Is Empower LA Impeding The Legitimacy Of Neighborhood Councils? 

THE WESTSIDE - 

Stakeholders jumping through proverbial hoops just to secure a ballot, participation in Venice plummets!

The first wave of neighborhood council elections is scheduled to commence this week as the deadline for ballots ended today.  

Those who requested a ballot here in Venice is roughly 831 participants according to VNC President Brian Averill who is seeking reelection unopposed.  

That is just the number of stakeholders requesting a ballot. The actual turnout will be far less. In Venice alone, participation levels in NC elections have decreased some 50% since 2021.  

For how does a city agency like EMPOWER LA in cooperation with the City Clerk's office conduct an election with no election day?  

How does depressing participation and voter turnout somehow lift these grass roots democracies known as the neighborhood councils of Los Angeles?  

For democracy is certainly being denied at the local level as Empower LA in unison with the LA City Clerk's office is blaming budget woes and a directive by the LA City Council to eliminate same-day voting, virtually guaranteeing an embarrassing turnout that will further cripple the effectiveness and legitimacy of the entire neighborhood council process.  

Who will take seriously council members that are elected with dozens of votes?  

For it is easier to vote for president of the United States then to cast a ballot in these biannual elections.  

Consider the following:  

• A stakeholder must "apply" for a ballot even though they are for the most part, registered voters. Data that is already on file with the LA City Clerk's Office. Why the obvious redundancy in effort? Why the obstacle in participation? 
• Why are these elections staggered versus having one day of voting just like a primary election? 
• How can you have an election with no election day? What is the real financial savings to eliminate election day balloting versus a robust, healthy turnout of voters making the NC system vibrant and meaningful? Isn't there an issue of cost and value? 
• Why is the objective to undermine the entire election process? To intentionally sabotage participation in the name of financial restraint? Can you put a price on democracy?  

For when I contacted EMPOWER LA, the answers I received for the most part were financial considerations and a lack of funding to conduct elections that would be vibrant and robust. For the end result is obvious, a dramatic decrease in voter participation that will leave these neighborhood councils with the lack of grass roots legitimacy or support to govern in a meaningful fashion.  

For who does that benefit?  

A bloated bureaucracy or the citizens of Los Angeles?  

And if it is the responsibility of EMPOWER LA to foster, nurture and support the very legitimacy of the NC election system in cooperation with the LA City Clerk, haven't they knowingly done the direct opposite?  

And what does this say about the ability of EMPOWER LA to even administer its only task, and that is to promote the neighborhood council process?  

Here are questions I posed to both EMPOWER LA as well as the LA City Clerk's Office to explain this hollow and colossal failure in judgement to enable and enhance an election process that seemingly has been sabotaged in the name of cost versus the value (these questions were posed in late February): 

• As of this writing, the Venice Neighborhood Council has just 250 registered voters out of a potential pool of 35,000 neighborhood residents. Venice typically has anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 participating stakeholders. Why are candidates saddled with the burden of vetting voters when the LA City Clerk already has this data? 

• The City Clerk does not have this data. In previous elections, the City Clerk's Office would host at-poll elections where community members could visit during voting hours to vote. Staff would work with individuals to obtain the necessary qualifying information and hand them a ballot. Because our office was not funded for at-poll elections, this process is now being handled through online and paper applications. In terms of voter rolls for Neighborhood Council elections, we currently do not have a list of previously registered voters but are working on developing something like this for future elections. 

• Why are these elections being conducted in March without same-day or in-person voting? 

• Our office staggers elections biweekly across the City with the first elections beginning in March and the last ending in June. Additionally, for this election cycle, our office did not receive funding to conduct at-poll elections. 

• Since the LA City Clerk officially runs all municipal contests, why isn't the Clerk responsible for printing and mailing ballots to all registered voters while non-resident stakeholders can choose to apply for a ballot?  

• The boundaries for Municipal and Neighborhood Council elections are very different. A registered voter with the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder (LARR) who resides in Venice may not necessarily qualify to vote for the Venice Neighborhood Council. Additionally, voting in a Neighborhood Council is not limited to those who are registered to vote for national elections. Thus, the City Clerk needs a mechanism to register any stakeholder who qualifies to vote per the individual NC's eligibility requirements. Also, our office currently does not have the funding necessary to mail ballots to approximately 3 million voters. 

• It is evident this will be the lowest NC turnout on record here in Venice. Who made the decision to eliminate same-day and in-person voting? Has the entire grass roots democracy of neighborhood council elections been entirely undermined? 

• We understand your concerns. Given the financial climate, the City Council made the difficult decision to only fund vote-by-mail elections this year.  As to same-day voting, we continue to look at ways to minimize costs and consider alternatives to the current rolling schedule of election dates. Financial considerations and efficiency continue to affect that decision at the Clerk’s Office.

• Do you support a complete overhaul of the NC election process? If not, why not? From the City Clerk:
• In terms of elections, our office is nonpartisan and will uphold and honor any election rules specified in the Neighborhood Council bylaws. From Empower LA: In collaboration with the Office of the City Clerk, we are open to hearing from Neighborhood Council board members and community stakeholders on how to move forward with future elections to increase voter turnout. 

• Grass roots democracies like the NC system are validated by maximized turnout. If individuals are being elected by dozens of voters, would you agree the legitimacy of the results are at-risk? 

• No comment other than elections have historically suffered from low turnout.  

• Would you support reducing the size of each NC to a uniform unit of seven or nine? Would you endorse a nominal stipend for those elected? Would you support a four-year term vs. the current two-year term? 

• While these questions are addressed to Empower LÃ, it’s important to note that the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) is the policy-setting body for issues like these. Ultimately, the autonomy of the Neighborhood Councils to determine their own governance is respected under the current City Charter. The autonomy of the Neighborhood Councils to determine their own governance is outlined in the current City Charter and the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils. Each Neighborhood Council has the right to shape its structure in ways that best represent its community, with the final structure being approved by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC). As the City undergoes a Charter reform process in the coming years, we look forward to being an active partner in the process, alongside Neighborhood Councils across the City, to ensure the new Charter reflects the voices of all communities.

The above questions were answered by Ava Marinelli, the Public Information Officer of EMPOWER LA. She can be reached at (213) 635-7647 or via email at [email protected]

(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of Venice who exclusively covers the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council. The author also serves on the Oceanfront Walk Committee of the VNC.)