The Land Use Committee and how it got that way


By Jim Smith
The Land Use and Planning Committee of the Neighborhood Council (GRVNC) is touted as an exercise in grass roots democracy but lately has been a target of grassroots frustration. While it is made up, mostly, of Venice residents, it has an advisory-only role in the Los Angeles bureaucracy.

In addition, it is not elected by the community, but appointed by those on the neighborhood council who got the fewest votes in the last election (compared to board officers and at-large representatives). It’s members cross the political spectrum from David Moring, who is an advocate of affordable housing, to pro-development real estate agents and Republicans.

Each GRVNC District Representative gets to appoint one member. Here are the June, 2002, election results (candidates and number of votes) for those who get to appoint someone to the Land Use and Planning Committee (LUPC):

District 1 - North Penmar area
David Moring - 18 (ran unopposed)

District 2 - North Beach/Rose Ave.
Bonnie Cheeseman - 59 & Bridgett Gonzalez - 59
(Tie-breaking coin toss won by Cheeseman)

District 3 - Oakwood
Naomi Nightingale - 67 (ran unopposed)

District 4 - Penmar South
Chris Williams - 60 beat Pete Savino - 32

District 5 - Milwood, Central Venice
Kelley Willis - 30 beat Jamie Schwartzman - 13

District 6 - Oxford Triangle
DeDe Audet - 20 beat Challis Macpherson - 12

District 7 - Canals, Peninsula
Alice Stek, M.D. - 104 beat Diane Bush - 47

Except for Progressive Grassroots Candidate Alice Stek, no candidate came close to getting 100 votes. Full election results are at:

http://home.attbi.com/~venicecandidates/Election_results.html

Here is who they appointed:

Dist. 1: David Moring appointed David Moring

Dist. 2: Bonnie Cheeseman appointed Phil Raider

Dist. 3: Naomi Nightingale appointed Richard Carter

Dist. 4: Chris Williams appointed Chris Williams

Dist. 5: Kelley Willis appointed Dan Valenzuela

Dist. 6: DeDe Audet appointed DeDe Audet

Dist. 7: Before Alice Stek could make an appointment, Board President Tisha Bedrosian announced that Darryl DuFay would be the appointee, an action seemingly at odds with the bylaws of GRVNC.

Greg Fitchitt and Barbara Gibson were added to the LUPC in contested appointments from the GRVNC Board.

None of the LUPC members are tenants, even though more than 70 percent of Venetians are renters, not home owners.

In Sept. 2002, the Progressive Grassroots Candidates circulated a petition to add six elected members to the LUPC. The six would be elected by all stakeholders of GRVNC. The required number of signatures was collected on the petition and it was presented at that month's Board meeting. Here’s an excerpt from the GRVNC Minutes from last September’s Board meeting (full minutes are at: www.grass rootsvenice.org/min_board/092302_minutes.html)

After some discussion, Jim Smith presented a petition to the Board asking for the expansion of the Land Use and Planning Committee by election. . .Chris Williams also suggested that we should avoid changes to the bylaws until we have had an opportunity to try them out.

The issue was placed on the agenda of the general meeting of GRVNC in December. After debate, it was defeated. The opposition had done a good job mobilizing for that meeting, and many supporters had left before it was taken up.

In the Sept. 23 minutes, Chris Williams is quoted as saying we should avoid changes to the bylaws (like making them more democratic -JS), until we have had an opportunity to try them out. We've now had that opportunity, and have found them lacking.

Judging from the reactions of Venetians to the surge in new, unwanted building projects, it would seem that most of us want community control of development. In that case, two things have to happen. Venice residents by the hundreds have to turn out on June 28 to elect a GRVNC board majority committed to community control, and continue to demand that the city of Los Angeles give the neighborhood council decision-making authority on new building proposals in Venice.

Posted: Sun - June 1, 2003 at 02:53 PM          

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