Neighborhood Council: Democratic Process in Action


By Alice Stek
District 7 councilmember

Public participation brought the Board back on track at the second Grass Roots Venice Board meeting.

It was held on September 23 at the Venice United Methodist Church and much of its time was devoted to debating the composition of the Land Use and Planning Committee. The committee is intended to advise City and County agencies on local development. It could play an important role in protecting Venice from inappropriate development and preserving and/or expanding affordable housing.

As reported in the July Beachhead, the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council was certified in March and initiated by current president Tisha Bedrosian, members of the Rose Avenue Working Group, Venice Action Committee, and other community activists. This group was primarily focused on process and name recognition. Until the Progressive Grassroots Candidates came out with their detailed platform, there was no real discussion of the issues facing Venice. The Bedrosian/Rose Ave./Venice Action group quickly and misleadingly named themselves “GRVNC/Groovenic” slate. The “Groovenics” managed, without really taking a position on the issues, to elect 12 of their candidates to the Board. The Progressive Candidates slate had 12 candidates; 8 were elected to the Board.

Despite the’ efforts of some of its members, the Board at times appears to be a closed club of insiders. Attempts to prevent the general membership electing the new members of the Land Use and Planning Committee, which may be the council’s most important committee, do nothing to help correct this perception. Fortunately, a dedicated group of Venetians is safeguarding democratic process in Venice.

Bylaw issues can become exciting – read on…

In the September Beachhead I reported on the first public meeting of the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council Board of Officers on August 26. An addendum is in order.

At the August 26 meeting, Elena Popp introduced a motion to modify the bylaws to expand the membership of the Land Use and Planning Committee by adding 6 members - to be elected by the general membership of the neighborhood council in addition to the original 9 members appointed by the Board. This would potentially allow a more diverse and democratic representation on this important committee. After the vote, council president Tisha Bedrosian announced the motion had passed by a 9 to 6 margin (voting against: DeDe Audet, Chris Bedrosian, Rick Feibusch, Greg Fitchett, Chris Williams, Kelley Willis) . Two weeks later she informed Popp, the council secretary, that the motion did not pass after all because the required 2/3 majority approval was not achieved. So now we are back to the 9 Land Use Committee members, all appointed by the Board.

The confusion described above may be transient; this was only the first public meeting of a new organization subject to numerous city government regulations. Don’t forget that the Board is composed of volunteers - many of the members have day jobs.

Thanks to Popp’s efforts, the Land Use Committee issue was added to the agenda for the second Board meeting, but due to a “miscommunication” was not properly announced as an action item and therefore could not be considered for a bylaws amendment at this meeting.

However, the bylaws allow proposals directly from the membership. Several Grass Roots Venice members, both general and Board members, anticipated the above problems, studied the bylaws and found a strategy to bypass the obstructions on the Board. They quickly organized a petition to submit the same amendment to the general membership. All bylaws amendment proposals must be approved by the general membership at an election meeting.

The organizers of the petitions collected nearly twice the required number of signatures. Only two Venetians who were approached declined to sign. After an hour of discussion, the Board had not decided on a plan of action. So the petitions were submitted to the Board from the public. Now the expansion/election of the Land Use and Planning Committee is required to be placed on the agenda of the next general membership meeting.

Other business at the September 23 meeting: Additional less controversial bylaws revisions were discussed. Bonnie Cheeseman presented a report from the Parking Committee. Parking issues impact our quality of life; contact Cheeseman to learn about a variety of possible solutions. The Conservation Committee is also addressing transportation and parking issues.

A member of the “Groovenic slate” who accused the Progressive Candidates of relying on popularity rather than addressing the issues provided an amusing interlude.

A general membership meeting is scheduled for October 28 at 7:00 PM at the Venice Boys and Girls Club. Important decisions may be made at that meeting, such as amendments to the bylaws. This may sound like a dry subject, but if you attend the meeting you may find the debates more entertaining and revealing than you expected. The proposed expansion of the Land Use Committee will probably be voted on then. LA City Council member Cindy Miscikowski is on the agenda. All Grass Roots Venice members are encouraged to attend!

Grass Roots Venice has taken no official position on Valley/Hollywood secession, but encourages discussion. The council will co-host a Forum on L.A. Secession with other Westside groups on October 8 at 7 pm; see pages 6-7.

Meeting announcements with agendas will be posted on the Grass Roots Venice website at <www.grassrootsvenice.org>. This will include executive committee, full board and general membership and committee meetings. The communications officer plans to post contact information for the board members on the website soon.

Any Venice “stakeholder” (live, work, own property in Venice) who is at least 16 years old may register. You need not be a citizen or eligible to vote for state elections or have a green card to register, but you must be able to document stakeholder status. Register and have input into local government!

Contact us at Progressive Candidates: telephone 310-280-3411 or visit our website: <http://home.attbi.com/~venicecandidates> or via the link at <www.freevenice.org>.

Posted: Tue - October 1, 2002 at 04:59 PM          

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