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."
"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:
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.
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.
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