Neighborhood Council holds first Board meeting
By Alice Stek, District 7
councilmember
Grass Roots Venice
Neighborhood Council convened its first board meeting August 26 at the United
Methodist Church Community Room. As reported in the July Beachhead, on June 13
the new neighborhood council elected its first board of 21 members; 8 are from
the Progressive Candidates slate.
The Board approved a bylaws amendment to
expand the important Land Use and Planning Committee with an additional 6
members. A motion by Elena Popp that they be elected by the general membership,
rather than the Board, was also approved.
The additional Land Use Committee
members will be elected at the special election meeting, so this will be an
important meeting to attend. The date has not yet been set, but should be before
the end of November.
The Land Use and
Planning Committee consists of members appointed by the district
representatives: Dede Audet, Richard Carter, Darryl DuFay, Richard Feibusch,
David Moring, Dan Valenzuela, and Chris Williams. At the board meeting, as per
the bylaws, 2 additional board members were selected: Greg Fitchett and Mark van
Gessel. We unfortunately did not have enough votes to elect the highly qualified
Progressive Candidates member Sheila Bernard to the committee.
The board also approved another bylaws
amendment which would change the next general election date from November 2002
to June 2003.
Amendments also must be
approved by 50 percent of the general membership who vote at a special election
meeting. The Progressive Candidates support both
amendments.
At the board meeting two
representatives from Habitat for Humanity reported on their project at Broadway
and 5th in Oakwood, which will provide (homeowner) housing for two low-income
families. Unfortunately, Habitat for Humanity did not select Venice residents as
the beneficiaries of this
project.
Grassroots Venice has taken no
official position on Valley/Hollywood secession, but encourages discussion. The
board will co-host a Westside Forum on L.A. Secession with other Westside groups
on October 8 at 7 pm at the Wadsworth Theater on the VA grounds at 11301
Wilshire Blvd. Details can be obtained at 310-440-7873. The flyer is posted at
<www.freevenice.org>.
The full
board meetings and executive board meetings, both of which are open to the
public, will be held monthly. The next will be in September, however at press
time the dates were not yet determined.
General membership meetings will be
held quarterly; the next also should be in September. All Grass Roots Venice
members are encouraged to attend.
Meeting announcements with agendas
will be posted on the Grass Roots Venice website at
<www.grassrootsvenice.org> and at the following neighborhood locations:
the Cow's End on Washington Blvd., the Venice Library, Abbot’s Habit
Coffee House on Abbot Kinney, the Oakwood Recreation Center on California
Avenue, Gourmet Coffee Warehouse on Rose Avenue, and the Penmar Park Recreation
Center on Lake Street.
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>.
Posted: Sun - September 1, 2002 at 06:54 PM