Parade today, Sunday, As Northeast LA Veterans Day Parade Rolls Out at 1 p.m.

The annual Northeast L.A. Veterans Day Parade will begin at 1 p.m., travelling from Glassell Park Recreation Center to the L.A. River Center in Cypress Park.  Cypress Park Recreation Center will host the rest of the events at 2 p.m. and sky divers scheduled to drop in at 3 p.m.

The route this year is new and seems longer than past years.  We saw the 2012 parade travelling east through Highland Park along York Blvd., and for many years since its beginning, travelling north on Eagle Rock Blvd. from York Blvd and ending just short of Colorado Blvd.

How this new route will affect any participation and turnout is yet to be seen, but I know many of the organizers and know that a lot of hard work goes into making this happen each year, even if many local groups don't appear to support it.  I know a few of those, too.

School participation should be higher from the local area, especially at the High School level.   Eagle Rock High has for years nearly ignored making a mark here although many other schools have shown up in the past.  A disappointing result when the parade passed only a few blocks from the school for many years which eliminated transportation as a typical obstacle some schools encounter.

Franklin High's representation is consistent.  Even Hollywood High had an entry in the past.   Many elementary and middle schools have joined in to march in the parade.  Enthusiasm is readily found among entrants in the younger age ranges, although their stamina may be challenged with a long route.

The weather will be cool and clear so come on and see the parade.  Here's another reliable prediction:  Local politicians don't miss public appearance opportunities and you will find many here, from City Hall to Sacramento, setting aside all the swirling stories of scandal that have been surfacing more and more in the news.

But what else is new?  Forget that aspect for the day and honor the Vets who have contributed to the country and made sacrifices of life, limb and more, in service to the U.S.

A Case of an NC That Doesn't Heed It's Own Bylaws- The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Meets Tonight

The text below is what I posted on Facebook today, adding a typo correction or two.  There's a lot more with what ERNC does, in my opinion, but the conditions below I think are more clear for determination.  

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"There's an Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council [meeting] tonight, the November monthly meeting at 7pm. There's lots that the ERNC puts in its newsletter but what I see over the year since the October 2012 NC elections is more of an operating mode that fails to be as open ("transparent") as it can and should be, especially being an NC. This resulting secrecy of activity would not happen if the NC followed the old or the current ERNC bylaws approved by DONE on June 26, 2013. (1.). Agendas and minutes not created or posted for all committees, "standing" and "ad hoc", leaving the general public (the "stakeholders") out of the loop, (2.)

"The ERNC will comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act in conducting and noticing all meetings." Bylaws, Art. V, Sec. 11, E.

And in case you think minutes and agendas are not necessary, it is further stated in ERNC's own bylaws: "D. Committee Meetings: Committee meetings are subject to and shall be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act. Minutes shall be taken at every Committee meeting."
The second sentence here specifies explicitly the need for every committee to have minutes taken.
"AD HOC" COMMITTEES THAT ARE USED VIOLATE BYLAWS
The "ad hoc" committees, often appear formed in place of the bylaws-required "standing committees," most of which have not been created.


"Section 2: Ad Hoc Committees. The Board may create Ad Hoc Committees as needed to deal with temporary issues." These are inappropriately used where a standing committees authority would encompass the subject, such as "budget" creation and putting events within the "Events"/"Outreach and Events" committee (both committee titles used in text of bylaws).

If any validity of the actions done by any ERNC "ad hoc" committee formed is still rged by ERNC, there's a violation where there is more than ONE board member on the "ad hoc" committee, then they might read their own bylaws (shown below, (in relevant part), to see the language used for years by ERNC's bylaws,

"ARTICLE VII - COMMITTEES AND THEIR DUTIES,
Section 3: Committee Creation and Authorization
B. Committee Structure:"
"Ad Hoc Committees shall be comprised of one (1) or fewer Board members and may include any interested Stakeholders."

These are but a relatively few of many problems I have observed in the ERNC's conduct of its operations that still continue even following many months after mention to board members for attention deserved by the NC as an organization, and by the stakeholders they are entrusted to represent."

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THE ERNC MEETING TONIGHT-

Here's a link to the Agenda for tonight's meeting:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1loxsuw_UIa9-EStLE_xoTkmnIhectpRs9MswlQl6JKE/edit

 

Agenda items "p." and "q." each call for the formation of an "ad hoc" committee.  If the ERNC forms an "ad hoc" committee and MORE than ONE board member joins that committee, you will see the violation of the bylaw mentioned above, limiting to the composition to"one board member or less."  The rest would have to be Non-Board members.

 

The particular provision is a mystery as to why it was created as it is.   BUT more revealing is the fact that it has been in the bylaws FOR YEARS and no one commented on it, which means it wasn't noticed or understood.

 

That might be understandable, not noticing bylaws terms from an old document, EXCEPT that these were revised by the board after the October 2012 elections when a Bylaws Committee (with no agendas formed that I could find) was created to go through and REVISE the bylaws to make them UPDATED for current use.   It looks like this was plainly missed.

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SOME ITEMS OF NOTE THAT ARE COMING UP, BUT I don't see any mention on the Agenda nor on the ERNC Website;

1.   There's the Northeast L.A. Veterans Day Parade coming up Sunday at 1pm.  It begins at the Glassell Park Community Center (next to the Glassell Park Swimming Pool), and ending at the River Center (that used to be the old Lawry's Restaurant) at Ave 26 and San Fernando Road, with more events at the Cypress Park Rec. Center just north a few blocks.

2.  Saturday, scheduled for 10am on the 2nd Saturday of each month is the Neighborhood Council PlanCheck meeting at the Glassell Park Community Center. Michael LoGrande, Planning Department's General Manager is the scheduled guest to speak on current matters.

There's a LA Fire Department project, the "Strategic Plan," that was discussed at the LANCC meeting by the Chief and Captain handling this project that is planned to have the LAFD and the rest of the people work in a coordinated fashion to meet needs in L.A.  Survey online is available. Link to be posted later (one page) to fill in for the LAFD folks to hear your ideas and concerns.

There's more that needs attention in this NC operation but this is more than enough to digest for now.