Elections

Neighborhood Councils under Siege

Part of last year’s city budget deal was for the neighborhood councils to forego part of their allocation in order to fund the City Clerk’s administration of the NC elections.

Assurances were provided that the City Clerk would be fully engaged in outreach and publicity to get out the vote.

As with many city promises, this commitment went into a sinkhole.  Outreach and support have been nonexistent; the voter turnout in the first two rounds has been generally anemic.  There were a few bright spots where local activists stepped in and picked up the slack. 

The mayor and some in the City Council would love nothing better than to diminish, if not eliminate, the neighborhood council system.  After all, it was largely through the efforts of NCs that the rate-escalating, IBEW sponsored Measure B was defeated – the Measure was also supported by the mayor, most members of the City Council (which included Wendy Greuel and Jack Weiss at that time) and a ton of money. The odds were stacked against the public, but the NCs and other citizen groups overcame them.

DWP attempted to get what it could not through the failed Measure B campaign by proposing a string of rate increases.  Unified outcry by the NCs stopped the effort in its tracks.  The City Council ultimately approved one rate hike (which was still one too many).

The battle over rates will continue, not to mention the battle over the city’s budget – one that will affect our daily lives.

The effectiveness of neighborhood councils is tied in large part to their popularity and the support they receive.  The City Council looks at the vote counts from the local NC elections as a gauge of their support.

I urge all of you to take a few minutes and vote in your NC election – even for candidates that are running unopposed.  You need a local voice in the critical issues ahead.

Please follow this link for election schedules and results.

May 27th marks the election day for Zone C, which covers: Encino, Greater Toluca Lake, Greater Valley Glen, Lake Balboa, Mid-town North Hollywood,Reseda, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, Valley Village, and Van Nuys.

Update: May 12th – Will McCue Reclaim His Studio City NC Seat?

Michael McCue was recently removed from the Board of Studio City Neighborhood Council in a controversial process. Studio City is hosting its candidate forum on Wednesday, May 19th.  It will be interesting to observe the interactions among the candidates, several of whom voted to remove McCue.