0001 DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT In the Matter of: ) )Tape No. BONC 3-19-02 Transcription of taped meeting ) of DONE. ) _________________________________) TRANSCRIPTION OF TAPE-RECORDED MEETING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT Transcribed by: Myrna Sepulveda, CSR #12240 Job Number: TP9067

0002 01 DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT 02 03 04 04 In the Matter of: ) 05 )Tape No. BONC 3-19-02 05 Transcription of taped meeting ) 06 of DONE. ) 06 _________________________________) 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 Transcription of tape-recorded 15 meeting of the Department of Neighborhood 16 Empowerment, transcribed by MYRNA SEPULVEDA. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

0003 01 Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 02 Tape No. BONC 3/19/02 03 04 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Good 05 evening,ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 06 traveling road show we normally call the Board of 07 Neighborhood Commissioners for this evening Tuesday, 08 March 19th. We're in Northridge at the Northridge 09 Middle School, and I'm joined this evening by 10 Commissioner Ron Stone, Commissioner Jimmie Woods Gray, 11 Commissioner Pat Herrera Duran, and Commissioner Mary 12 Louise Longoria. We're also expecting Commissioner 13 Lucente shortly who is stuck in traffic. However, we 14 will with that -- and myself. I'm Commissioner Bill 15 Christopher, and with that, we will move for the second 16 item on agenda which is our General Manager's Report. 17 Mr. Nelson? 18 GREG NELSON: Up to No. 2 already. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We're up to No. 2. 20 Comes right after No. 1. 21 GREG NELSON: Mr. President, Commissioners, I 22 think, first of all, it's important for the audience to 23 know that on this agenda item which is General 24 Manager's Reports that it is possible to have a public 25 hearing on this item. So, if you want to speak on it,

0004 01 you can fill out your Speaker Cards and just mark that 02 you would like to speak on an item on General Manager's 03 Reports. Also, Mr. President, I ask for some guidance 04 on this. There is one very big issue that we're going 05 to cover in the General Manager's Reports and then a 06 lot of the other smaller normal ones, and what you may 07 want to do is have me go through the big issue here and 08 then continue the rest of my report until the end of 09 the evening. The major portion of the General 10 Manager's Report today has to do with an explanation as 11 to why the staff took the action to declare the 12 application from Northridge Community Council as being 13 incomplete, and I have prepared written -- written 14 report which is pretty much fairly simple time line or 15 chronology of the events that had happened. The 16 important parts are that we had received an application 17 back in November from the Northridge Community Council. 18 On December 6th, we received a formal letter of intent 19 from a second group with the same name which we call 20 Northridge Community Council No. 2. There was a 21 boundary problem. The -- between the two applicants, 22 but actually, the letter of intent had not been 23 received before the meeting had occurred to discuss 24 mediation. The -- later on, on December 20th, the 25 department had notified Northridge Community Council

0005 01 No. 1 that there application did not include the 02 requirement that there be 200 to 500 signatures 03 submitted as part of the plan, and they were told that 04 this is a fairly strict requirement of certification. 05 We had sent reminders to them of the missing 06 information, and later on, on December 27, neighborhood 07 -- Northridge Community Council No. 1 told us that they 08 really did not intend to participate in any additional 09 voluntary mediation with group No. 2. As we go on 10 through the chronology, one of the important dates then 11 was February 22, when we sent the applicant an e-mail 12 communication detailing the changes that would be 13 required in their bylaws in order to comport with the 14 plan. That communication has been attached in your 15 package. On -- three days later on the 25th, I had a 16 conversation with one of the contact people from the 17 applicant, Walter Prince, who -- we had a very good 18 conversation talking about their desire to have a town 19 hall style format. That would be one generally in 20 which the general assembly, the people, who show up to 21 the meeting actually become the neighborhood council 22 for that meeting and can make final and binding 23 decisions. This is the procedure that I am very 24 sympathetic too personally. I explained to him as I 25 had explained to all of the neighborhood council

0006 01 leaders in an e-mail that the ordinance which enacts 02 our plan prohibits that. It requires that there be a 03 governing board that can always make the final decision 04 even if there is a general assembly vote. And then on 05 March 14, we received a copy of an e-mail from the 06 applicant stating that they would not amend their 07 bylaws or comply with all of our requirements and 08 produce a bylaws that had a governing body that meant 09 the requirements of the law. Again, I had another 10 really good lengthy conversation with Mr. Prince. 11 We've always had very good relationships and very good 12 communication. I have the greatest admiration for him. 13 Spent a couple of years working with him through the 14 charter reform process, and again, I told him that -- 15 what the choices might be. One of those choices I 16 explained would be for the group to just voluntarily 17 step aside. Take what we call a voluntary time-out and 18 rework their bylaws. Maybe take half a loaf right now 19 because we had just gotten through approving the 20 Westchester/Playa del Rey bylaws which provided for a 21 general assembly vote, but also provided that the 22 governing board could override that with a super 23 majority, and in the meantime, we could work on 24 changing the ordinance that -- that prohibits the 25 general assembly from ever making a final vote, and I

0007 01 also told them that regardless of what decision he made 02 and what he did, I was going to go ahead and pursue 03 that anyway, pursue the change to that ordinance. So, 04 after sometime went by and we realized that time was 05 running out and on advice from the City Attorney, we 06 found that the application was still missing some very 07 critical parts that are required by the law. We use 08 the ability that the ordinance gives us to declare an 09 application in complete and pull it off the agenda, and 10 that's what we went ahead and did, and we also realized 11 that this created an additional benefit to the stake 12 holders of Northridge in that if an application is 13 rejected by this Board -- and talking to a few of you 14 beforehand, you should know that this Board does not 15 have the ability to grant approval of an application 16 with any conditions attached. They must accept or 17 reject, and if an application is rejected, then you 18 basically go to the back of the line and you have to 19 start all over again through this whole process. So 20 one of the additional benefits that we just felt would 21 come to the community by us declaring this incomplete 22 was -- is that the group would be temporarily set off 23 to the side, and if they would then later choose to 24 amend their bylaws or simply to wait for perhaps the 25 ordinance to be changed to allow this town hall format,

0008 01 then they could bring themselves right back into the 02 process again. And again, I sort of like to liken this 03 to when you're at the post office and you get to the 04 front of the line, you haven't filled out the right 05 paperwork, and they just ask you to step off to the 06 side, fill out the paper, and then come right back into 07 the front of the line. It's the equivalent of that. 08 So, notification was given to all of the official 09 contacts, and here we are. 10 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Are there any 11 questions for the general manager? I think that this 12 -- obviously a number of issues that are raised in that 13 scenario that have to do not only with Northridge but 14 with the state of the general overall plan and the 15 program itself. Clearly there have been discussions 16 for over a long period of time about the town hall 17 format of neighborhood councils and the desire on the 18 part of a number of groups to organize around the town 19 hall format, and I know with Mr. Prince and some others 20 we've had discussions many months ago prior to 21 submitting applications and -- about the town hall 22 format and the benefits that it might have. I share 23 your concern, Greg, about the fact that the ordinance 24 as it's adopted that the structure tends to restrict 25 the ability of neighborhood councils to formally

0009 01 organize as town halls. I think it's important that 02 the people who came tonight, and I know we had -- we 03 posted notices of public hearing at a number of places 04 that have been up there for a few weeks, and I'm sure 05 there are people in the audience who came expecting to 06 hear the certification application for the Northridge 07 Community Council. For those people and for others in 08 the audience, there are a number of pieces of 09 legislation and Charter provisions that guide the work 10 that we do as both the department and the Commission. 11 The Charter lays out the basic framework, and it does 12 it in about a page and a half, and it requires among 13 other things that the City develop a plan for a 14 citywide system of neighborhood councils that includes 15 goals, policies, and objectives, and also along with 16 that, specific regulations that are necessary to 17 implement the plan and basically form a draft ordinance 18 which would then govern the workings of the department 19 and Commission. The regulations are required to have a 20 specific criteria and outline the process for 21 certification, and also, they should not restrict 22 membership in neighborhood councils. At the same time, 23 they provide that neighborhood councils have to adopt 24 fair and open procedures, and while -- and commit to 25 regular communication with their stake holders and

0010 01 guarantee that all meetings are open in public and 02 permit to the extent feasible that every stake holder 03 participate in some way in the conduct of business 04 deliberations and decision making. I think part of the 05 -- the issue that's before the Northridge Neighborhood 06 Council and others is how to define that to the extent 07 feasible and what participation actually means. Does 08 it guarantee the right to vote for every stake holder 09 on every decision? I'm not sure I can quite make that 10 leap of logic. There is in that charter language some 11 restriction or some leveling of the idea that everybody 12 gets to vote on every single issue that comes before 13 the neighborhood council. Then when you move on beyond 14 that, the City adopted on ordinance that implemented 15 the charter language, and beginning to further refine 16 and further expand on the language that's contained in 17 the Charter. Goal No. 4 in the adopted plan requires 18 that we insure that equal opportunity to form 19 neighborhood councils and participate in government 20 decision-making and problem solving is available to 21 everyone. Now, again that particular language doesn't 22 necessarily stretch to make sure or to mandate that 23 everybody votes on every particular issue. The plan, 24 however, establishes a minimum set of components for a 25 complete application. It requires certain bylaw

0011 01 provisions, and the City Council, in there infinite 02 wisdom or (Inaudible) wisdom depending on your point of 03 view, decided that each neighborhood council should 04 have a governing body, and as a participant in the 05 discussions that led up to the adoption of the plan, 06 one of my concerns was that the City Council in their 07 view of neighborhood councils was making or was tending 08 to focus to much of the authority and responsibility in 09 individuals, and my concern at that point was that 10 there was no representation or no seat given to 11 organizations or institutions in the process that -- in 12 seeking accountability in neighborhood councils. The 13 City Council had individualized or personalized the 14 responsibilities and requirements for developing 15 neighborhood councils, and while I was not at the time 16 as concerned about the town hall format, I was 17 concerned about the ability for institutions and for 18 other churches, schools, major employers, community 19 groups, homeowners associations, and other groups of 20 that type, even rotary clubs and other things, to 21 effectively interact with the neighborhood council and 22 to have their views heard in that same context. And so 23 I was as concerned about that -- about the drafting 24 provisions as Mr. Prince was from the town hall format 25 point of view, but the City Council, however, had other

0012 01 views on the subject, and we're unfortunately given a 02 certain set of regulations and rules that we have to, 03 as department and the Board, operate within, and that's 04 what I think the (Inaudible) of the problem that we 05 have this evening in that some of that rubs up against 06 the idea of the town hall format that is being proposed 07 by the Northridge Community Council. I would hope that 08 the people of Northridge and through the town hall and 09 through the neighborhood council would look to 10 accepting some regulations or restrictions on their 11 format for the time being, and allow us to go forward 12 and try to amend the ordinance in a way that would 13 allow more direct participation because I think that's 14 a goal of the program ultimately to allow as much 15 participation as possible on the part of everybody who 16 wants to be part of a neighborhood council, and I hope 17 that in the coming weeks we can sort through some of 18 that and get the neighborhood councils certified for 19 Northridge and move onto open up the process a little 20 bit further. Are there any other comments? Ron? 21 COMMISSIONER STONE: Thanks, Mr. President. This 22 is for the city attorney. Darren, could you -- or 23 Mr. Martinez could you give us the cite -- the exact 24 section of the ordinance that you have found prohibits 25 the town hall format?

0013 01 DARREN MARTINEZ: I believe it's covered in the 02 department's letter, first of all. So, rather than me 03 thumb through that, give me a second, and I'll find it 04 in the letter that was sent out by the department. 05 COMMISSIONER STONE: I guess I'm looking at 06 Section -- 07 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Section 2C, small 2, 08 too requires governing bodies and their defined as 09 stake holders empowered to make decisions on behalf of 10 a neighborhood council, and 2C, small 3, 4B requires a 11 number of votes by a governing body for certified 12 neighborhood council to take an action. I think those 13 are the pieces or that section of the plan is what's 14 really in play tonight or in contention. There's also 15 some provisions within the ordinance itself. Section 16 2B3C and 2B3D4 which basically memorialized the plan 17 language. 18 COMMISSIONER STONE: I was looking at that. The 19 last one you just cited, and my follow-up question 20 would be whether there is -- whether there may be 21 another reading that says that a town hall format could 22 be allowed under the existing ordinance, and I'm 23 looking at the language that says, "By which a 24 governing body may take an action on the matter before 25 it," not shall and wondered if there was some

0014 01 flexibility in the existing language that we have? I 02 agree with what the general manager said about being 03 sympathetic. I think that different neighborhood 04 councils around the city -- I think it will be better 05 for the process to have different type of organizing or 06 different organizational structures, and I'd be very 07 interested to see how a town hall format works and be 08 interested to see if it's possible given -- given what 09 we have to work with. I agree with you that we have to 10 work with the ordinance. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I would hope that we 12 would ultimately have a number of different types of 13 styles of neighborhood councils, and part of this 14 process is an experiment. We're experimenting with a 15 lot different things. That was one of my concerns in 16 watching the City Council draft the plan language and 17 the ordinance language was that it was tending to 18 become too constricting and to much of a square opening 19 that was -- that a number of people had round pegs 20 aimed at, and that's still something we're struggling 21 with, and as I said before, this is a great experiment 22 we're undertaking on a citywide basis, and we're not 23 likely to get it right the first time in all aspects, 24 and I would hope that we would have some latitude on 25 the part of some of the neighborhoods to tinker with it

0015 01 as we go forward and try to get it right based on our 02 experience in other locations, and for instance, in 03 Westchester/Playa del Rey -- I guess it was like week 04 or -- yeah, it was last week. We have a situation 05 where they have a partial town hall setup where the 06 town hall body does have certain rights and 07 responsibilities within the neighborhood council, but 08 there is still a governing body that is in fact the 09 accountable group for the neighborhood council itself. 10 DARREN MARTINEZ: I think the matter's been 11 addressed. I don't have any further comment on the 12 issue. 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. If there's no 14 other comment from the Commission. We have a number of 15 people who would like to be heard on item No. 2 and 16 would like to invite them to come forward. If I can 17 find the right pile. We'll start with Charles Brink 18 followed by Walter Prince and Bobbi Feedler. 19 CHARLES BRINK: (Inaudible) now you can hear me? 20 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We can hear you. 21 CHARLES BRINK: The mike was off. Normally in a 22 town council format, in a hearing, there's an 23 opportunity for opponents to present their position. 24 Our position is going to take sizably more than three 25 minutes for Walter and I to go through the issue.

0016 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We will extend the 02 rules for you this evening. 03 CHARLES BRINK: Thank you. Essentially our 04 position on this is two-fold. Walter has a position 05 where he believes that we do conform with many of your 06 rejects, which I call a punch list letter from the 07 construction (Inaudible) and I think frankly that you 08 need to look at the Charter a little bit more 09 carefully. The City -- LA City Council made rules and 10 past rules that do not conform with the Charter. The 11 Charter contains in 906, subparagraph six, that the 12 stake holders to the extent feasible, every stake 13 holder will participate in the conduct of business 14 deliberation and decision-making. That is damn clear. 15 It says they shall participate in decision-making 16 process under the Charter. I care very little with the 17 (Inaudible) decided to write into it because it doesn't 18 interest me, but it says here that we have the right by 19 out people to vote on the issues. You're saying our 20 stake holders are procluded the right. In fact you're 21 going to give us this wonderful system that our stake 22 holders can vote and then we as a governing Board can 23 override their vote. I call your attention to 1977 24 when the City of Los Angeles put through exactly that 25 rule to (Inaudible) succession. In '77 it was even if

0017 01 you vote for secession, we, the City Council, through a 02 super majority can override the voters. That's not a 03 happy situation here. I don't know whether I'm going 04 to love the town council format or not, frankly, 05 because I don't have any control of it, even I'm one of 06 the officers of the group. The people are coming 07 making the decisions, and they think we're full of BS. 08 They will vote to say we're full BS, and we're out of 09 there, but that's the American way of doing things. 10 People need the consent to be governed. They cannot be 11 governed by fiat. They cannot be governed by the City 12 Council of Los Angeles deciding what exactly is going 13 to do this week or not this week. If City Council was 14 well loved, why are over 50 percent of the citizens of 15 LA moving to secede from the city? This was suppose to 16 be brought up as a method to eliminate secession by 17 giving, quote, the neighborhood's the right to 18 influence their neighborhood, and we're now told, by 19 the way stake holders, you aren't going to get to vote. 20 Our letter to you does not say we reject these changes 21 and bylaws by the way. It says in each and every case 22 we will take these bylaws back to our stake holders, 23 and we will ask our stake holders to vote on the 24 amendments you require. You automatically for some 25 lunacy reason consider this a rejection of your

0018 01 position. It's only a rejection after we have our 02 stake holders' vote. Now, I personally think there's 03 no chance in hell that my stake holders out there are 04 going to vote to say, we don't think we have a right to 05 vote anytime in the future. Its pretty un-American. 06 So, I don't think they're going to approve it, but we 07 want you to bring this thing up to a vote of your group 08 and either deny us or accept us. If you deny us, we 09 get (Inaudible) hearing before the City Council which 10 is exactly where this is going to go. Also, your 11 timing are wrong. You've missed all of your cutoff 12 times. We sent you a long letter describing how you 13 missed every cutoff. You had a 10-day period after we 14 had our negotiations to reject our bylaws which you 15 failed to do for 47 days, and of course, your vaulted 16 plan you keep quoting says, "If you miss your 10-day 17 cutoff period, you shall send it to the entire Board 18 for a vote," but you guys decide on two days before our 19 hearing that you can ignore your plan. You can ignore 20 the law. You can ignore everything, and now you reject 21 us so we can't go before the City Council, if you 22 reject our position. That's where we want to be. We 23 want the public in Los Angeles to know DONE says 24 through the City Council, you, stake holders, shall not 25 vote on issues before the neighborhood. That makes the

0019 01 whole concept of a neighborhood council crap. There 02 are other neighborhood councils who have talked to me 03 already because they're not going to apply. Some in 04 Tujunga says it will be a cold day in hell they apply, 05 as a direct quote from them, and I think a lot of these 06 other people in these areas when they realize that they 07 have elected a neighborhood council to, quote, make 08 every decision for them, will withdraw their support 09 and come back in and say, no, we, the citizens, vote. 10 We've read the constitution. We've read the bill of 11 rights, and now I have 15 people in the LA City Council 12 that says share -- stake holders can't vote. We 13 modeled our council precisely to the Charter, we quoted 14 the Charter, and we thought we wouldn't have a problem 15 with it; and a final summary of what the stupidity of 16 your group was, one of your rejects was that we didn't 17 include language in our bylaws that we had to follow 18 state and federal laws. We're stupid, I guess, out 19 here. We assume we have to follow state and federal 20 laws. We don't think it's necessary for us to 21 reiterate it, and only, maybe, for a corrupt city 22 government of Los Angeles that that language applies. 23 If we don't put in our bylaws, does that mean I'm home 24 free? I can violate every state and federal law? Be 25 real. We want a representative group. We want the

0020 01 stake holders to vote, the stake holders to give us 02 their opinion, and we really don't much care what the 03 City Council does. Thank you. 04 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Mr. Prince. 05 WALTER PRINCE: Charles is a hard act to follow. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: You have our 07 sympathies. 08 WALTER PRINCE: Not enough. What he says about 09 the timing is, I think, very important. The Charter 10 that you folks are so fond of quoting as being the 11 governing document here today is very specific as to 12 the time limits that DONE has to process applications 13 and what happens to them after that time. A time limit 14 is way passed. It has been almost four months since we 15 applied -- three months -- and long, long ago if DONE 16 had not completed it's evaluation it's compelled by the 17 DONE plan by the ordinance to submit to you folks as 18 Charles said with no recommendation at all. We 19 consider the recommendation to pull us from the agenda 20 a recommendation; and therefore, we'd like to be put 21 back on the agenda tonight so a decision can be made by 22 you folks. Now, that's a technical detail, but we seem 23 to be getting very technical here with the City 24 Attorney's office and with the ordinances, and I think 25 it's disgenious of you people to quote the ordinance on

0021 01 one hand and try to put our feet to the fire but ignore 02 the processes that are very clearly spelled out by the 03 ordinance as to how you treat neighborhood councils 04 that apply for certification. So, that's request No. 05 1. Put us back on the agenda for tonight that you took 06 us off, or just let's all close our eyes and forget 07 we're not off the agenda. The key words here that we 08 all know have to be defined and the meanings of 09 them, and the words are decision-making. What is 10 decision-making? The decision-making to me is making a 11 decision as you folks are doing up there tonight. You 12 have to vote to make that decision as a group. And 13 when the documents call for decision-making powers to 14 be granted to the neighborhood councils, to all the 15 stake holders in the neighborhood councils, that means 16 to us that you, meaning the documents, have granted the 17 power to vote, not to power to come and sit in the back 18 of the room and listen to somebody else take a vote. 19 It grants the power to vote. I think that's very 20 important. We could argue the philosophy of it for a 21 long time, but let's just concentrate on the words that 22 are there that are being crammed down our throats. If 23 the stake holders have decision-making power, then the 24 stake holders should be allowed to vote. That's very 25 simply our position. Now, what decision-making power

0022 01 are we looking at? The Charter itself, the very first 02 paragraph of the Charter, Section 900 is titled, 03 "Purpose," and it's the only place in this Charter, and 04 Mr. Christopher, you, of course, worked on this for 05 many, many months, and you probably know it by heart. 06 But the very first paragraph of this Charter talks 07 about purpose, and it says, "Neighborhood councils 08 shall include representatives of the many diverse 09 interests in communities and shall have an advisory 10 role on issues of concern to the neighborhood." Now, 11 that's the council, and that's what our stake holders 12 are going to be voting on, is advisory roles. There is 13 no decision-making on the part of our stake holders. 14 So, are we in conflict? I don't think so. I'd like to 15 take a moment. I handed Greg Nelson a copy of a letter 16 I did today to answer his letter that I still have not 17 formally received. It was buried into an attachment to 18 an attachment on Charles Brinks. I've still never 19 gotten a copy of it, but we did pull it off, and I have 20 answered the comments that were used to deny us a 21 hearing here tonight, but as I wrote this letter, I got 22 into DONE's comment No. 4, and I'd like to go through 23 that for a moment. And again, we're looking at 24 technicalities. DONE said, Northridge, NCC, seeks to 25 certify a town council voting system that is not

0023 01 allowed under the plan, and then he quotes and says, 02 The bylaws shall include a list of offices of the 03 governing body and a method for regularly electing or 04 selecting officers -- so, you don't even have to elect 05 them -- who shall serve as the governing body. For 06 purposes of this plan, the term "governing body" refers 07 to community stake holders who are empowered to make 08 decisions on behalf of that certified neighborhood 09 council. Our bylaws list the officers as a president, 10 one or more vice presidents, as the directors may 11 determine annually, a secretary and a treasure. These 12 director officers have very specific administrative 13 functions. The remainder of our directors had specific 14 committees and provide liaisons with the City. It's 15 interesting that the DONE plan, the ordinance, allows 16 only officers to serve as the governing body, not 17 directors, only officers. Under the DONE plan it's not 18 clear as to what role is played by directors who are 19 not officers. They window dressing? They can't vote 20 according to the DONE plan. So, if you have a typical 21 president, secretary, treasurer and maybe a vice 22 president or two, that's the only people who can vote 23 under the DONE plan. Directors are not officers 24 necessarily. They are directors. They have to be 25 appointed or elected as officers. The DONE plan states

0024 01 that the term "governing body" refers to stake holders 02 who are empowered to make decisions on the part of the 03 certified neighborhood council. Our Board satisfies 04 this definition by being empowered to make decisions 05 and vote on internal Board issues, such as, 06 organization operation and administration of the 07 council, the Board, its committee, and its 08 subcommittees. That's contained in our Artical 161B1. 09 Our voting stake holders vote to elect a Board and vote 10 to make specific recommendations on community issues 11 that come before the council and which concern 12 individual stake holders or groups in the community. 13 They do not vote on council issues. Council issues, 14 decision-making issues, are those issues which per 15 taken only in our opinion the internal operation of the 16 council because you've got to remember what the Charter 17 says. The council, as a general body, shall have an 18 advisory role on matters of concern, not a 19 decision-making role. Upon reflection, there may not 20 be a real problem reconciling our bylaws with DONE's 21 plans definition under the term "governing body." The 22 governing body under the DONE plan consists of a few 23 officers who make decisions on behalf of the 24 neighborhood council. With the NCC, the entire Board 25 makes decisions on behalf of the NCC Council. On this

0025 01 basis, our board is a governing body under the city's 02 definition. Similarly since the Charter clearly states 03 that the prime purpose of the councils is to provide an 04 advisory role rather than to become a decision-making 05 entity, the NCC and the DONE plan may not be in 06 conflict on this issue either. The concept of advisors 07 is, as I said, described in Section 900 of the Charter. 08 The very first paragraph. In the case of the 09 Northridge Council, those stake holders who are not on 10 the board of directors perform research and make 11 specific recommendations on community issues that come 12 before the council. On this basis, they fulfill 13 completely the purposes of the Charter that grant them 14 an advisory role on issues of concern to the 15 neighborhood. They're not making decisions, except 16 voting on officers and directors. I hope this 17 clarifies our position. It does not service it -- any 18 of us well to have disputes concerning terminology 19 especially when you consider the fact that the councils 20 have no authority, make no decisions, except on their 21 own internal issues which are handled by our Board and 22 are purely advisory to various city departments and 23 officials. The intent on both our sides should be to 24 get these councils up and running for the stated 25 purpose of empowering the people rather than spend time

0026 01 pouring over city documents to determine if all the t's 02 are crossed and the i's are dotted. That's about it. 03 So, we've got a couple of issues. I feel one is 04 whether or not we were legitimately removed from the 05 agenda tonight. I feel we are not legitimately removed 06 because DONE missed it's timing, and DONE is very 07 specifically instructed to turn this over to the Board 08 with no recommendations. They're three months late 09 doing that anyway, but it's now been done, and I think 10 we should be back on the agenda. Now, based on our own 11 bylaws, and I've talked to Greg Nelson about this, I'm 12 not allowed as the president -- the acting president of 13 this council to even make a decision whether or not we 14 would change our bylaws. As Charles said earlier, I 15 have to go back to our stake holders. I have to. 16 That's the way the town hall concept works. I'm not up 17 here making decisions for a group of people. I'm only 18 one of them. I have one vote, but I do represent them 19 in coming up here and talking to you today. So, if you 20 had put us on the agenda, one of the options would have 21 been that we would have asked for a time-out so that we 22 could go back when our normal meeting is scheduled 23 tomorrow night. Put it on the agenda. Talk to our 24 stake holders. They would vote on it a month down the 25 road. That's the way our bylaws work, and we believe

0027 01 they're very democratic. Thank you. 02 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Bobbi 03 Feedler and Harry Coleman. 04 BOBBY FEEDLER: (Inaudible) 05 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Could you speak on the 06 microphone, please. 07 BOBBY FEEDLER: Mr. Chairman, Members of the 08 Board, it's my intention to speak on the issue of Old 09 Northridge certification. 10 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. 11 We'll hold it for that. 12 HARRY COLEMAN: I don't know how you want to 13 address this or how the Commission wants to address the 14 immediate problem that Walter's brought up. I might 15 bring to the Commission's attention that you are under 16 the Brown Act and the agenda has been posted and you 17 might have some trouble bringing us back in and 18 (Inaudible) along is kind of ironic. We might be 19 guilty of a violation of our own Brown Act here. So 20 you might take that into consideration, and also I'll 21 speak a little bit briefly on -- I'm not going to take 22 the time Walter did. In fact, I'm not even going to be 23 up here five minutes, but I do want to mention 24 something about the two councils and then address 25 directly the issue that you're concerned with, which is

0028 01 the format that's in violation of the rules that's sat 02 down in the plan. But basically, you know, Northridge 03 is kind of an unusual situation. I started the 04 Northridge Community Council No. 2, as you have it, at 05 the invitation of Walter. We were at a meeting. We 06 had -- as everybody knows, we hashed out these things 07 and so forth, and Walter said, look, if you and Bobbi 08 don't agree with the way we're running the council, why 09 don't you start your own? So, we did, and that's why 10 it exists. But when we did we analyzed what the 11 problems with Northridge is because we're not 12 interested in jumping through the hoop or getting the 13 signatures. We're interested in forming a quality 14 council to do the best job that that council can for 15 the council members as well as the community to reach 16 all of the stake holders. In doing so, we found that 17 Northridge wasn't divided into just one or two or 18 three, but there were about eight different sections. 19 You know, the college has their problems over there, 20 and they have a group taking care of that. Certainly 21 Park Parthenia with the drug and gang problem is very 22 similar to the problems that I face over in North Hills 23 with the North Hills Community Coordinating Council, 24 and those problems have to be addressed separately. 25 Also, you have to deal with the area of Sherwood Forest

0029 01 Homeowner's Association. Bobbi and I happen to live in 02 there. It's a very large organization. They have 03 about 1100 members that reach into that particular 04 community. It's not a gated community, but it's one of 05 the better communities in Northridge, and that council 06 has been in existence for almost 20 years. We went 07 through all the things and the Charter and everything 08 else and the discussions of what are you going to do 09 about the existing organizations, and we talked about 10 this, Bill, back -- way back in -- during -- in that 11 time when we were working on the Charter, and here we 12 are today with these problems that are real. Old 13 Northridge is another area that adjoins our Sherwood 14 Forest, and you're going to hear about them tonight. 15 They don't bother us that they're going -- in fact, 16 they're friends of ours. We admire what this young man 17 has done, gone out into the community. They're a 18 little bit different over there. They have some 19 different needs. He's organized it. Why can't they be 20 part of all of Northridge. For Christ sake, we 21 (Inaudible) 85,000 people in this community, and we 22 need representatives of Park Parthenia. We need 23 representatives over there that Don has. We need 24 representation from Sherwood Forest. We need all of 25 these. What we need right now is some time, gentlemen

0030 01 and ladies, and the time -- and I'm going to propose 02 this to the Commission. Of course, if it was up to me 03 regarding the other council after taking some issues 04 with them, I would say you should go ahead, and based 05 on the format and the correspondence it's taken place, 06 if they don't agree to this now, what makes you think 07 they're going to agree to anything later on after you 08 certify them? So you have to take a close look at 09 that, but I -- regardless of that, maybe they have 10 something or an itch or something that could be done, 11 but I think a moratorium of time -- I'm suggesting six 12 months for both sides to get their act together, to see 13 what's out there, to see which side or which group is 14 really going to reach out into the community and do the 15 right thing to come up with a quality of council. So 16 don't put time before the quality. Give this thing 17 some time. You don't have to make decisions right away 18 on every one of these things. You got forest fires all 19 over the city. I can appreciate all of your problems, 20 and I congratulate you for being members that were 21 appointed to the Commission, and you've got a big job 22 to do, but take things slow and individually. Here one 23 with Northridge. Step back a little bit. Let's see 24 what involves here. If the members of one side or the 25 other can move. We need moore for the community to

0031 01 work out their problems and get acceptance of these 02 groups then we do to have other people come out here 03 and decide for us. Ultimately, you will have to 04 decide. If we can reach no agreement or (Inaudible) 05 that's when you'll have to step forward. Again, I 06 don't think that you should -- I think once you've 07 changed -- I think if you check with -- is somebody 08 here from Council -- City Attorney's office? Is 09 there -- you might check the Brown Act now on 10 what -- whether you should go forward on this. Thank 11 you for your time, Commissioners. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Okay. All 13 right. Are there any other comments on the general 14 manager's report? Yes, please, come to the microphone. 15 SANDRA CURTIS: Hi, my name is Sandra Curtis and 16 thank you for letting me speak before you tonight. I 17 find it very interesting that Mr. Coleman is so 18 concerned about the Brown Act at this point when he 19 seems to not mind not following it in his little group. 20 Apparently, he decided he was going to start another 21 group different from the Northridge, what you say, 22 Council 1. Met in secret, did not advise anybody of 23 the meetings, elected a board, refused to tell anybody 24 who they were, and then through his friends downtown 25 tried to force our council to join him. We're not very

0032 01 pleased about that and also his operation of or 02 participation in the Sherwood Forest Homeowners. He's 03 -- 04 MALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible) 05 SANDRA CURTIS: Wait a minute. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Ma'am, I'm going to ask 07 you not to make this personal. If there's in issue you 08 have regarding the action that the Board is taking 09 that's one thing. Otherwise, anyone tonight who is 10 either throwing insults or furniture will be sent to 11 the principal's office for detention. 12 SANDRA CURTIS: Mr. Coleman was allowed to talk 13 about the Sherwood Forest area. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: But he didn't 15 personalize it with any -- to anybody. 16 SANDRA CURTIS: Okay. Well, one thing that I find 17 objectionable is that you expect us to have special 18 treatment for special interest groups and give them 19 seats on the Board. If somebody owns property or is a 20 valid stake holder in the community, they get to 21 participate like anybody else. I don't see why any 22 special interest group should have more votes or more 23 power to influence the community than anyone -- than 24 any of the rest of us. And also, I have copy of a 25 press release by your mayor who says, quote, "I have

0033 01 always been an advocate of bringing city government to 02 the people, and I know that with the general support of 03 neighborhood councils throughout Los Angeles more 04 citizens will have the opportunity to actively 05 participate in city government." Well, maybe you 06 should advise him that your rules decide not to let us 07 participate. That's the -- why most of the people 08 joined the council. They wanted their voice heard and 09 you're proposals are not doing that. So, I'd like you 10 to reconsider your decision. Thank you. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. All right. 12 These two -- you two. Then that will be all for the 13 night. Okay. Come to the microphone. 14 IRWIN COHEN: Me? 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes. 16 IRWIN COHEN: The lady or myself? 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yourself and then the 18 lady. 19 IRWIN COHEN: Thank you. My name is Irwin Cohen, 20 and I am what is known as a stake holder. I do not 21 represent or am not involved in any organization of any 22 kind. I heard about this neighborhood empowerment 23 through -- quite a while ago. In fact, I attended some 24 of the meetings that you folks had when you were asking 25 for comments with regard to what your Charter should

0034 01 be. I am a stake holder in the Northridge Community 02 No. 1 Council. How did I find out about it? Not 03 through any sort of political or other involvement. 04 Just by the fact that these folks actually 05 disseminated, distributed information. I found out 06 about it in the Porter Ranch Library stating that there 07 were meetings held by the Council. One and all, please 08 come to our meetings, that it would be a town hall 09 meeting. Man, when I heard it would be a town hall 10 meeting empowerment -- you know, I've been living in 11 this area since 1955. I've been to -- before the LA 12 City Council. I've been before the LA School District 13 Board. I've spouted my stuff. I've seen the ho-hums 14 and the comments, and they went along and did what they 15 wanted. When you folks told us, us little people, that 16 we would have an empowerment in what our community 17 thinks and feels and wants to do, we jumped at the 18 chance, and this is what we want to happen. We want a 19 town hall if we want a democratic -- with a small "d" 20 -- process. This is what we fought for in the wars. 21 You better believe me. That's what we did. That's 22 what we risked our lives for so that we could have a 23 say, and we're tired of elected officials. In this 24 case, we're able to tell the people exactly what we, as 25 a community, want, and as a result, we are empowered to

0035 01 make the decision to make a recommendation. We know we 02 can't implement because of the huge bureaucratic 03 structure that we live under but at least we know we 04 have a say, and that's what we want. We want a town 05 hall, and that's the democratic way. I don't care what 06 your technical Charter says we can't or cannot do. I 07 know what the constitution says. I know what we fought 08 for, and this is what we want. 09 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. 10 DR. ESTELLE LIT: My name is Dr. Estelle Lit, 11 L-i-t, and I'm a retired professor from Sea Sun and 12 also from -- too loud? (Inaudible) and I have always 13 felt as I worked with potential teachers -- am I 14 talking too loud? 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: No, it's not you. It's 16 just the speaker pointed at us is too loud at the 17 moment. So, we need you to -- 18 DR. ESTELLE LIT: Okay. I always felt that 19 working with potential teachers preparing them for 20 teaching that the town hall operation was the most 21 democratic experience one could offer people. However, 22 since it's in your Charter, and it would be illegal to 23 use another approach, I, as one of the stake holders of 24 Walter Prince's Northridge Neighborhood Community 25 Council -- I -- we have a group that was elected to be

0036 01 the executives in some way on that group, and I would 02 certainly be willing to make the adjustment. We once 03 had about an hour on ethics, and we feel very strongly 04 about ethics. I don't understand why that's not in 05 the -- in our original Charter but we'll see, but I 06 think that at least my feeling is that the group -- the 07 Council certainly would think about what you've asked 08 them to think about. We have not had group meetings 09 dealing with your last letter, and so the group has not 10 come out with group decisions. We haven't met as a 11 group in a small group, and I feel that that could be 12 very helpful if the group itself knew what you were 13 saying. So, those are some of my thoughts on the 14 subject. 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. All 16 right. We'll take two more people, and then we have to 17 move onto some other business. 18 DOROTHY BOBURGE: I'm Dorothy Boburge. I was 19 acting president of the Northridge Council from 2000 20 and 2001. In order to fulfill the professions of the 21 new city Charter, citizens of Northridge began to 22 organize in October of 2000. After considering several 23 proposed drafts of bylaws during the first year, we 24 adopted the town hall system of government in bylaws 25 adopted on September 19th, 2001. We believe this is

0037 01 the best system to receive input from all Northridgers 02 who are most interested in issues which change from 03 time to time. Neighborhood councils should be a voice 04 for community, not another level of government. We ask 05 that the Commission approve our bylaws as agreed by 06 representatives of Northridge citizens and certify our 07 organization. I feel that it would probably be a good 08 idea to postpone this while your ordinance is redrafted 09 so that all -- the quotation of all stake holders 10 participating could be explained as inclusive of the 11 town hall system. I'd like to just make one final 12 comment, and this goes beyond just the neighborhood but 13 has to do with the subjects that we will be concerned 14 with in the future. Scientists have now estimated that 15 petroleum will become to costly in energy to produce 16 within 15 to 20 years. This will involve massive 17 changes in the way we live. We will then need to 18 travel by rail and mostly bicycles. Cars will be 19 become mostly obsolete. I know this is hard to even 20 consider, but this is what the scientists are telling 21 us. So this will reinvolve neighborhoods needing to be 22 totally reconstructed to be more selfsufficient, and we 23 must have massive grass roots participation to make 24 those changes that will be required. So, I urge again 25 that you accept the idea of all stake holders

0038 01 participating as the Council. Thank you COMMISSIONER 02 CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. One last gentleman back in 03 the -- 04 DR. JAMES PARKER: Hi, I'm Dr. James Parker. I 05 don't have any prepared remarks, but I'd just like to 06 say that I'm a director at Northridge Community 07 Council. I was not involved with the formation of it. 08 There were many people who worked long and hard on 09 this, and it's going back to people that have been 10 working in the community for 30 years with Northridge 11 Civic Association. There's a long history of people 12 working in the neighborhood. We have worked real hard 13 to get the message out to the widest community we can. 14 We have a web site that reaches who knows how many 15 thousands of people at every opportunity. We try to 16 get that web site address out to people. We have done 17 mailings now to -- for our last two meetings to about 18 1,500 people at each of those last meetings. We have 19 tried very hard to get the word out. We have been 20 dealing with some very important issues. We have sort 21 of a contentious issue of a school being built in the 22 community that the community cannot attend, which 23 sounds strange to you maybe, but that's the issue, and 24 our local elementary school will be taken away, and 25 that they'll -- we brought Julie (Inaudible) LA Unified

0039 01 Board President. We had many people from LA Unified 02 administration there. Walter Prince did an incredibly 03 good job of handling that. He's very fair minded and 04 has done a really good job of handling these issues. 05 We've dealt with other issues, signs in the community, 06 graffiti, and I'm sure there's going to be many issues 07 ahead, but I'd just like to say that the meetings have 08 been very good, very important for the community. I 09 think the town hall concept maybe has flaws. Any 10 system of government has flaws. I think it's a good 11 system and that it really does truly try to get one 12 person one vote. I mean that's the intent. I think 13 that's the intent of the Department of Neighborhood 14 Empowerment that the vote is shared as widely as 15 possible among all the people trying to have some 16 balances on city councils and other government 17 officials who may not -- there may be some working 18 within themselves and not sharing with the community. 19 So, I think that the intent of DONE is great, and I 20 think we're working as clearly as we can within 21 those -- within those bounds to try to spread the vote 22 among the people. So, thank you very much. 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. 24 (PAUSE IN TAPE) 25 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: (Inaudible) that we

0040 01 mover on. What I'd like to do -- and Greg, in 02 listening to Mr. Prince's arguments about some of the 03 more detailed issues within their bylaws and their 04 relationship to some of the requirements that are in 05 the DONE response letter. I'd like to see if could 06 foster a meeting tomorrow between yourself and my 07 representatives of the City Attorney's office and Mr. 08 Prince and whoever else they might like to have 09 participate to see if we could work through some of 10 those issues. It would appear that we're not that far 11 apart, and then they could take that to their general 12 assembly meeting and along with the other comments that 13 have been provided by the City Attorney and potentially 14 get back to us in a reasonable period of time to get 15 back in line toward certification. We're really 16 all -- we're all here trying to do the same thing. 17 We're all trying to empower that neighborhood. We're 18 trying to do it in the most broad sense that we can, 19 and I would hope that we can work through some of the 20 issues that have been before us tonight. We can't 21 really put you back on the agenda tonight because, in 22 point of fact, it was never really agendized for the 23 Board's action, and there was a hearing notice posted 24 as part of the application process, but it never made 25 it to a formal part of the Board agenda, and not being

0041 01 on the Board's agenda, we can't take a formal action 02 tonight in any case. So, I would offer that the best 03 we can do is to try to have a meeting tomorrow with 04 staff and with the applicants to try to get some thing 05 that we could take back to your assembly that would 06 maybe satisfy as many of the pieces of the puzzle as we 07 can. 08 GREG NELSON: (Inaudible) meet with them at their 09 convenience as quickly as we can. I also want to make 10 it clear to the audience that the net effect of the 11 department's action was actually the same as if the 12 organization itself had taken this voluntary time-out 13 to consult with their general assembly. They are now 14 just set off to the side, and they can have their 15 general assembly meeting and discuss their strategies, 16 discuss what they want to do. We'll provide them again 17 with all the guidance and the advice. They can come 18 back into the system once the legal issues of the 19 issues that led to our declaration of incomplete are 20 resolved, and hopefully, that will be a full and lively 21 discussion among the general assembly, and yes, we'll 22 have all those meetings. 23 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Mr. President? 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Greg, I would appreciate

0042 01 that too. For me, it's confusing to hear the 02 explanation from the neighborhood and from the members 03 of the community and to hear the report from your 04 department not having the application or the bylaws in 05 front of me so that I can actually look at them, and I 06 realize that it's not on the agenda tonight. So, 07 therefore, we don't have it here, but if a town hall 08 meeting is something (Inaudible) similar to a general 09 meeting of membership, then it sounds to me like the 10 very appropriate direction to go in, in that our goal 11 is to have more people involved and to empower people 12 in our neighborhoods. So a general session, general 13 membership meeting, town hall meeting, whatever you 14 call it, as long as it serves a purpose of involving 15 people to make decisions. It's not -- and from my 16 understanding, it is not the decisions to be made just 17 by the Board. It's decisions that would reflect the 18 concerns of the community. The Board is there to guide 19 the community and to accept the concerns, but I would 20 love to see more neighborhoods have more general 21 meetings -- meetings of people coming out because I 22 think there's much to be gained from more people coming 23 out and getting involved as opposed to having, what I 24 have seen in the past, maybe more Board meetings and 25 less general sessions of membership. I would really

0043 01 prefer to see us going in that direction. So, I would 02 appreciate the department getting with these people, 03 and I'm concerned about the time line because I'm 04 really -- maybe there is a problem that we have 05 committed there with the time line and postponing it 06 the way that we did. It's not clear because we don't 07 have enough information here to make that decision here 08 tonight, and as long as Board members and officers are 09 elected by the neighborhood council, that shouldn't be 10 a problem with the organization as long as (Inaudible) 11 bylaws so that they're elected -- whatever format they 12 want to use, but I think town hall and general meetings 13 is questionable as to what -- it's just a matter of 14 semantics. What does it mean? You know, just two 15 interchangeable words. So, I would really like for you 16 to get with these people so that we could move ahead, 17 and also, I'd like to receive more information before 18 the meeting if it's going to be a concern so that I can 19 also review it before. Like now I'm kind of what is 20 the truth and what's going on? I don't really know. 21 So, if it's going to be on the agenda -- if the 22 manager's report is going to include a controversial 23 item in the future, I would like to have the background 24 information so (Inaudible) or to understand what's 25 really going on.

0044 01 GREG NELSON: And I think it -- I think it's a 02 good sign. I mean, I have made my commitment verbally 03 to the applicants, in writing verbally, here that I 04 want to pursue the town hall concept also. I think 05 it's interesting to hear some of the comments from some 06 of the commissioners now also indicating that they'd be 07 interested in seeing perhaps a change in the ordinance 08 that prohibits that from happening. So, I moving ahead 09 on this no matter -- no matter what. So, I hope we can 10 do it together. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. 12 FEMALE SPEAKER: May I please approach the 13 Commission just to offer a little bit of explanation? 14 It's very brief. 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: No, I'm sorry we can't. 16 We're going to move onto a different item. 17 FEMALE SPEAKER: I've been the acting secretary 18 for the Northridge Community Council, and I think I can 19 clarify some information that has been presented. May 20 I just speak -- 21 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I don't know that 22 you're going to present anything in addition to what 23 Mr. Prince or Mr. Brink has already presented. 24 FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes, we have been meeting for 21 25 months monthly at Northridge Hospital, at Northridge

0045 01 Park. We started in individuals homes and our numbers 02 have grown. We have produced our own fliers, 03 distributed them, paid for things ourselves. All of 04 our meetings have been open. Every single piece of 05 marketing material that was distributed stated, town 06 hall format, come vote yourself, one vote per stake 07 holder. DONE representatives were present at 90 08 percent of our meetings, and we have minutes to prove 09 it. No one ever -- nobody ever told us that the town 10 hall concept was not viable until suddenly two weeks 11 ago there were some e-mails flying around. I have a 12 letter here announcing this meeting dated March 5th. I 13 received it March 13th. Suddenly, we're pulled off the 14 agenda, and the town hall is not viable. That is very 15 confusing to us. We have tried to -- the cart has been 16 before the horse in some of these situations. We have 17 tried to comply. We have tried to be cooperative. We 18 provided signatures the way you wanted the signatures 19 provided after you told us no signatures. Signatures 20 on this form. Signatures on that form. So, the 21 community here needs to know that we have been doing 22 our best to do a good job and to each a lot of people. 23 We analyzed an alternate set of bylaws in August and 24 decided that we wanted more people involved in our 25 organization than a board of directors making decisions

0046 01 for us, and I have one question. What is then the 02 status of any letters of intent if this hearing 03 determines that we then move to a moratorium or a six 04 month -- if there are any letters of intent how does 05 that then affect our application? 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: There are no letters of 07 intent that would affect your application at this 08 point. You're beyond the period of any effect of any 09 letter of intent. 10 FEMALE SPEAKER: Okay. Thank you very much. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. All right. 12 With that -- no. Okay. Walter, will talk to you on 13 the side and later on in terms of timing. 14 MALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible) 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Both Greg and Rita will 16 be in touch with you after the meeting or later on 17 during the meeting. All right. Okay. With that, 18 we'll continue the rest of the general manager's 19 meeting till later on. Commissioner Longoria? 20 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes, I'm very concerned 21 with the fact that a town hall which makes sense cannot 22 be part of this application, and I'm also concerned 23 over the deadlines that were submitted here that seem 24 to be that the Northridge Council received until the 25 very last moment. Greg, so just going by the fact that

0047 01 I have this material here, it kind of incapacitates 02 commissioners because we're bound by what exists here 03 before us. I would strongly recommend and suggest to 04 our commissioners that if you do come to an 05 agreement -- when you do, not if -- when you do come 06 into an agreement as to what you're going to do that we 07 might come into a special session out here so this can 08 move forward even though they've been taking out. 09 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We'll do everything we 10 need to from the Commissions point of view to make the 11 timing work for the local community. All right. Let's 12 move on then to agenda item No. 3 which is a 13 certification hearing for the Old Northridge Community 14 Council, and Romerol, are you doing the (Inaudible) 15 report. 16 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: Good evening, Commissioners I'm 17 going to be both, myself and Mike, tonight. We've 18 received an application to certify the proposed Old 19 Northridge Community Council Neighborhood Council. 20 When looking for certification, of course, the 21 department must make findings. We're making the 22 findings in the area boundaries, outreach organization, 23 financial accountability, ethics, and the contract 24 liaison information. When we look at boundaries, we 25 look for an identifiable area. We look for the absence

0048 01 of overlap. We look for a minimum of 20,000 02 population, unless the applicant can satisfy those 03 conditions of the ordinance that allow for an 04 exception. In looking at outreach, we're looking for 05 the detailed description of process by which stake 06 holders were identified. We're looking to see that 07 they collected at least 200 signatures that state that 08 the applicants are interested in participating, and 09 that has the widest possible diversity that's feasible. 10 We're looking for -- in the organization structure, 11 we're looking for an organizational name and the 12 bylaws, a statement that membership is open to all 13 community stake holders, a list of the officers and the 14 method for installing officers, a description of the 15 meeting procedures, a grievance dispute resolution 16 process. In the case of financial accountability, 17 we're looking for essentially that they have a 18 treasurer that meets the requirements of the ordinance, 19 and in the case of ethics, we're looking to make sure 20 that they have a statement, an acknowledgement of the 21 ethics regulations, and an acknowledgement that they 22 will comply. In each of these cases, the applicant has 23 submitted information. On the boundaries -- just by 24 way of -- just a little background. We've heard about 25 the Northridge application. Originally, there was an

0049 01 application from Northridge that included all of 02 Northridge, all of the zip code that would be 03 Northridge. We subsequently received an application 04 from Old Northridge and so there was definitely some 05 overlap. You have the maps of the areas. With the 06 assistance of the Commission and Human Relations 07 Commission, we did have a facilitated dialogue in 08 December. That dialogue included the representatives 09 of Northridge 1, as well as, representatives of 10 Northridge 2, and at that meeting, it was agreed that 11 both Northridge 1 and Northridge 2 would acknowledge 12 the boundaries that are presented by Old Northridge, 13 and that is the application that you have before you. 14 One of the concessions at that meeting, was a slight 15 variation in the boundaries as well as a request by 16 Northridge 1 to share the major thoroughfares, and 17 that's the major thoroughfare of Reseda as well as 18 major thoroughfare of Parthenia Street. Now, I do need 19 to call to your attention that the ordinance does allow 20 for the sharing of major thoroughfares; however, we do 21 not have a definition of what is a thoroughfare, 22 whether the thoroughfare is simply the street itself or 23 whether the thoroughfare includes the businesses on 24 both sides. The other element in boundaries that we 25 look for is a minimum of 20,000 population. After the

0050 01 mediation was concluded, there was some alteration in 02 the boundaries. When we did look at boundaries and the 03 population within the agreed upon area, the absolute 04 population was 13,819 significantly below the 20,000. 05 Now, the plan does provide for a certification when 06 there's less than a population of 20,000, that is, if 07 the proposed area is separated from an adjacent 08 community by significant geographic or other features. 09 We did not find that the case here. Whether the 10 proposed areas identified by name within an adopted 11 community plan within the City of Los Angeles. 12 Northridge is a community within the community plan. 13 The community plan doesn't draw out Old Northridge. So 14 we didn't feel that that particular waiver would apply 15 here. The last one was that the proposed area 16 represent a historic identifiable neighborhood or 17 community and includes local city service providers, 18 such as, public library, park or recreation center or 19 police or public school. This is the one that the most 20 closely the applicant meets. The area is served by the 21 Northridge Public Library located at 9051 Darby Avenue. 22 It's served by Fire Station 103 which is at 18143 23 Parthenia Street and the Napa Street Elementary school 24 located at 19010 Napa Street. Also, we have the 25 Councilman Hal Bernson also has a field office located

0051 01 in the area. We ask the applicant to provide us some 02 other examples of history -- the historical 03 significance, and they did provide us an excerpt from a 04 document by Paul Denzel, a historian, and essentially 05 that talked about the early days of Northridge, and it 06 identify several historic sites. There was a train 07 station that was built in 1912 on the southwest corner 08 of Reseda and Parthenia, and there was a post office 09 that -- the first post office located at the northwest 10 corner of Reseda Boulevard and Grishom. The applicant 11 has also asked to address the Board with more detail on 12 their perception of the historical and cultural roots 13 of the community. Subject to the presentation, we 14 would find that they have met the requirements for 15 boundary. Also, in the area outreach, the -- the 16 applicant has significant outreach. They define their 17 area or one of the reasons for picking these boundaries 18 was to be able to have a community large enough yet 19 small enough to go door-to-door in their outreach and 20 in their communication. A large part of their outreach 21 has centered around the -- an apartment complex. 22 They've held regular meetings which average about 25 23 persons. They have a newsletter, and they distributed 24 information about neighborhood councils at special 25 events. Organizationally they set up an outreach

0052 01 committee and their outreach committee had special 02 outreach for apartments, condominiums, businesses, 03 homeowners, Northridge Hospital, and the student 04 population of the area. In looking at the signatures 05 that were collected, we find that that also meets the 06 requirement. They had over 200 signatures. In looking 07 at the organizational structure the -- we've been going 08 back and forth on the bylaws. The Board has the latest 09 version of the bylaws. There were two areas that were 10 called out in the version of the bylaws that the 11 committee has. There was an indemnification language 12 that we were advised. We advised the applicant needed 13 to be deleted. The applicant has verbally agreed to 14 make that deletion. We also have a recommendation on 15 the part of the City Attorney that -- to revise Artical 16 7 based on that the process for removing board members 17 was subjective, and regarding decorum in forcing the 18 language might be a violation of the person's rights 19 under the first amendment, and so it was recommended 20 that that language change. That was advisory. It was 21 not something that the applicant had to do. What the 22 applicant was required to do was to remove the 23 indemnification language. They have verbally agreed to 24 that (Inaudible) 25 DARREN MARTINEZ: (Inaudible) Darren Martinez,

0053 01 Deputy City Attorney. Just to point out. The advice 02 really is that the applicant not enforce the provisions 03 that we're talking about without further guidance from 04 the City Attorney's office. It's not necessarily a 05 revision. They may want to consider a revision at some 06 point in time, but there could be or potentially could 07 exist liability problems that we would like to address 08 before the applicant goes down that path, and that's 09 the advice that we want to keep or advise the applicant 10 in this situation. 11 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Which section is that? 12 DARREN MARTINEZ: I realize -- one is Artical 8, 13 Section 13. I'm on page -- no. I'm sorry. 14 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Is that 12 of 13? I 15 don't see a section. 11.2 is the last one. Oh, 16 Section 13 on page 13. Mine is 13 of 13. It's 17 Indemnification? 18 DARREN MARTINEZ: Right. Right. That's the 19 clause that they will take out that they're orally 20 agreeing to take out (Inaudible) or there's a 21 representation that they will agree during -- during 22 their comments on the case. Give me one second. On 23 page 12 of 13, these are just some general guidelines 24 that they're providing, for a decorum and conduct. 25 There is not any mechanism in the bylaws for enforcing

0054 01 this, which is sufficient. We're accepting 02 these -- it's okay that these are written in these 03 bylaws; however, if the applicant is going to try to 04 attempt to enforce them or should these become in 05 issue, we simply want them to come to the City 06 Attorney's office so that if there is a problem with 07 regulation toward the content of anyone's speech, we 08 can avoid any type of problem. 09 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: That's 8.11.2? 10 DARREN MARTINEZ: That was 8.11.2. 11 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Romerol, go ahead. 13 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: Okay. In terms of financial 14 accountability, the applicant provided the department 15 with a description of its organizational structure 16 including the officers of its governing body in the 17 form of bylaws. The section was reviewed by our 18 accounting division and found to be in compliance. 19 There is a requirement that there be a public notice 20 location log. The project coordinator reviewed and 21 visited each one of the posting locations and confirmed 22 the hours of operation of the contact persons that were 23 located within the bounded area and all location 24 (Inaudible) business sides. Staff recommends that the 25 applicant include the local school and the library to

0055 01 reach a broader array of stake holders, but they 02 did -- they did satisfy the requirements of the 03 ordinance. The neighborhood treasurer, the applicant, 04 did submit the forms -- did not submit the forms; 05 however, this is still in compliance because those were 06 optional. In looking at all of the required elements, 07 the department finds that the applicant has met the 08 requirements subject to the Commission's determination 09 about the shared boundaries on the major thoroughfare 10 and subject to the Commission's acceptance of their 11 presentation of the historical significance of their 12 community. 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Are there any 14 questions for staff? Seeing none, we will invite the 15 applicant to come forward and present the Old 16 Northridge Community Council. 17 DON LARSON: Welcome to Northridge. I know that 18 there are -- we have a tough community to get through. 19 You can tell. We have a lot of people here who work 20 hard, but I got to talk about my neighborhood. It's a 21 nice thing to do. I've worked for three years on this, 22 and here we're here. We need this kind of thing in our 23 community. We have a community that's old but new. 24 It's been there a long time. It's where the history of 25 our -- some of our (Inaudible) starts right here in

0056 01 Northridge. It's also a part of an area that has been 02 neglected in some ways, and when we voted on this 03 Charter a long time ago -- three years ago, I 04 immediately went out and knew that I had to go and 05 start, and the point was that I said I promised I would 06 make sure everybody got something, and they did, and 07 here they are. It's a little hard for me to talk to 08 you about it. 09 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I need you (Inaudible) 10 to talk to us, though. 11 DON LARSON: (Inaudible) we ask Paul Allen to come 12 tonight to give a history lesson on the area so you can 13 see the Historical nature of this, and then I'll come 14 back up and finish up, but if Paul can come up to the 15 front. I think you've got a couple -- could somebody 16 help Paul with -- Luke? Could you guys -- (Inaudible) 17 yeah. It's nice that you've finally all made it out to 18 Northridge, and come back again. I'm sure some of you 19 drive through here and never really stop. Most people 20 don't. But we have an interesting community. Not only 21 do we have, let's say, the history of the last 150 22 years of why Northridge started, but we have something 23 new now. Now we have a new history to talk about too, 24 and that's the kind of culture that is represented by a 25 lot of the people in this room. We have an emerging

0057 01 art kind of culture with us because of the university, 02 and -- 03 FEMALE SPEAKER: Where do you want this? 04 DON LARSON: Wherever you want it now. I think we 05 need to show the Commissioners what's going on, and 06 this is Paul Denzel. His family owned this ranch up 07 here, our last ranch. Elizabeth Waldow is Paul's 08 mother and well known in the community, and so let me 09 turn it over to Paul. 10 PAUL DENZEL: Okay. Well, thank you. It's a 11 pleasure to be here this evening and to represent Old 12 Northridge and the historical elements of Northridge 13 here in the community. I take great pride in being a 14 native son and growing up here in Northridge as well, 15 and first of all, the -- just for your information, San 16 Fernando does come as of origin of the popular king of 17 Spain of -- I'm sorry -- of Spain, of Seville -- I'm 18 sorry -- Castille and Aragon. Thank you. And so 19 that's where the name San Fernando comes from, and when 20 the railroad came through in the early 1900's, there 21 had been some wells according to the Department of 22 Water and Power before, but one of them was at the 23 corner of Parthenia and Reseda Boulevard, and that was 24 the name coming from Zelzah was the original name, then 25 North Los Angeles and then Northridge, and some of the

0058 01 material that I brought dealt specifically with the 02 reasons why the name was Zelzah originally being an 03 oasis, a watering hole in the desert, and then also, of 04 course, the train coming through and then the -- it was 05 changed from that to North Los Angeles about 1929 and 06 then again in 1938 to -- from North Los Angeles to 07 Northridge. The reason being partly because there was 08 confusion with mail delivery between Los Angeles proper 09 and -- Los Angeles (Inaudible) and North Hollywood and 10 Northridge, so -- anyway, lies at the base of the 11 northern ridges of the Santa Susanna Mountains, and so 12 anyway, it was very popular as the newspaper shows on 13 the easel in the poster. There were a number of horse 14 ranches out here. It was the -- Northridge was known 15 as the horse capital of the west. It was in close 16 proximity to Hollywood and, of course, you had a lot of 17 celebrities, movies stars, others that just wanted 18 ranches, and citrus growing, and so it was promoted 19 through the Chamber of Commerce as the horse capital of 20 the west, and so, anyway, you had the Central business 21 district extending two blocks to roughly two or three 22 to the north and to the south on Reseda Boulevard. So, 23 anyway, it was the horse capital of the west. There 24 was citrus. It was close proximity, and it had, of 25 course, a wonderful climate, as well. So, anyway, the

0059 01 name change came about because of the confusion with, 02 as I said, North Hollywood and Los Angeles proper and 03 so, of course, you have the university here that's 04 preserved some of the citrus also, and it's played an 05 important role in the development of the San Fernando 06 Valley. So, anyway, I just wanted to keep my remarks 07 brief, but I was pleased to submit some background 08 information on the Northridge business district, and if 09 there's any questions, eyed be happy to answer them, 10 but I do provide first a cancellation of the new name 11 Northridge that became official through the post office 12 on November 1st, 1938. So, if there are any questions 13 -- I don't know, Don, if you had any specific questions 14 or information. 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. We have some 16 questions. 17 PAUL DENZEL: I'm just pleased to be part of the 18 community. My mother's involved with the Music and Art 19 Foundation of Northridge and is a long-term -- 20 long-time resident of the community, as well. So, 21 anyway, those are some of the memorabilia I have 22 related to the official process initiated through the 23 Chamber of Commerce and the Women's Club through the 24 post office to change the name. 25 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Don, is there

0060 01 anyone else going to present. 02 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: I will. Can I say 03 something? 04 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: (Inaudible) we have 05 questions for you. 06 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: No, I don't have any 07 questions. I just wanted to thank you very much for 08 that historical perspective on it. I really 09 appreciated that. I especially liked the fact that you 10 gave me some insight into Zelzah. I've always wondered 11 about that street. So, being resident of San Fernando 12 Valley, it certainly was very useful to point that out. 13 Thank you. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Any other 15 questions for the applicant? Couple of questions that 16 we might have. Don, the area that you're -- that you 17 have has a fairly significant Latino population, and I 18 understand that your outreach materials have been 19 primarily disseminated in English to this point. To 20 what -- can you describe some of the efforts that you 21 would be using to outreach to the Latino community 22 within the area or their participation in the group to 23 date? 24 DON LARSON: Well, we have along with a 25 significant population here -- on our Board, there's

0061 01 quite a few Latino names. We have certain events that 02 people come out and language doesn't seem to be a very 03 big problem anywhere. It's been over -- it's been past 04 some of that. As far as actually, you know, getting 05 the literature into other languages, we definitely want 06 to do that. There's Spanish and Chinese and Iranian. 07 We have lots of different kinds of people down here, 08 and we want to really reach all of them and give 09 everybody a chance to participate with us. My next 10 letter after this meeting will be coming out, and I 11 will walk it one more time, and I hope then that we can 12 have, you know, some translations and stuff done with 13 your department. We speak Spanish here, but we don't 14 always translate either, and we need a little help with 15 that kind of language stuff. So, I'm looking to try to 16 reach all those languages, but we need your help with 17 that too. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. The other 19 question that I had, in your bylaws, you have a 20 provision under the decorum section which we sort of 21 have the opposite problem of the one we were discussing 22 earlier this evening about. Opening up to all stake 23 holders, you have the provision that -- No. 4 on the 24 public which has that any person who disrupts the 25 meeting may at the discretion of the (Inaudible) or

0062 01 majority of the (Inaudible) be subject to ejection from 02 the meeting by LAPD. One of the things that we have to 03 deal with and, in fact, we're now neighborhood councils 04 once certified that are part of the public city family 05 is that everybody gets to play in the same sandbox, and 06 it becomes very difficult to restrict who gets to speak 07 and who gets to come to the meetings. So, when we look 08 at language like that in the bylaws, it presents some 09 problems for us. One, I don't think you could rely on 10 the police department to actually staff the meetings 11 and to -- 12 DON LARSON: I don't (Inaudible) 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: To -- so I would ask 14 that you consider striking that clause from the bylaws 15 and that that be part of the certification requirement, 16 as well. 17 DON LARSON: Uh-huh. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Longoria? 19 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. In reviewing this 20 application, I noticed that the population is diverse. 21 I do see the Latino population 53, but what really 22 sparked by interest is that 35 percent is 17 and under; 23 is that correct? Or whether or not it is, it must be a 24 large number. So, I would strongly recommend that you 25 have student representation or an education component

0063 01 to this whole thing. I strongly recommend that, and 02 I'm doing that to all the neighborhood councils. So, 03 it's written in, especially with that kind of a 04 population. 05 DON LARSON: You mean you would like us to write 06 in something that would say we're going to reach into 07 the younger population? 08 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Reach into the education 09 community. I'm sure Dr. Estelle Lit is very well 10 versed in that particular area. 11 DON LARSON: We have quite a few scholars on our 12 Board too and, as well as, you know, the local 13 community crowd. So, we have a very diverse group 14 already in place. 15 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: And if you put it in 16 writing, that's even better because then it also serves 17 as a model for other neighborhood councils and also 18 strengthens that within the whole area. 19 DON LARSON: I agree. I agree with that. 20 Absolutely. 21 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Okay. Thank you. 22 FEMALE SPEAKER: I have a point of clarification 23 on that, Commissioner Longoria. You're talking about 24 reaching out specifically to the youth or to those who 25 are involved in the education of the youth?

0064 01 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Actually, both. 02 FEMALE SPEAKER: Maybe you could be clearer on 03 that. 04 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. Not only -- and I'm 05 sure that you understand that it is not only to the 06 education community but also to -- just a minute. Let 07 me read what they sent me here -- but also to the 08 students. Definitely to the students. They're the 09 ones that are going implement what we do. 10 DON LARSON: I think you wait till you meet a few 11 of our people here tonight. You'll see. 12 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Okay. 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Lucente? 14 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yes sir. Thank you Mr. 15 President. We've heard from many neighborhood council 16 presentations, you know, throughout the city, and I'm 17 interested in -- I'm wondering if any of the other 18 board members are here tonight and whether they might 19 be willing to address the commission relative to the 20 purpose of, you know, what the goals, objectives of 21 this neighborhood council is. I don't -- I'm 22 not -- I'm having a rather incomplete, you know, 23 feeling about what this particular neighborhood council 24 is particularly in light of. You know, it would be one 25 of the smallest that we've -- if not, the smallest that

0065 01 we've certified. I don't have any real, you know, 02 sense of the community, basically. So -- and I'm still 03 waiting to here how this is Old Northridge versus 04 Northridge because everybody seems to keep calling it 05 Northridge. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We still have about 15 07 people who have signed up to speak on the items. 08 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Well, from the -- and if 09 those are the board members, that's great, but I don't 10 know who you've got there, Mr. President. 11 DON LARSON: Yeah, we do have -- some of our board 12 members are here along with other people. They'll be 13 coming up to speak. Our council sets ourselves aside. 14 The way we've formed ourselves was basically around 15 democracy. We started a vote that was interesting. 16 I'm also the precinct officer for our area, and it was 17 putting a community vote alongside of the other vote 18 that was working. We had a vote a year and a half ago 19 now. That was our first vote. We had 550 people vote 20 in the federal election inside, but then we had this 21 slate vote that happened where I had spent a year 22 beforehand doing that. We had 750 people vote in that 23 election. That was the kind of democracy we want to 24 share. We have something to say about that in Old 25 Northridge, and it's a mechanism for us to kind of

0066 01 culturally meet people, greet people, work with others, 02 bring them into this idea of democracy. That's our 03 issue. All right? Our second issue is really around 04 culture. How we paint? How we live together? It's 05 the -- its the art part of it, and we have an 06 interesting community that may not be the wealthiest 07 community but is rich in other talents. We recognize 08 those talents. We bring those things up. Our third 09 point that we have, as a group, is what we call a 10 sidewalk-to-sidewalk idea. From this side of the 11 sidewalk to that side of the sidewalk, everything in 12 between that street, those tree lanes, that's kind of 13 our job to make sure that somebody in a wheelchair can 14 get through all of that because there are people in my 15 community in wheelchairs, my friends, and I kind of 16 have a commitment to make sure the trees are away, the 17 people will movie effectively. They won't get hurt. 18 It's a sidewalk-to-sidewalk idea. It makes the street 19 our own, if we want to take care of that street, live 20 on that street together. So, we have three -- those 21 three main points as to why we are Old Northridge. I 22 think I would like to if you're ready for this and we 23 have a lot of people here waiting. There are some 24 people with families here that I know need to go home 25 too. If you want to, we'll open this up for --

0067 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Let's see if we have 02 any other questions first before we do that. 03 Commissioner Woods Gray? 04 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I'd like to -- I like 05 the size of your neighborhood council. 06 DON LARSON: Thank you. 07 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: In that one of my main 08 concerns is outreach and the involvement of all stake 09 holders in the neighborhood council, and I think that 10 you have an opportunity to demonstrate for other 11 councils how it can be done because of that size, and 12 as people come up to speak, I'd like to also hear about 13 the outreach that took place in the formation of your 14 council and how you plan to continue to outreach to 15 underserved groups. 16 DON LARSON: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Are there any other 18 questions? Seeing none, then let's move to the public 19 hearing portion of the application. We'll start on a 20 two-minute clock with Sharon Moran followed by Bernardo 21 Soto and Patricia Prestie. 22 SHARON MORAN: Good evening. My name is Sharon 23 Moran, and I'm here representing myself and my husband 24 and my three children. We have lived in Northridge for 25 almost 25 years, and we are absolutely 100 percent in

0068 01 support of the certification of the Old Northridge 02 Neighborhood Council. Don and I have been friends. 03 Our children have gone to school together. I work at 04 the school where his children attend, and as far as 05 outreach is concerned, I think Don is doing a great 06 job. You know, our web site is up. He walks -- his 07 sidewalk-to-sidewalk approach is one of the most 08 important things, I think, in our neighborhood council 09 in that he walks the neighborhood, and we all try to 10 get involved and walk the neighborhood. I see many of 11 my neighbors here. We passed the fliers out, and we 12 just really, really are hoping that Old Northridge can 13 also be certified, and this will work for us. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Bernardo 15 Soto. Now I'm going to ask everybody to hold the 16 applause so we can move through the speakers quickly. 17 Bernardo Soto, Patricia Prestie, and John Santori. 18 BERNARDO SOTO: Thank you for the opportunity. I 19 like the idea of the Old Northridge, not because of the 20 name, but because of the smaller community. Because if 21 we're going to go to our neighborhood and Northridge as 22 a whole it's totally different from one different 23 areas, and it's almost impossible to really have a 24 committee that can know the whole Northridge that can 25 even understand the other parts of Northridge. What we

0069 01 have here we have as I said -- as he was mentioned, a 02 community that is all old. The community is not a rich 03 community. We have a very mixed -- we have Koreans. 04 We have Chinese. We have Latins. We have all kind of 05 people, Indians, you name it, and we also have some 06 rich people, some very poor people, some educated 07 people, and some -- and a lot of noneducated people, 08 and we have problems that only -- you know, that I 09 guess the rest of Northridge does not have. We have a 10 problem here with the drug and graffiti. We have a 11 problem with people who live in the area who are Latin 12 and who -- they're not -- they're not well versed in 13 the English language, and because of that, it creates a 14 problem that they have no knowledge of the laws, no 15 knowledge of our system, and no knowledge of where to 16 get any information on any help that they may need, and 17 I think in this idea of the sidewalk-to-sidewalk we are 18 able to reach these people, and hopefully, after 19 reaching these people that we have a city to help us 20 take care of whatever the problem existing. Because 21 it's no good for me to go out and find out problems 22 existing over there if I'm not going to have any backup 23 from anybody else, but first, we have to find the 24 problems and I think then a smaller community is easier 25 for all of us, at least for me, because I don't

0070 01 have -- 02 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. I'm going to ask 03 you to wrap it up. 04 BERNARDO SOTO: -- all day to go down looking for 05 people, and that's why I would like very much for the 06 Council to understand that and therefore to approve our 07 application. Thank you. 08 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Patricia La 09 Prestie, John Santori, and Jade Christensen. 10 FEMALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible) 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. John Santori, 12 Jade Christensen followed by Mark Brownstein. 13 JOHN SANTORI: I'm an old time Northridger. My 14 family moved here in '32. So, when he was talking 15 about citrus, a lot of the old Italians here had 16 grapevines going there and made a lot of nice wine 17 here, but regardless, I just want to say on behalf this 18 is quite of an informative meeting. I'm a retired 19 banker and don't hold that against me because that's a 20 thing of the past, but we're so fortunate in our 21 neighborhood. In fact, Northridge to have someone as 22 wonderful as Don Larson and his associate to represent 23 the people on behalf of the basic fundamentals of what 24 living in Northridge or any committee like it has to 25 offer. It's a blessing. And to watch some old dirt

0071 01 streets to what it use to be and watch as the 02 celebrities come up the old dirt street in Parthenia in 03 horse and buggy, and we're talking about the 04 celebrities here, the movie stars, Barbara (Inaudible) 05 you go right down the line what use to be and how it's 06 changed, but it's always changed in no way except 07 togetherness here. People like himself just brought 08 this about here, and I raised our family, went to 09 school -- all through school here, and we seen it grow. 10 Years ago we didn't have too much of a strong Chamber 11 of Commerce and our (Inaudible) Club had a lot to do 12 with getting the University of California Northridge 13 here and the school parks and everything else, but 14 everybody seems to work together, and it's a pleasure 15 and really you've been very informative what little I 16 understand about what's going on, but anyway, thanks 17 and it's a pleasure being here. Thank you, Don on 18 behalf of everybody else. Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Jade 20 Christensen, Mark Brownstein, and Elizabeth Antos. 21 JADE CHRISTENSEN: I urge approval of the Old 22 Northridge Council and application for bylaws. I've 23 lived in Northridge as a homeowner since 1969, came to 24 the university in 1968. I have attended all but one of 25 the Old Northridge Council organizational meetings in

0072 01 the last few years held by Don Larson and his fine 02 team. I've been impressed with the cohesiveness and 03 the dedication of the members. If our application is 04 approved, we will be able to make a major contribution 05 to this neighborhood through special events and 06 community gatherings. 07 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Mark 08 Brownstein, Elizabeth Antos, and Charles Ramos. 09 MARK BROWNSTEIN: I'm a resident of 10 Northridge also -- 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Excuse me. Everyone 12 who comes up to the microphone tonight if you could 13 please state your name, that will be very helpful. 14 MARK BROWNSTEIN: I'm Mark Brownstein. I'm a 15 resident of Northridge. I hope to be a stake holder 16 once the application is approved. I urge the approval 17 of the application. I want to point out one other 18 thing about the variance. I'm not a historian so I 19 can't really comment on part three of the conditions 20 for variance, but there are some things -- it says here 21 the area is separated from adjacent communities by 22 significant geographic or other features. I suggest 23 that the Aliso Canyon Wash which is used to define the 24 west and the north boundaries be considered a 25 significant geographic feature. Also, to the north of

0073 01 us -- north of Nordhoff between Lindley and roughly 02 Reseda is Cal State Northridge. That also would be 03 significant geographic feature that separates us from 04 the communities to the north. On the east from -- 05 between Nordhoff and Parthenia and possibly south for a 06 few blocks is Sherwood Forest which, if you've driven 07 through both areas, you'll see is significantly 08 different from the Old Northridge area. I again urge 09 you to approve the application by Old Northridge. 10 Also, one last thing. You ask about outreach. Don has 11 been tireless in his outreach. He's taped things to my 12 car window. He's come to my house many times. I have 13 attended a few of the Old Northridge meetings. I've 14 been impressed by the vision and the drive that Don has 15 brought to the process, and I know that if it's 16 approved we will do some good things. Thank you. 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Elizabeth Antos, 18 Charles Ramos, and Sandra Curtis. 19 ELIZABETH ANTOS: I'm Elizabeth Antos and what I 20 really want to talk about really quickly is the art. 21 Don is -- has done amazing things in the past several 22 years with Art Block and bringing the community 23 together and getting the artists that live in the 24 community involved and displaying their work, and we 25 have music, and we have food, and everybody gets to

0074 01 know each other, and I feel really close to the 02 community even though I just rent an apartment. I'm 03 not a homeowner, but I love where I live, and I love 04 what he's doing, and I love that we're getting really 05 involved with the community, and I think it's really 06 important because I remember when kids use to play on 07 the streets, and you don't see kids on the streets 08 anytime, I mean, like playing, you know, little kids. 09 They're in the house. They're on the computer. 10 They're watching TV. And I think that smaller councils 11 like this with the message that Don is trying to 12 project about art and togetherness and community 13 involvement is really going to help inspire these kids 14 to do good in their lives and art, and I hope I'm 15 making sense, but that's really coming from my heart so 16 thank you. I hope that you approve our petition. 17 Thank you. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. 19 CHARLIE RAMOS: Good evening, my name is Charlie 20 Ramos, and I have lived in - Don's the owner of the 21 building in which I reside in. The name is (Inaudible) 22 and I've been -- I've lived there for ten years. I've 23 known Don for 15 years, and ever since I've known him, 24 Don has always been a mover and a shaker, and I have 25 definitely learned a lot from him in the past, and

0075 01 I'm -- it's an exciting time for me since now I'm out 02 of school, finally out of Sea Sun, and we're going to 03 be doing a number of community events. A new one for 04 --- to touch on the multi cultural issue would be Dia 05 de los Muertos, which is on the 2nd of November. It 06 is -- has not been celebrated or organized as a show or 07 as an event in the Northridge Community in the past. I 08 know it has in San Fernando -- the City of San 09 Fernando, but we're bringing it to Northridge now. So 10 that will be a new event going on in November, as well 11 as, we got the Art Block going. I'm also an artist and 12 a musician, so we'll be -- we'll be using that 13 to -- we'll be using the art definitely for like 14 community outreach. I'm also student-teaching right 15 now at San Fernando High School and Granada Hills High 16 School. So, the 17 and under student population that 17 take up 35 percent of the area is definitely in my -- 18 on my mined and in my future efforts to help build our 19 communities for a better tomorrow. Thank you 20 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Sandra Curtis, 21 Solomon Sturgis, and Dorothy Boburge. 22 FEMALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible) 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Solomon Sturgis, 24 Dorothy Boburge, and Peter Mekel. 25 SOLOMON STURGIS: I don't know what I'm in for.

0076 01 My name is Solomon Sturgis. I live on Rand. I've 02 lived there for 16, 17, 18 years. One of the oldest 03 houses (Inaudible) and the highest (Inaudible) tree 04 around the valley. But what I like what Don's doing 05 about that lot that he wants to make a park. I think 06 it's a grand idea because you got so many kids around 07 there and no place for them to play except in the 08 street and these short yards, and when balls fly, kids 09 go after them, and we got yahoos around there that 10 speed, and they like to miss the lights, and they miss 11 the stop signs, and I had a stroke so I got to try to 12 walk around a lot, and I've gotten close to clipped a 13 lot of times. So, I think the park would be a grand 14 idea. Thank you. 15 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Dorothy 16 Boburge, Peter Mekel, and -- 17 DOROTHY BOBURGE: I already spoke. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Sarah Donner or 19 Doner. 20 PETER MEKEL: I'm (Inaudible) Pete, and I'm part 21 of this (Inaudible) and basically I am in full support 22 of this. I think -- and I don't want to (Inaudible) 23 this, but you take events that happened to this country 24 and then you go to us where we can be a small community 25 and be involved. I think that's one of the most

0077 01 important things that we're running into here is that 02 everything is getting lost because of this big huge 03 hand that's got a control of everybody instead of 04 letting smaller communities like this take control of 05 what's going on around us, and basically, direct it the 06 way that we want it to happen instead of people coming 07 and telling us, hey, this is what has to happen to you. 08 This is what you have to do. I understand there's 09 rules, there's regulations, things that need to be 10 followed, and I think everything that Don and this 11 group of people represent is that we're willing to work 12 with rules and regulations, but we really want to come 13 in and say, hey, this is our community. We care about 14 it. We want to reach out to the diversity. We want to 15 reach out to everybody in there and say, hey, you're 16 part of our community. You have input. Let's get 17 together and work instead of getting and fighting with 18 one another, and we've done a really good job of 19 staying open with people. We don't always agree on 20 each others ideas, but hey, we're not fighting with one 21 another. We are actually helping one another, and I 22 think that's what it boils down too. Thank you. 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. All right. 24 Again, let's hold the applause till a little later on. 25 Luke McGowan, Sarah Doner, and Bobbi Feedler.

0078 01 LUKE MCGOWAN: Hi, I'm Luke McGowan. I'm just 02 here to give my support for Don. I think it's great 03 what he's doing. The outreach is amazing. The 04 sidewalk idea is great. The issue about children under 05 the age group under 17 -- it's amazing how these Art 06 Block events are bringing children together, and 07 they're playing, and they're having fun. Thank you. 08 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Sarah 09 Doner, Bobbi Feedler, and Margaret Thompson. 10 SARAH DONER: Hi, I'm Sarah Doner. I want to 11 strongly urge you to approve our application because I 12 think that if any -- if there is a chance that any 13 community can be involved in politics and really good 14 together, I think that ours can do it because it's 15 small and because we have Don that's willing to go out 16 and talk to every single person, and I think that will 17 really make it effective, and I've been to a lot of the 18 meetings, and I think that we make a lot of progress, 19 so I think that we -- you should approve our 20 application. Thank you. 21 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Bobbi 22 Feedler, Margaret Thompson, and Neil Buckman. 23 BOBBI FEEDLER: Members of the Commission, Mr. 24 President, I'd like to say to you that I'm a neighbor 25 of this particular community. I've had privilege of

0079 01 working with Don and his friends and neighbors who have 02 worked with him. He is really an extraordinary person, 03 as you've heard every comment. He is a true leader. 04 He's the kind of person that makes things happen and 05 brings other people into the fold. What he is 06 accomplishing in a community that normally would not 07 have much of a voice because it's heavily apartment. 08 They've described to you more the geography and the 09 makeup of this particular community. It's not the kind 10 of community that ordinarily has a political voice, and 11 he's brought that voice, and he's helped to act as a 12 reflection of the needs of that particular community. 13 I think he's done an outstanding job. He's had the 14 help of a number of other people, but this particular 15 council is going to be the kind of council that you 16 will point to with pride because of it's 17 accomplishments and because of the nature of the 18 feeling behind -- every person that stepped up to this 19 podium today has talked about how they feel about their 20 community. This is the kind of thing that you want to 21 have happen all over the city, and I strongly endorse 22 it, support it. I will do anything that I can to see 23 that they help get the resources that are necessary as 24 I know that you will. Thanks. 25 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Margaret

0080 01 Thompson, Neil Bucknam, and Irwin Cohen. 02 MARGARET THOMPSON: I'm Margaret Thompson. I'm a 03 professor (Inaudible) of Sea Sun. I use to do research 04 in LA County and City on all the community coordinating 05 councils in order to get the data for those councils to 06 work on preventing crime and delinquency. For 30 years 07 my spiritual home has been here in Northridge even 08 though my physical home is over there in Woodland 09 Hills. I'm hoping that one particular attention be 10 paid by the Commission to the issue of the two 11 Northridge Councils and the -- I keep losing track of 12 which one is called what, I must admit, but the larger 13 one at this point, so we say, Northridge the older -- 14 that all the work that has been done by that council be 15 recognized and that everything possible be done to 16 expedite their certification. They have done 17 everything that one could imagine to set forth both the 18 principles of coordinating councils or neighborhood 19 councils as well as putting enormous effort into trying 20 to gain the outreach and involvement of all sorts of 21 people here. The major reason I came this evening, 22 however, was specifically regarding the issue of how 23 you resolve some of the differences, and as I listen to 24 what's happening, I note that somehow we've lost track 25 a little bit of what neighborhood councils are about.

0081 01 We concern ourselves much with the structure of the 02 councils. We forget the purpose of the councils. I 03 encourage you that as these issues come up that their 04 be a return to what is a purpose of a neighborhood 05 council in order to resolve the disparities and 06 problems that exist. One of these, incidentally, also 07 relates to the issue of indemnification. I'm a little 08 puzzled as to how the current Northridge Council we're 09 hearing right now has managed to eliminate the 10 indemnification clause while at the same time we have a 11 letter from the Mayor to Mr. Garcetti requesting that 12 insurance be provided for neighborhood council members. 13 Why on earth would you eliminate such a clause, or why 14 should Venice have done so if that is the intent of the 15 Mayor and of the City Attorney. I would like to point 16 out that if this is not done then people be aware of 17 the implications of all the answers that DONE has given 18 to the issue of indemnification. To answer that you 19 have no right to put this in your bylaws is 20 questionable. Secondly, to say that you don't need 21 these is foolhardy. Anyone who has ever worked in any 22 government agency all these years as many of us have 23 are aware that whenever there is legal representation 24 of an entity that is exactly who is represented, the 25 entity, even though the person or the subgroup may be

0082 01 the apparent client at that time. Secondly, the issue 02 of these persons representing individuals will come not 03 from the individuals' perspective but from overriding 04 pattern. Certainly, the pattern that's been set forth 05 in many of the regulations that are brought out is 06 using (Inaudible) of city government or state or county 07 or federal government, not neighborhood councils. 08 We're sounding as though the determinations of any 09 council is finally determinative. That is not true. 10 This is not a law passing body. This is an advisory 11 body. Hopefully, it is a communication system, not 12 simply a final answer system, and so looking at that 13 then, I ask you to again return to issues such as 14 representation, legal indemnification, and not 15 incidentally pretend that legal representation is the 16 same as liability protection. That's certainly not the 17 case (Inaudible) grievances in the university for many 18 years and have many opportunities to look at the 19 differences in those two situations. The final point 20 I'd like to make is the issue of town hall. 21 Presumably, neighborhood councils is to restore the 22 notion of participative and direct democracy. Town 23 hall is one of the most direct democracy forms I know 24 of, and yet that is being procluded in favor of the 25 (Inaudible) of representative and restrictive

0083 01 controlling body which most vote under a very rigid set 02 of rules that is no longer participative in (Inaudible) 03 precludes many to demand that Robert's Rules be used it 04 is a tool that's used in many, many places throughout 05 the whole country to prohibit and prevent people from 06 participating because they don't know all the ins and 07 outs of all the glorious motions that one can produce. 08 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Under our rules, we're 09 at a two-minute limit each. 10 MARGARET THOMPSON: Okay. I will then cease. 11 Thank you. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Okay. Neil 13 Bucknam, Irwin Cohen, and Estelle Lit. 14 IRWIN COHEN: I'm Irwin Cohen. Mr. President, 15 I've already spoken. 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. 17 NEIL BUCKNAM: Yes, my name is Neil Bucknam, and 18 thank you for letting me speak. Raising a family here 19 in Northridge: Three children, my wife. They attend 20 school. Some of them attend school with Don. Mrs. 21 Moran is the librarian at their school. I grew up 22 here. My father built a house on Lindley and Rand. 23 We're living in that house raising a second generation 24 there, and I just wanted to say I'm a (Inaudible) also 25 and this has been a unique opportunity. It's easy for

0084 01 somebody that's been in the neighborhood and has come 02 back to a neighborhood to point to what's changed and 03 look at the negativity of it, and I've been guilty of 04 that. But what's happened is Don walking around, 05 talking about our community, cleaning up the sidewalks 06 doing the simple things. Just the straighforward 07 things that brings a neighborhood together has brought 08 us together, and our voices have united. I'm a 09 engineer at JPL. I went to Cal State Northridge and 10 graduated from Cal State Northridge. I attended school 11 in Northridge. Certainly, I'm a stake holder. Living 12 next to the 400 pound gorilla of Cal State Northridge 13 -- Mr. Lucente had asked, What is the definition of 14 what this -- of what we're trying to attain? We're 15 trying to grab back a community. We're surrounded by 16 what Mark had said was Cal State Northridge. 17 Certainly, the different demographic of Sherwood Forest 18 but complementary. A historical nature to Northridge, 19 which I truly appreciate. I use to throw rocks at that 20 (Inaudible) down there. That's gone. It's 21 disappeared, but I remember it, and those things are 22 here. The walnut trees are still here, if you look for 23 them. The orange trees are still here. Cal State 24 Northridge still has vestiges of them, but the spirit 25 is still here also, and there's a lot of history. If

0085 01 you look at the Cal State Northridge web site which has 02 a pictorial history of this area, you'll see a few 03 streets that are on there from 1912, and they look just 04 like that map. So, there's a lot of history here. Don 05 grew up here. I don't know if you said exactly how 06 long your families been here, but Mr. Santori -- I 07 don't know if he remembers it, but my brother dated one 08 of his daughters. We really care but, you know, we 09 don't talk to each other. We haven't talked to each 10 other until Don started the effort. So, I appreciate 11 your time, and I hope you approve this. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Estelle Lit and 13 Steve (Inaudible) okay. All right. That concludes the 14 public hearing. Don is there anything you'd like to 15 say in final wrap up? 16 DON LARSON: Thank you very much for coming out to 17 see us. I hope you will approve our certification 18 application tonight, and again all my neighbors thank 19 you for coming, and when we're done here, we're all 20 going to go to (Inaudible) for a little pizza and beer. 21 MALE SPEAKER: Are you buying? 22 DON LARSON: Yeah, I'm buying and you're welcome 23 to come too. 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: All right. We might 25 have some questions. Don, before you leave the

0086 01 microphone, we do want you to agree or to respond to 02 the question of removing the indemnification clause on 03 Artical 13. 04 DON LARSON: Yeah, I had agreed to that before. 05 That was something that we -- 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I just need -- we need 07 you to do that on the microphone. That's all. 08 DON LARSON: Yeah, that's -- I agreed to that 09 earlier. 10 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. All right. 11 Commissioner comments. Commissioner Longoria? 12 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: No, let's go ahead and 13 pass right now. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Commissioner 15 (Inaudible) 16 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: I think you have a very 17 good application. I appreciate reading it. It 18 provided me with a couple of smiles, but I do have a 19 problem with the police department being part of 20 maintaining order and something -- the spirit of 21 participation opened -- opened us (Inaudible) people 22 and since this is part -- it's institutionalized in 23 your bylaws. I would like to take a look at that. I 24 think that to have that stated there that -- that the 25 police department are going to be there, and this is

0087 01 going to be their role to throw people out is something 02 which I think we need to take a look at because that's 03 what it says in your bylaws. Now, if you want to have 04 somebody who is -- and there's a name for it. I forget 05 it. Somebody who -- 06 MALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible) 07 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Thank you (Inaudible) 08 whatever you want to call it. You know, that that 09 would suit, but I'm really having a problem with the 10 police department -- 11 DON LARSON: I agree. I saw that too, and it's a 12 lit bit of a problem for me too (Inaudible) 13 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: (Inaudible) 14 DON LARSON: (Inaudible) we're really about. 15 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. 16 DON LARSON: And I think that we were looking at 17 other people's -- yeah, we will -- we volunteered to 18 amend it as we've stated. 19 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Okay. I think what I 20 would like to ask, Mr. President, if the city attorney 21 give us an explanation because there is an explanation. 22 We'll probably be asked to have the indemnification 23 clause removed so people understand this isn't 24 something which puts the people participating at risk. 25 DARREN MARTINEZ: The reason basically is the city

0088 01 is the indemnifying party. As the neighborhood 02 council, you nor the Board has the ability to say what 03 the City is required to do. Normally when you do see 04 bylaws and corporate bylaws that's because the 05 corporation itself or that public entity is 06 indemnifying agent. Here we have a body of law in the 07 City of Los Angeles that does deal with the issue of 08 indemnification. Bylaws, therefore, are in an 09 appropriate or inappropriate for this area. The -- I 10 think -- I think that -- does that address your 11 question sufficiently? 12 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: That's fine. 13 DARREN MARTINEZ: Okay. 14 FEMALE SPEAKER 1: May I make a suggestion for 15 clarification and that would be that that section be 16 consistent with the Charter of the City of Los Angeles? 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I think at this point 18 what we're asking is that the section on 19 indemnification be -- just be stricken from the bylaws 20 as an -- which is what Don has agreed to at this point. 21 FEMALE SPEAKER 2: I just (Inaudible) to see him 22 do that (Inaudible) 23 FEMALE SPEAKER 1: That's the point. The City 24 will provide that. 25 FEMALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible)

0089 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Are there any 02 other comments? Commissioner Woods Gray? 03 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: This has been -- it has 04 been fun listening to you make the presentation. It's 05 been a little different, but it's been fun in that I 06 need to know where the pizza place is. When you have 07 all of those events that you're going to have and the 08 Art Walk and all, be sure to let us know because it 09 sounds so exciting, and it will be a lot of fun to come 10 to. And the involvement of future teachers, I salute 11 you, and we need you. I hope that you plan to come and 12 teach in Los Angeles and the involvement of -- the 13 possibility of involving you I think is -- I really am 14 looking forward to that, and I enjoyed reading these 15 bylaws as I was trying to figure out who all these 16 different groups were, you know, the (Inaudible) and 17 all that. You made it fun for us. 18 DON LARSON: Thank you. 19 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: And I wish you good luck 20 with your neighborhood council. 21 DON LARSON: Thank you very much. 22 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Stone? 23 COMMISSIONER STONE: Thank you, Mr. President. 24 Mr. Larson, I wanted to commend you for your passion 25 and as evidenced by what so many of your fellow

0090 01 residents said about your efforts here, and it's very 02 impressive. I did have one concern that came up a 03 little bit in the discussion, and that was the outreach 04 to the Latino community given that the population in 05 your proposed neighborhood council was over 50 percent 06 Latino. I'd like to just make sure that you know that 07 I have a concern that I'd like to see you -- the pizza 08 and beer is good thing for tonight, but I would say 09 first thing tomorrow morning, as part of your continued 10 outreach, I'd like to see you make a very strong effort 11 to reach out to that community, work with the 12 department on translation and ways to do that. But I'd 13 like to make sure that you know that that's something 14 that is of interest to me. 15 DON LARSON: It is to us too, believe me. 16 COMMISSIONER STONE: Thank you. 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Commissioner 18 Lucente? 19 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yeah, I just was looking 20 for a couple of clarifications from staff. Romerol had 21 referred to shared thoroughfares? And I am seeking 22 clarification on where that -- where that is because 23 obviously if we certify these -- you know, there's a 24 situation where I think we need to be very clear what 25 we're certifying.

0091 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Parthenia and Reseda 02 both as thoroughfares going through the neighborhood 03 council area. 04 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Right. But why were those 05 referred to as shared boundaries? 06 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: The idea was that the 07 Northridge Neighborhood Council would have their 08 boundaries and their boundaries would include those 09 thoroughfares as well as those thoroughfares appearing 10 in the map of -- of the old Northridge. 11 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So, the -- let me -- 12 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: (Inaudible) 13 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So this is in the middle of 14 the other neighborhood council application? 15 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: Yes. It's south of it. It 16 ends up looking like a finger -- I'm sorry -- an 17 extension. Oh, careful. 18 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So -- so, that is not 19 consistent with what we've done in the past? 20 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: This would be breaking new 21 ground. This would definitely be breaking new ground. 22 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So, I just want to make it 23 clear that what -- should we vote to certify this 24 neighborhood council that we would be precluded from 25 including those other areas in any other neighborhood

0092 01 council? I mean, we could possibly include the street, 02 but it would not be the businesses on both sides. I 03 believe that is absolutely inconsistent with anything 04 we've done before. 05 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: You may also -- you may also 06 find that it -- there's a problem with compacting 07 contiguous -- 08 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Well, yeah, I would think 09 so. So, you know, it's not, I mean, you know, we're 10 here to be straightforward and honest about this, and I 11 don't think we should lead anybody on to think that 12 that is likely to occur in the absence of any, you 13 know, big change, I guess, in our boundaries issues 14 and -- 15 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: If the commission -- if the 16 commission would allow, I believe that Northridge would 17 like to at least state their rationale wishing to have 18 it shared. 19 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Well, everybody wishes to 20 state their rationale. Romerol, we've heard that at a 21 number of hearings, but you know, again, we're seeking 22 clarification on the language that we're -- that is put 23 before us, obviously. So, I think everybody does state 24 their rationale, you know, always; but we're bound by 25 that -- bound by that language and the interpretation

0093 01 thus far as I think we voted on. So that just -- I 02 just wanted to clarify that. Secondly, can you just 03 point out -- does this -- is this immediately adjacent 04 to Cal State Northridge? I just wanted to clarify 05 that. 06 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: Yes, it is. 07 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So -- so is that -- because 08 that is a public entity that can be shared. So, is 09 that included in this Old Northridge or is there any -- 10 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: It' outside. 11 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: So, there's no desire -- 12 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: Yes, it's outside the 13 boundaries. 14 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Okay. So, there's 15 no -- that could be included in these boundaries as a 16 shared entity if it so desires. It was just not put 17 forth that way. Okay. And then -- thanks for that 18 clarification, and then finally, in the past 19 applications that we've received or recent applications 20 we've received over the last three weeks, we've had 21 maps that indicated where the signatories were, and 22 that was not included in this packet. 23 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: The -- given the pace at which 24 we're preparing these and the staff limitations, we are 25 reserving the mapping of signatures for those cases

0094 01 where there's strong disagreement in the community, and 02 it's simply because the staff can't turn them out. 03 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Okay. I would just say that 04 that's -- you know, the way I've been using that is -- 05 you know, it's been really helpful in explaining or 06 validating outreach in the community, and in this 07 particular situation where -- where the staff 08 themselves had -- you, yourselves, have indicated 09 certain issues with outreach specifically west of 10 Reseda, I believe, that, you know, that might be -- in 11 that situation it might be really helpful. So, you 12 kind of established a high threshold there which we're 13 retreating from unfortunately. So -- anyway that -- 14 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: You will see them in cases 15 where there's disputed area. Absolutely, you'll see it 16 in those cases, but until the balance of the staff gets 17 on board, we just don't have the capacity. 18 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: I understand. Thank you 19 very much. 20 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Commissioner 21 Herrera Duran? 22 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I wanted to reiterate 23 and support Commissioner Stone in his statements about 24 the outreach. I had intended to talk about that. I 25 also wanted to remind people that when we're finished

0095 01 with outreach to people who are walking around, we also 02 have the homebound, and we have a lot of other people 03 who we have to find a way of getting them and helping 04 them to participate. Those who are not usually asked 05 for. I'm not sure how you will do it. It's not 06 mentioned in your bylaws about proxy votes or anything 07 else, but that's up to you, but just remember one of 08 the long-term goals, but not too long-term, would be 09 getting those who have not had the opportunity in the 10 past to participate. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Any other 12 comment from the Commission? 13 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I do not understand 14 the issue that Commissioner Lucente brought up related 15 to the shared streets. 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: As I understand, there 17 was an agreement in the mediation that allowed 18 north -- I should say Old Northridge to be carved out 19 of the overall Northridge -- 20 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Right. I understand 21 that. 22 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: -- Neighborhood 23 Council on the basis of the fact that the two major 24 thoroughfares would be part of the -- would be 25 considered shared territory.

0096 01 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: The thoroughfares? 02 Are we back to the issue of the sidewalks and the 03 businesses or the middle of the street or what are we 04 talking about? 05 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Essentially what we're 06 talking about is defining it as narrowly as being the 07 public right of way between the two -- basically, from 08 sidewalk-to-sidewalk as it's been discussed here 09 earlier. Commissioner Longoria? 10 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: It's my 11 understanding -- is it Reseda Boulevard that's the 12 dividing because Reseda Boulevard if you have -- is a 13 thoroughfare with businesses on both sides. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: No, Reseda Boulevard is 15 not -- 16 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Is that what you're 17 talking about? 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: The boundaries are 19 Lindley and Tampa and Nordhoff and Roscoe. The shared 20 area is to be the major thoroughfares, both Reseda and 21 Parthenia, which crosscut the Old Northridge territory, 22 and under the -- under the plan definitions that we've 23 been operating with, the major thoroughfare has been 24 defined as being the public right of way in those 25 situations, not the abutting properties.

0097 01 DARREN MARTINEZ: Darren Martinez, Deputy City 02 Attorney, just perhaps a little bit of advice or 03 suggestion to the Committee. Since we do not have the 04 application or we're not dealing the certified 05 applications for two areas right now, we don't have to 06 necessarily deal with this issue of a shared boundary. 07 That will come up at a later time when we're dealing 08 with the other certified neighborhoodS that should come 09 in, and then we can deal with the shared boundary 10 issue. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: All right. Is there 12 any other comment? If not, I will look for a motion. 13 Commissioner Longoria? 14 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. I move that we 15 certify. In fact (Inaudible) certify the neighborhood 16 -- Old Northridge Neighborhood Council. 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. With the -- with 18 the bylaw changes as agreed to by the applicants. 19 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I second. 20 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Have a motion of 21 second. Any discussion of the motion? I just like to 22 take one second and Don congratulate you for the work 23 that you've put in over the and the last couple of 24 years. I know that the efforts that you've gone to 25 find your neighbors. Many of them are sitting out here

0098 01 tonight and in support of this application, and I hope 02 that you'll continue that outreach to the other groups 03 that we've talked about tonight and to the rest of the 04 community that will be formally known in the future as 05 Old Northridge, and with that, I will call the 06 question. Commissioner Lucente? 07 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yes. 08 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Stone? 09 COMMISSIONER STONE: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Woods 11 Gray? 12 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Yes. 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Herrera 14 Duran? 15 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Yes. 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Longoria? 17 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: And I, yes, and No. 14 19 is now in the books. Thank you all. And we will take 20 a two minute break and come back on the rest of the 21 agenda. Where did we lose our general manager? Greg? 22 Yo, Greg? We're back. We'd like to discuss the staff 23 report regarding the definition of "worker." 24 GREG NELSON: Yes, Mr. President and Board 25 members. We have in issue before us that is both an

0099 01 issue that is specific to one application, the Granada 02 Hills North application and to general city policy, and 03 the issue revolves around the Charter minimum that a 04 stake holder is someone who lives, works, or owns 05 property in the area, and the question has arisen 06 through the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council as 07 to whether or not there can be a further definition of 08 someone who works in an area to allow them to exclude 09 certain people if they are determined to not be workers 10 by a further definition of that. We have realized that 11 the first decision that the Commission has to make is 12 to whether or not it even wants to deal with that issue 13 at all. Do you just want to leave the definition of 14 worker as broad and as open as it can be, or do you 15 want to be able to say that there are certain people 16 who would not be considered a worker in the area? 17 We've talked to the Granada Hills North people. We've 18 talked to our staff and have come up with a suggestion 19 that if you wanted to do this, we on staff would feel 20 comfortable saying that someone who just comes into an 21 area occasionally, briefly, and spends most of their 22 time working some place else would not be -- we would 23 be comfortable with the group saying you don't qualify 24 as a worker in our area, but since that definition 25 involves some vague terms occasionally, briefly,

0100 01 irregularly; we presented another option that is a 02 little bit clearer legally, and that would be that the 03 Board may want to consider a definition of this as 04 saying that if you wanted to require that a person be a 05 worker only if they spend a majority of their work time 06 in the area that that would be another possibility. 07 So, we offer that up to the Board to begin a discussion 08 of this issue. 09 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. We have two 10 people who would like to be heard on the question. 11 Charles Brink and Mary Edwards. 12 CHARLES BRINK: At the invitation of one of your 13 staff, I actually spent significant time on the 14 Internet looking up the basis of works. The problem is 15 you're not defining worker. The Charter, the language 16 used is, "works in the community." If the Charter 17 said, was a worker within a community, which I thought 18 it said originally before I got into this, it would be 19 very easy because I can find all sorts of Case Law of 20 what a worker is, but you have a problem. You first 21 have to state and make a definition that, "works in the 22 community," means is a worker within the community. 23 Then when you jump onto that line, you can take the 24 City Attorney's suggestion and determine amount of time 25 the worker works within the community to be a worker,

0101 01 but the -- again, whoever wrote the Charter (Inaudible) 02 pretty close to it. I don't think really you realize 03 that when you use the vague term "works in the 04 community" is kind of (Inaudible) and I would suggest 05 you make two findings that works in the community means 06 is a worker in the community, and then adopt whatever 07 finding you think is appropriate for the number of 08 hours. I can give you all sorts of citations, the IRS 09 definition, the independent contractor definition. 10 There's thousands of ones, and one the City Attorney 11 just chopped off sounds pretty good to me too, but 12 recognize it's two steps. You got to define "works" 13 meaning as a worker who works, and then define the 14 worker aspect of it. In Northridge, we just simply 15 blindly went for the term "works," and I guess we'll 16 deal with it as people come to our group, but please 17 think -- remember it's worker and works, and works is 18 the Charter. Thank you. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you. Mary? 20 MARY EDWARDS: Good evening. We're not here to 21 try to exclude anyone from the North Granada Hills 22 Council. We really actually would love to have people 23 even -- pool men occasionally come in to our -- who 24 care about the neighborhood. What we're frightened of 25 is that I think what is called the justifiable paranoia

0102 01 that we have that knowing sometimes when a big project 02 is at stake, people will come in and do things -- come 03 in and do things for half an hour a year and be 04 considered a worker, and that would subvert the real 05 intention which is to have recommendations we make come 06 from the heart of the community. It's not an attempt 07 to be exclusive. It's an attempt to be -- as I said, 08 that we have been through things where we've seen 09 people bust in for all kinds of things to -- and say 10 that they represent our community. So, we're just 11 trying to make it so that in the future someone with a 12 huge project -- and especially when money becomes 13 involved -- would not use the loose language to subvert 14 a process which we had hoped would allow us to put many 15 votes out for a whole community which our bylaws would 16 allow but be so protective that only the council makes 17 the decisions rather defer to the larger community 18 which we would like to do; but if that larger community 19 is at risk, then we would feel that we couldn't do 20 that. So, what I'm asking is that if you would say 21 that they would spend them as the recommendation says 22 here. We've worked on this with your good staff, and I 23 think it makes a lot of sense to just say that they 24 spend the majority of their time and that would give us 25 the parameters that we need that would not allow for

0103 01 mischief, and I hate to say that it exists within the 02 city but sometimes sadly it does. So, we would hope 03 that you would just help us get a over this issue and 04 so that we could become a certified council. Thank 05 you. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Thank you Mary. Okay. 07 Commissioner comment? Commissioner Stone? 08 COMMISSIONER STONE: Before we get -- or before I 09 would make any comments, I would like to hear from the 10 City Attorney's office on the proposed language here 11 and our ability to act to make a definition to 12 something that's in the ordinance in the plan and in 13 the Charter. 14 DARREN MARTINEZ: Well, certainly that is 15 something that you have the ability to set as the 16 policy in interpreting the plan and the ordinance. 17 It's up to you basically if you do want to go down the 18 path of defining it, leaving it undefined. Basically, 19 what you would like to do with the term perhaps give 20 some structure or guidance to the councils or councils 21 that are forming with definitions or guidance, and we 22 don't have a comment necessarily one way or another 23 with regard to the language that has been proposed by 24 the department. That's basically their suggestion or 25 advice, and we don't have -- the City Attorney's office

0104 01 doesn't have an opinion one way or another with respect 02 to whatever language is chosen. 03 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Commissioner 04 Herrera Duran? 05 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I don't like to throw 06 (Inaudible) in here, but when we talk about works, are 07 we talking about paid employment? A worker who is paid 08 irrespective of whether it's consultant or whatever? 09 What are we talking about when we -- and I know it's in 10 the Charter and so forth, but we haven't really defined 11 that. We just -- is it somebody who is coming in and 12 volunteering a lot of time to the community or -- what 13 are -- 14 GREG NELSON: See this is the problem. When we 15 get into these definitions, we can chase it down to the 16 finest point, and we can knock ourselves crazy trying 17 to cover every -- every possibility and -- 18 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: You know I understand 19 perfectly because it's in -- in communities that I've 20 worked in, the fear that people will be bust in or 21 there will be something in which people -- I understand 22 that perfectly because it has happened and -- so I 23 sympathize with that, but what are we talking about? 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I think for the 25 purposes of this discussion, we're talking about

0105 01 defining someone who works in an area as Mr. Brink has 02 clearly pointed out as being someone who is a worker 03 and then defining -- or in my preference would be to 04 define a base line level of participation which all 05 neighborhood councils would have to meet as being 06 roughly 50 percent of work time being spent in a 07 neighborhood council area would qualify you as a stake 08 holder in that community, and then if a neighborhood 09 council wishes to go beyond that to include people who 10 would not qualify necessarily under that definition, 11 that would be at their option. Commissioner Lucente? 12 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Thank you, Mr. President. 13 My -- my concern is that these bylaws for any of these 14 neighborhood councils need to be workable, and frankly, 15 I don't see how anybody is going to be able to validate 16 any of this information, you know? What are you going 17 to do? Have people bring their timecards in, you know, 18 to demonstrate that they worked and within timeframe 19 and within -- you know? I mean, on and on and on. As 20 Greg said, it -- you know, one, you close one door and 21 you open up another. It just becomes more and more and 22 more complex, and I'm afraid that regardless of the 23 language that is -- that is -- or the clarification 24 that's put forth here, that we really are not 25 addressing the court issue that was presented in this

0106 01 Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council application, 02 and that is simply, you know, a great fear of big 03 brother that is next door, and we had this same 04 situation that has come up a number of times, you know, 05 whether it be of the refinery or Toluca Lake deciding 06 that they don't want Universal, you know, Studios to be 07 part of their thing, you know? So, they have the 08 option of not including that area in their neighborhood 09 council. That's also an option that is -- you know, I 10 don't know if that's been explored, but if the 11 fundamental issue is of fear of that employer, then 12 perhaps that employer should not be, you know, included 13 in -- you know, maybe that's an option that can't be 14 explored. I don't know, but I think that the -- for 15 every definition that you come up with, you raise the 16 threshold for trying to validate, you know, the 17 information; and frankly, I don't see how you can do it 18 easily. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I don't know that 20 you're going to be able to validate any of the criteria 21 easily in this situation. How do you prove residency 22 in that situation? How do you prove that you work at 23 all in an area? How do you prove that you own a 24 business in the area? 25 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Well, there's a lot of

0107 01 ways. You know, we've seen where people have come and 02 brought, you know, mail addressed to them or proven -- 03 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: But much of what we're 04 dealing with is some form of self-certification 05 that -- that it will be incumbent upon all of the stake 06 holders to basically self-certify or provide some form 07 of identification that identifies them as the stake 08 holder in a community and that if a dispute arises, 09 then at some point the neighborhood council will have 10 to evaluate those certifications and decide whether, in 11 fact, they are legitimate. 12 GREG NELSON: Mr. President, I may be able to help 13 with that verification issue. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be 14 able to release a draft of the election, what I'm 15 calling "guide book" right now, listing all the things 16 that the department is prepared to do and to help the 17 group with their elections and some legal pitfalls and 18 some options. Now verification is going to be 19 extremely difficult unless you're a group like coastal 20 San Pedro that basically says anyone who has an 21 interest in the area is a stake holder, so you don't 22 have to worry about verification; but for other groups, 23 verification is going to be a problem, and the 24 uniqueness about the elections that we're going to be 25 seeing here is unlike any other elections that we've

0108 01 seen with the CRA, the Housing Authority, the regular 02 governmental elections. We don't know what the voting 03 pool is. There is no way of knowing. So, there always 04 is going to be verification problem. Now, one possible 05 solution to what Commissioner Lucente had asked is, is 06 that you set the standard. Hopefully, at that point, a 07 lot of people who realize that they don't meet that 08 standard will not come and try to vote in the 09 elections, but to the extent that their is a 10 questionable vote, we can use a professional voting 11 mechanism very similar to the ones we see in our 12 governmental elections where the person casts their 13 ballot. If it is questionable as to their stake holder 14 status, they place it in a sealed special envelope and 15 their qualifying information is written on the outside. 16 I am this person. I claim to be a stake holder because 17 I work in the area, and here is how you can verify it, 18 you know? Call my employer. Do this. Do that. They 19 offer up the best information they can. If the 20 election is being over seen by a third party, then that 21 third party has the responsibility within a certain 22 timeframe to try to verify that person's 23 qualifications. Hopefully -- hopefully, there's no 24 professional ballot. So, hopefully, there is just a 25 couple. And I realize that is not a perfect airtight

0109 01 definition because I haven't run across anyone yet who 02 has ever run an election that can come up with one for 03 us. So, the question is how -- how perfect do you want 04 to get on all of this, and it will end up being a 05 policy decision? 06 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Mr. President, what is 07 to keep a neighborhood council like Granada Hills from 08 writing into their bylaws their definition of a worker? 09 Because I kind of agree with Commissioner Lucente in 10 that if we set a policy, everyone has to conform to 11 that. If for some of the people that have already 12 stated is not really a problem for them at this time, 13 so why implement something or put something in place 14 that may not be a real concern or problem for the 15 people, and then once you do put it in place, just as 16 Tony said, you will end up having -- for instance, my 17 housekeeper works at my house one day and somebody 18 else's house in another community one day. Fifty 19 percent of her time is spent at my house. She only 20 works two days a week. So, is she a worker or not in 21 my neighborhood, you know? It becomes like something 22 for people to test that I don't think is necessary. 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Well, at some point 24 what we have to -- there has to be, in my view, a floor 25 underneath where there's a minimum requirement for

0110 01 people who work in the area to be allowed to 02 participate. So, how do you define what that minimum 03 is? Is it spending one hour a week in the area? Is it 04 spending 10 hours a week in the area? Is it spending 05 20 hours a week in the area? If you -- if you pass 06 through on your route somewhere, does that qualify you 07 as working in the area? So, it's a (Inaudible) that 08 we're -- that we're dealing with in trying protect 09 certain people from the fear that they have being 10 overwhelmed by well funded outside interests, to put it 11 one way, and at the same time live up to the Charter 12 language which says that anyone who lives, works, or 13 owns property in an area is entitled to stake holder 14 status. 15 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: So, is there something 16 that would prevent each neighborhood council from 17 establishing a definition of a worker? 18 GREG NELSON: Commissioner, the answer is no. In 19 fact, Granada Hills North has been trying to come up 20 with a definition. We realize that was probably an 21 unfair process to them though. They would come up with 22 a definition. We would take time. We would look at 23 it. Say no. Then they have to go back and think up 24 another one. They come back. We say no. So, what 25 we -- what we said to them is we'd be willing to go

0111 01 before your Board and to see if we could come up with a 02 definition that would become Board policy that they 03 would know would be acceptable and other groups know 04 would be acceptable, and we save everybody a lot of 05 time going back and forth. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: What I'm looking for in 07 that scenario is to find a minimum point where what the 08 minimum requirement would be, and then if anyone wants 09 to go beyond that and allow a broader spectrum of 10 workers, fine. Tony? 11 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yes. We have 52 12 applications before us; is that correct? 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: 53. 14 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: I have 14 -- 53? Okay -- 15 14 of which have been -- 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes. 17 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: -- certified? Fourteen of 18 which didn't have an issue with this particular, you 19 know, definition or lack thereof, and I'd like to know, 20 Greg, how many of those remaining applications have an 21 issue with this other than Granada Hills North? 22 GREG NELSON: I'm going to see if our field staff 23 knows how many others -- I'm not quite sure how many 24 sets of bylaws have been reviewed by the City Attorney 25 or our staff. This was one that arose early because if

0112 01 you remember Granada Hills North was No. 4 on the cue, 02 and this one arose early. You're right. It has not 03 arisen with any of the ones subsequent, and I'm just 04 going to see if anyone has -- has seen this problem 05 with any other applications that they've been 06 reviewing. The staff is ahead of me on reviewing 07 applications, so I'm -- I'm using my lifeline right now 08 is what I'm doing. 09 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: What? The 50/50 or the 10 expert or what? 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Romerol? 12 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: I'm aware that it was an issue 13 in the Westchester application that we just approved 14 last week, and there may be one other one I'm not quite 15 sure about. I don't think it's in relationship to 16 worker. I think it's relationship to the broader 17 definition of stake holder. So, I'm not aware of any 18 others that have surfaced so far, but we are -- we're 19 only at about number 20 in terms of reviewing bylaws. 20 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I think the point 21 that Commissioner Lucente -- I'm very allergic to dust 22 folks and I have to keep something. That's why I'm 23 coughing here. Sorry about that. But on the point 24 that Commissioner Lucente made a few moments ago about 25 what is the basic issue that we're talking about, which

0113 01 is really not the definition of worker but the fear 02 that people have with other people that somebody will 03 come in mass and take over on a specific vote and this 04 sort of thing, and I think that we need to take a look 05 at that and define how we are going to allay those 06 fears because even if it doesn't specifically come up 07 in an application, I've heard this discussed even 08 before we started having the applications come in. 09 This was a fear that we were talking about on the 10 first commission something which we talked about when 11 we were forming the guidelines. We were 12 discussing -- that was one of the main issues of 13 community -- I don't like the word "control" but 14 community -- what word am I looking for? -- that would 15 not be jeopardized or compromised by somebody being 16 able to come in with a group of people, vote, and then 17 leave, and that's not just with workers just with this 18 issue. So, I think we've got -- I think we have a 19 larger issue and a basic issue that Commissioner 20 Lucente mentioned rather than just defining what 21 workers are and how we're going to address that issue. 22 I don't mean to -- I'm terribly allergic to dust 23 (Inaudible) yeah. So, anyway. 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: All right is there any 25 other commissioner comment on the report? Yes.

0114 01 COMMISSIONER STONE: Following on that thought 02 that Commissioner Herrera Duran brought up and 03 Commissioner Lucente, as well, I guess I have a thought 04 that -- if what we're -- I understand what we're trying 05 to do by putting in a definition of worker, but I think 06 our other mechanisms -- we've seen it in play in 07 Westchester and I believe it was Wilmington where 08 Westchester had the same or similar concerns with LAX. 09 Wilmington had it with the port, and they were able to 10 build a structure into -- they involved those groups 11 and were able to build a structure into their bylaws 12 whereby they -- the 800-pound gorilla had a say but 13 only a limited say that they were not able to take over 14 a particular neighborhood council. I guess I would 15 throw it out for -- if we were discussing the Granada 16 Hills North situation and possible ways to have them 17 come back with an application, one of the thoughts 18 would be for them to do the same thing with the 800 19 pound gorilla in their case, and if it doesn't work, if 20 there's a -- if the 800-pound gorilla busses in folks 21 that is not reasonable, there's the boundary adjustment 22 procedure too and what Commissioner Lucente brought up 23 was that area doesn't have to be considered. I'd like 24 to see it be part of the -- of that neighborhood 25 council, and I don't know if we're -- if we should be

0115 01 spending time discussing the particulars of the Granada 02 Hills North. I think that's why this is brought to us. 03 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: It's clearly attached 04 to their application. I think they have already done a 05 revision to their bylaws or contemplated revisions of 06 the bylaws which create a district for the landfill 07 which is euphemistically what we've been referring to 08 the 800-pound gorilla out there such that they have a 09 seat on the Board of directors. I think it's in 10 relation to the other directors to being elected 11 through the neighborhood council that they're concerned 12 about undue influence from the landfill. 13 GREG NELSON: Yeah, I just had to clarify 14 something with the applicant. They actually are 15 dealing with their port and their LAX in a slightly 16 different way, but they've taken care of that. Their 17 concern is more toward the future and some things that 18 don't really totally exist yet and a fear of how those 19 who work in the area might be defined in future 20 situations. 21 (PAUSE IN TAPE) 22 GREG NELSON: (Inaudible) most current draft of 23 the bylaws? Yeah, that was -- they were taking a shot 24 at anyone who works at least 30 hours in an area, and 25 we on staff are having trouble with that, as I

0116 01 mentioned in my report. You know, someone who works 02 just 25 hours part-time, and that's the only place they 03 work, and that's all they do and to say that they're 04 not a worker was a difficult thing for staff. So 05 that's why we tried the other definition. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Well, I think we on the 07 Commission have a choice. Either we can -- we can punt 08 and say we stand by the Charter language that says that 09 anyone who lives, works, or owns property is a stake 10 holder in the community or we can attempt to define the 11 worker status in some other fashion. Is there a 12 concensus on the Commission as to which of those two 13 options we want to pursue? Commissioner Longoria? 14 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: I'm closing down, but 15 anyway, in just listening to both commissioners, I'm in 16 favor of keeping the Charter language and allowing the 17 neighborhood council to come up with their own 18 definition of what a worker is within that area. This 19 way it empowers that community. It defines it's own 20 criteria for what a worker is because they know the 21 community better than we do, and just looking at it 22 superficially, it seems natural that that could happen, 23 but I'm open to other suggestions at this point because 24 I know that we want to move forward with that 25 definition.

0117 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: The primary concern 02 that that raises is one of using the definition to be 03 exclusive in viewing workers and to exclude various 04 classes or categories of workers by limiting the 05 definition too narrowly still gets us back into 06 the -- into having to review their language at some 07 point and decide whether or not their language is 08 inclusive enough to meet the requirement of the 09 Charter. 10 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I was just going to 11 reinforce that. I would have a problem with allowing 12 each one because then we would have -- it would just be 13 all over the -- all over the city with different 14 definitions of what a worker is, and I think it would 15 -- I just don't think it would be appropriate. 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Tony? 17 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yeah, I would certainly 18 lean towards just leaving -- you know, leaving it as it 19 is at the time or at least at this time. I think that, 20 you know, if anything, this -- well, there are a couple 21 thoughts. One is that when these things become so 22 complex that, you know, you're having to deal with 23 things like professional ballots and things like that, 24 it just to me raises all the flags about what these 25 neighborhood councils are suppose to be about in terms

0118 01 of community participation. I mean, we're going to ask 02 volunteers to go through this process? I mean, I can't 03 think of a stronger disincentive, you know, to becoming 04 more involved in your community then having to deal 05 with something like that. Furthermore, I think if one 06 looks at the general population of most of these 07 neighborhood council areas that we've certified to date 08 and the applications that -- that, you know, it would 09 -- one would be (Inaudible) an employer that could, you 10 know, even if they bust in hundreds of workers that 11 they could outpull a community that felt so strongly 12 about one issue. Should that community be, you know, 13 really engaged in issues such as the issue that I might 14 contemplate would come up in an area like Granada Hills 15 North? So, anyway, you know, might be a good process 16 in terms of community participation to go through this 17 test. So I would way in on leaving the language the 18 way it is. 19 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I'd also like 20 to -- to mention -- excuse me. Most of time don't the 21 Board -- I know we had a big issue tonight about the 22 town people, but the way that most neighborhood 23 councils are set up is the Board that makes the 24 decision anyway, and so there is that (Inaudible) and 25 there is that possibility that somebody bussing people

0119 01 in for whatever they're voting for is still the 02 issue -- the issue is still -- are still made by the 03 Board itself. 04 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I think it's the 05 elections that the Board -- that they're really 06 concerned about. 07 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Well, if -- but if 08 in the bylaws there are certain guidelines of who can 09 be and what can be on the Board and that sort of thing, 10 you know? There's parameters there that -- that's all 11 a safeguard built in. 12 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I think I would come 13 down the side of leaving it as it is and letting 14 neighborhood councils decide because I want them to 15 have as much freedom to determine what happens in their 16 neighborhoods as possible, and I think the least 17 restrictions we put on them is better for empowering 18 communities as opposed to putting more restrictions on 19 them, and as far as I'm concerned, Granada Hills said 20 30 percent of the time -- 30 hours of what -- it's 21 almost like full-time, but if that's what they thought 22 was their restriction, then it's worth trying. If we 23 have people who come to us later and say something 24 about, well, we're not being included, we're being 25 excluded; I think it would raise a flag, and we would

0120 01 then be able to look at that council and maybe question 02 their inclusion of all stake holders, but I would come 03 down the side of leaving it to neighborhood councils. 04 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Uh-huh. 05 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. 06 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes, I also concur with 07 that because even if we do have (Inaudible) this is an 08 experiment. It's new. We don't know how people handle 09 that particular definition of workers and each 10 community is different. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Commissioner 12 Stone? 13 COMMISSIONER STONE: I guess to sum up my 14 feelings, I feel comfortable making a citywide 15 determination tonight on a minimum number of hours for 16 workers. I understand what we're getting at -- and 17 once again I just think that there are -- there are 18 safeguards built in. We've seen other neighborhood 19 councils figure out ways to get around this problem, 20 and I think that may be the best way to go. I remain 21 open to discussion on this. I just don't know if this 22 is the -- if this is the time and place to do it. 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: So, if I'm sensing the 24 Commission, then we would leave the definition open at 25 this point related to the Charter language; however, we

0121 01 would entertain from the Granada Hills North 02 Neighborhood Council a definition of worker that would 03 require a minimum of 30 hours of work in the 04 neighborhood council to qualify as a worker. 05 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: And I also think it's 06 a clarification of the voting process. 07 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I would say that they 08 would define it in a reasonable way that would include 09 most workers in their community, not necessarily -- 10 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Well, does 30 hours a 11 week meet that criteria? 12 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: If that's what they've 13 determined is a reasonable number of hours. 14 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: You know, I think that 15 raises serious questions about -- you know, leaving it 16 up to each community. We've heard that of, you know, 17 fourteen applications nobody has had an issue, and 18 we've got -- and we just heard from staff that the 19 other -- the other communities with applications in 20 don't have issues either -- with maybe some about the 21 general definition of stake holders for a few -- 22 but, you know, so why are we trying to solve a problem 23 for everyone that doesn't exist? 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Well, I'm not 25 necessarily saying we're trying to solve the problem.

0122 01 Assuming that we don't set citywide threshold for 02 worker that we allow the Charter language to stand and 03 Granada Hills comes back with a set of bylaws that says 04 in their community a worker must spend 30 hours -- to 05 qualify as a worker stake holder or as a stake holder 06 who works in the community, you must spend 30 hours a 07 week at work. What do we say to that situation? 08 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: What -- can I? 09 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Would the City 11 Attorney's office have a problem with that? 12 GREG NELSON: (Inaudible) 13 DARREN MARTINEZ: That -- you could deal with it 14 in that type of timeframe. Your choices basically 15 would be you adopt a policy. You know, your first 16 decision is: Are you going to adopt a policy? 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Answer: No. 18 DARREN MARTINEZ: Okay. So then if you're not 19 going to take any action, then you're putting -- you're 20 not making any decision. You're rejecting the 21 department to termination, and you would deal with the 22 issue when it presents itself when Granada Hills comes 23 before you. 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: But the question I 25 think Commissioner Lucente, I think, was asking is

0123 01 that -- or Commissioner Woods Gray was asking is that 02 if Granada Hills North comes back with an application 03 which defines a worker as someone who works 30 hours or 04 more a week in the community, is that or will that 05 create a problem from the City Attorney's office 06 (Inaudible) compliance with the Charter? 07 DARREN MARTINEZ: They can make a definition of 08 the worker, and it would be up to you to determine 09 whether or not that definition complies with the 10 Charter. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. 12 DARREN MARTINEZ: There's a legal question. Can 13 they define it? Yes, they can define it. The question 14 is whether you approve that definition. That's your 15 (Inaudible) if that's an appropriate definition that 16 they've applied. 17 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. So then I will 18 take it that the Commission declines this evening to 19 set a citywide policy with regard to the definition of 20 worker and that we will entertain Granada Hills North's 21 definition of a worker being someone who works 30 hours 22 a week through there application. 23 GREG NELSON: Or Mr. President, they could also 24 submit their bylaws with any other definition including 25 the one that you had suggested here too.

0124 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes, they can. 02 GREG NELSON: It will be up to their wisdom as to 03 what they want to submit. 04 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Right. 05 GREG NELSON: And to read your minds. 06 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Yes. 07 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Yes. 08 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: All seven of them. 09 Okay (Inaudible) you want us to treat that us a formal 10 motion? Okay. Then I will step out of the chair and 11 make that motion and seek a second. 12 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I second. 13 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: We have a second. 14 Okay. That motion is that the Board declines to set a 15 citywide policy for definition of worker and that we 16 will entertain definitions from individual neighborhood 17 councils should they choose to define that term at a 18 later point. Do we have a motion? A second 19 (Inaudible) the commission? Commissioner Lucente? 20 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE:(Inaudible) have a 21 discussion. 22 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: You have a discussion? 23 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yeah, I would just remind 24 the Commission of the basic tenant of the plan for 25 neighborhood councils relative to inclusive memberships

0125 01 and while it does not -- while it does not define 02 (Inaudible) specific term "work," I think the -- I 03 think that our discussions to date have been reflective 04 of the spirit of inclusivity in all neighborhoods, 05 especially relative to the quote/unquote workers in 06 those neighborhoods. 07 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Any other discussion? 08 COMMISSIONER MEMBREÑO: I just would like to 09 support that and to remind who is here that this is 10 what we look for. 11 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Then I'll poll 12 the Commission? Commissioner Lucente? 13 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: No. 14 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Stone? 15 COMMISSIONER STONE: Yes. Commissioner Woods 16 Gray? 17 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: Yes. 18 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Herrera 19 Duran? 20 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Yes. 21 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Longoria? 22 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: And I, yes. So, motion 24 passes five to one. Yes. You have a comment? 25 JANE LOWENTHAL: Yes, please.

0126 01 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Briefly. 02 JANE LOWENTHAL: Extremely and that is -- 03 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: I need your name. 04 JANE LOWENTHAL: Jane Lowenthal, I'm a state 05 library commissioner. My commission overseas the 800 06 libraries in the state and some other things that I do. 07 But one of the things that I -- if you ever do revisit 08 this, what I'd like you to consider is there's an awful 09 lot of folks who volunteer. Those are seniors 10 primarily. I'm thinking of a large chunk of folks who 11 we do want to encourage to do things in their community 12 now that they just don't need the money, and they have 13 the capacity. There's also a lot of us who by grace of 14 anything do not need to work 40 hours a week and are 15 giving time to communities we might think are in need 16 of our assistance, but they're not where our home is. 17 So, if I am going to go to some other community and 18 give 10 hours a week or 20 or 30, whatever it is, even 19 if it's five hours I may have been doing this, as I 20 know somebody who lives in Bel Air and works in 21 Pacoima, and she's very dedicated to that area. And so 22 I think that if we are looking just at a strict 23 definition of what one gets in financial renumeration, 24 we are excluding large chunks of other people. So if 25 you do revisit this, I'd like you to give some thought

0127 01 to those of us who perhaps are even independent 02 contractors who have clients all over the place and 03 have helped work for them. Thank you. Thanks for all 04 your work and welcome to Northridge. 05 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. All 06 right. Item No. 6 -- I'm sorry. Item No. 5 the 07 clarification on letter of intent on how to fix the 08 certification process which is a carryover. Greg, who 09 is going to -- or does anybody have anything on that? 10 GREG NELSON: Romerol, we're back to the letter of 11 intent issue again. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: If we have nothing on 13 that tonight, we can pass so -- 14 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: I apologize. We do not. We 15 will try to get you a report for the Harbor meeting -- 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. 17 ROMEROL MALVEAUX: -- because I don't think 18 you'll want to deal with this on Saturday. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Probably not. Okay. 20 Thank you. And item No. 6, commissioner comment? 21 GREG NELSON: There's also two revisiting, Mr. 22 President, if you want to hear a couple of other 23 general manager items? 24 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: All right. That's 25 fine. Let's revisit No. 2 then.

0128 01 GREG NELSON: Okay. I'll be brief. We did get 02 the 53rd application today from the Valley Glen 03 Community Council that was delivered here at this 04 meeting. There was also an action taken today by the 05 education in neighborhoods committee by unanimous vote 06 to approve a recommendation from a task force that I 07 headed up at the direction of the City Council to deal 08 with the issue of how to indemnify, not just 09 neighborhood councils, because they're already pretty 10 well covered by the city, but mainly to indemnify other 11 community groups who do neighborhood improvement 12 projects which for the most part tend to be 13 beautification type projects using either city funds or 14 with the approval of the city, and the solution was a 15 rather unique one -- well, not too unique. It's been 16 used with other city programs and the prop was a 17 private general liability insurance policy that would 18 cover the individuals, the groups, and their board of 19 directors in the event that there were any accidents 20 that occur as a result of the project. So, the 21 committee voted three to nothing. It will be sent on 22 to the city council. The Mayor's office stepped up at 23 the last moment and offered to pay for the $8400 24 premium on the insurance policy. The only issue to be 25 resolved was who paid the $500 deductibles? Who

0129 01 covered the $500 deductible? The city's risk managers 02 felt that the community organization should cover that 03 because it would give them an incentive to follow more 04 of the safety rules and to be more conscious of the 05 work that they were doing. The opinion of the task 06 force, which included myself, city attorney's office, 07 Councilman Garcetti's office, Public Works was that we 08 wanted to extend our hand as far as we could to the 09 neighborhoods and to the groups. Put the least amount 10 of liability on these people -- responsibility on these 11 people who are volunteering their time to do a lot of 12 work. So, the recommendation going to the City Council 13 is that if there is a claim, that the 500 deductible be 14 covered by the City. It is interesting to note though 15 in the whole history of this particular policy called 16 Sparta Policy, there hasn't been a successful claim. 17 So, the odds of anyone having to cover a deductible are 18 pretty low. I also circulated to you a draft of what I 19 call a post certification road map that I handed out to 20 the neighborhood council leaders at Saturdays 21 neighborhood -- alliance of neighborhood councils again 22 trying to begin to spell out to them what happens from 23 the moment they get certified to the moment that 24 they're in full gear. I hope tomorrow to have the 25 draft of the election guide book, as I mentioned

0130 01 before, circulated too so people can take a look at 02 that. Some of the neighborhood councils themselves are 03 getting rather unique and creative in the way that 04 they're going to be doing their elections, and we 05 should be sharing that with everybody. And then the 06 last item is that I asked the Mayor if he could address 07 our staff just for about 10 minutes or so. He did that 08 on Thursday. The main purpose was to sort of 09 congratulate the staff on the acceptance of the 50th 10 application so the Mayor's office made a big cake for 11 the staff, and he spoke to them for about 10 minutes, 12 and the main point that he made -- and I thought it was 13 very, very valuable -- is that he was looking to 14 us -- looking to our staff to not be another 15 bureaucracy, to not be the kind of department that is 16 first thought as how can we not do something but rather 17 whose first thought is to how we can help people and 18 how we can get things done and he -- he realized our 19 good work, and I thought it was -- I was looking at the 20 faces of the staff, and I thought that they had really 21 appreciated in hearing that from the Mayor. He 22 explained how important he felt they were in the front 23 lines of trying to keep the city together, and I stole 24 some lines from Winston Churchill and sort of 25 described, you know -- these are the few who are doing

0131 01 so many for so much, and we got to meet the Mayor's 02 neighborhood staff, and it was -- it was a good moment 03 -- a short -- brief but very good moment. 04 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Thank you. Any 05 questions for the general manager? Then we'll take 06 commissioner comment. Commissioner Lucente? 07 Commissioner Stone? Commissioner Woods Gray? 08 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I just wanted to 09 acknowledge the fact that I heard news testimony on the 10 radio about the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, 11 which I was excited to hear news about us at any place 12 at any time. So that was good. I don't know -- Greg, 13 I guess you were responsible for communicating since we 14 don't have a communications director, so that was good. 15 Keep up the good work. 16 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Commissioner Herrera 17 Duran? Commissioner Longoria? 18 COMMISSIONER LONGORIA: (Inaudible) if not I just 19 wanted to thank the staff for outstanding work in 20 getting all the paperwork to me. Believe me, I have 21 reading to do day and night, but I know that a lot of 22 work goes into that and also to Romerol for being with 23 me over at USC on Saturday and doing the presentation 24 to that department. 25 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: I'm sorry. I did

0132 01 forget about also the training in the Harbor area on 02 Saturday. I got some very, very good feedback from 03 those who participated and who were there. They really 04 enjoyed it. They would like to see more of a followup 05 of that training. So, I need to thank, Greg, the 06 Department of Children, and I don't remember -- what's 07 their full title? 08 GREG NELSON: Children, Youth and Their Families. 09 COMMISSIONER HERRERA DURAN: Yes. Okay. And 10 Debra (Inaudible) she was instrumental in getting it 11 together, and Claudia was there. It was very good. 12 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Tony? 13 COMMISSIONER LUCENTE: Yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot 14 to mention that last Wednesday I was presented with 15 some information by a resident relative to Hollywood 16 Hills West -- packet of information which I faxed to 17 Taneda Jordan for distribution to the staff. So, I 18 just wanted to go on record stating that. Thank you. 19 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: Okay. And I would like 20 to take a moment to thank Greg for coming out to the 21 Citywide Alliance of Neighborhood Councils on Saturday 22 and putting up with the -- the efforts and the 23 interests from a wide variety of neighborhood council 24 organizers around the city, and with that then we can 25 move to public comment where we will accept compliments

0133 01 from the public, and I only have one card from Marilyn 02 (Inaudible) I don't see Marilyn around anymore, so with 03 that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn, and Greg 04 could have his doughnut (Inaudible) motion. 05 Commissioner Woods Gray? 06 COMMISSIONER WOODS GRAY: I so move. 07 COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER: And Commissioner 08 Herrera Duran seconds, and all those in favor, please 09 leave the building. 10 /// 11 /// 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25