Neighborhood council smackdown at ValleyNews.com

Diana Lipari writes at Valleynews.com that all is not well with the Greater Valley Glen Neighborhood Council.

She sees, among other problems, an open field for ethical lapses, a lack of community participation (and a lack of engagement by the Neighborhood Council), and a system that encourages these very problems:

Neighborhood Council elections are not governed by the LA Municipal Election Code, council members do not have to disclose financial interests by filling out Form 700 (as elected officials do) and the grievance process for stakeholders is very narrow and limited in its effectiveness. Essentially, councils police themselves, ethically speaking, and if you have a situation of questionable ethical behavior (as we currently have in the GVGC area), a council can simply choose to ignore the problem (majorities are a wonderful thing, however they get there). It's not like reporters are sitting in on every council meeting reporting its activities to stakeholders. If it weren't for that pesky Brown Act requiring minimal postings of meeting agendas, most councils would have no one present at all in the audience. In essence, the City of LA has given the mantle of authority and $50,000 a year to each council without requiring them to do anything significant to earn or maintain that authority.

She sees good reason in the city's reluctance to give the neighborhood councils any role in affecting the City Council agenda:

... there are very few checks and balances in the NC system. Councilmen Weiss and Smith have valid concerns about Neighborhood Councils' "policy making," however "advisory." Until we find a way to make Neighborhood Councils truly what they were meant to be, we shouldn't give them any more power than they already have.

I'm sure there's a lot going on here, but Ms. Lipari's entire editorial is well worth reading. I'd love to click over to ValleyNews.com -- or anywhere else, for that matter, and see somebody who's involved in one of the neighborhood councils reveal just what it is they're doing, and how they're helping the community they're charged with serving.