Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

Defend Grassroots Democracy in Venice

by Eric Ahlberg Sunday, Jun. 27, 2004 at 3:36 PM
ericahlberg@comcast.net

Progressives defend their election from lies, slander and sabotage.

Well lets try going back to the beginning.
Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council was established with the Approval
of the City Of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment,
like many of the other Neighborhood Councils around LA.
A lot of them struggle with factional nitpicking, but in Venice
it has come to sabotage.

When it became obvious last year, that the then incumbent GRVNC members, and the Land Use and Planning Comittee, were getting ready to approve a major 9 story development at Lincoln Bl. and Lake St., local community members organized a Progressive Slate and won the Neighborhood council elections, roughly 600 to 150, on a platform opposed to the development which was completely out of specification with the community plan. Immediately the opposition, calling themselves "Team Venice" filed fraud charges and delayed the seating of the "Progressives". The League of Women Voters investigation only found fraud comitted by a member of "Team Venice", who registered her dog, and the LWV recommended that the perp be banned from participation in GRVNC. I wish. Comitting fraud to discredit an election is a standard gadfly and factional dirty trick from the dawn of civilization, if you can call it that.

After the Progressives were allowed to take their seats, Team Venice kept spinning the unsubstantiated fraud charges, with the aid of a Pro Political Consultant, and cooked up The Feist Initiative. The Feist initiative had something for every fear about how outsiders might come in and take over the
neighborhood council. It's seven provisions disenfranchise
many stakeholders, and are restrictive enough to possibly cause DONE to disqualify GRVNC. Done and most of the current board weren't happy with the new bylaws, but the old bylaws required a petition with stakeholder signatures to be referred to a vote. No one turns out for bylaw elections. Wrong


It's proponents turned out over 300 votes to pass all the provisions except a ban on absentee voting, which only barely lost. Progressives disputed the election which lacked procedures and was staffed by partisans, and asked DONE to invalidate it. The Feist proponents proceeded to spam DONE and all the City Government representatives, and DONE is put in the position of damned if they do, damned it they don't, so they told GRVNC that they had to have a special bylaw election to extend the current officers' term until the
bylaw changes could be worked out, or GRVNC could fall into the abyss.
Yes that's the word Greg Nelson of DONE used. The GRVNC board majority voted to defy DONE and proceed with the council seat election, since they
felt they could turn out a larger constituency for an Council seat
election. DONE has disavowed the election, which means they
won't pay for it, but nor will they mediate it. GRVNC is an independent
organization however, so it may proceed as it will, however DONE
can terminate it's association with it, and it would lose it's
"official" status. Could happen, but the city is expedient,
political, and may be hesistant to decertify
GRVNC if the election turns out enough voters.

As if things weren't bad enough a board member forgot to reserve
the elementary school where the election was to take place,
however quick action by another board member on Friday secured the location.
The school reported recieving a call that 10 busloads of protesters were going to
show up to protest the election. Other complaints to the school resulted
in the school losing it's ability to rent out the parking lot on weekends to beachgoers, the revenue being used for classroom improvements, unbeknown
to LAUSD real estate administrator....but I digress.

I am urging Venice Stakeholders (residents of 90291 and 90292)
to come out and support the Progressives, This Sunday 6/27/04.
from 10AM - 4PM
at Westminster School
1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Their platform is at www.venice-progressives.org.

I also urge any supporter of Grass Roots Democracy in LA to come
out a make sure the "opposition" does not physically obstruct
or intimidate voters.

Eric Ahlberg

Much of the discussion of these issues can be found on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/veniceCA/
Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


LATEST COMMENTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Listed below are the 10 latest comments of 2 posted about this article.
These comments are anonymously submitted by the website visitors.
TITLE AUTHOR DATE
Misleading article Richard Myers Thursday, Jul. 08, 2004 at 1:29 PM
Mr. Richard Myers Sunday, Oct. 17, 2004 at 3:56 PM
© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy