting requirements for virtual meetings, a Zoom governance overview, resources for technical support, the four roles needed to conduct a virtual meeting, the role of the Department, and how to administer public comment in a virtual meeting.
The two webinars below are identical, so you may attend the session of your choice. RSVP and get the details to attend one of these sessions online or by telephone at http://tiny.cc/EVGphase2:
EVG Phase II: EmpowerLA's Running Virtual NC Meetings (Session 1)
Tuesday, April 28, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
EVG Phase II: EmpowerLA's Running Virtual NC Meetings (Session 2)
Wednesday, April 29, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
For questions and/or more information about any of these EVG webinars, please contact the Department at (213) 978-1551 or email: [email protected]. For interpretation or ADA accommodations, please contact (213) 978-1551 or email [email protected]. ”
Wow! I dare you to read it all and tell me how this helps with our current circumstance where all Neighborhood Council Meetings are now kaput.
Gelfand Outs the DONE
In a must-read article last week, fellow CityWatch contributor Bob Gelfand kicked the door off of DONE’s incredible ineptitude. You can find it here.
Bob’s takeaway was clear:
“One of my colleagues referred to the presentation as being full of Kumbaya. To me, the term psychobabble came to mind.
At 11:26 AM, about halfway through the 3 hours, I made a note to myself that there had been perhaps 5 minutes of real content.”
and, that after the three (3) hour dog and pony show:
“The presenters never managed to explain that when you have a significant number of people (say 15 or 17), each coming from a different background, that there can be differences of opinion about how much to spend. That is, after all, the essence of modern politics.”
Evidently, this would be useless in HHPC (Highland Park) and other Neighborhood Councils which use Rosenberg’s Rules of Order rather than Robert’s Rules, all with DONE approval. So what’s twenty grand or so?
Stakeholders Don’t Exist, Evidently
It turns out that not only did Bob save us a lot of pain and suffering, but as mere stakeholders (you know, the ones referred to in Charter Reform), we have no access to anything. Period.
If you go to the EmpowerLA Virtual Governance Portal,
“You must be a current NC board member to access this portal, and you must create a login first – click the button below.
When setting up your account, your username is your official public email address as a board member. You will be able to set your own password during setup.”
So we are left with the roughly 200 Neighborhood Councilmembers’ version of what they were told at an online meeting as to what Robert’s Rules of Order means, with, I am sure, whatever version the DONE staff will tell Neighborhood Council Boards as they actually meet. If and when. I’m not making this stuff up.
The Takeaway
I recently noted that the Neighborhood Councils have largely been left in the dark with all meetings canceled:
“I thought that the Neighborhood Councils would be a valuable asset in these troubled times, with their thousands of volunteer members who are in the 98 Neighborhood Councils.
They are already into volunteerism, know their communities because they live there, and would be available to perform the outreach that underlies their very formation.
Yet in a recent email blast called “How to help our communities through the COVID-19 crisis,” the Mayor called for people to go sign up on the VolunteerLA website.”
Mayor Garcetti’s original Order regarding the COVID-19 virus was on March 15. By the time you read this, it will be probably be May Day. It’s clear that Neighborhood Councils are an afterthought to the City family, and there is still no indication when and under what circumstances the Neighborhood Councils can actually meet. Online or for real. Not cool.
(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
