'POOBAH,' PALS MAY BE OUSTED.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer The city Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, escalating its dispute with one of the first groups it approved, is proposing to decertify de·cer·ti·fy tr.v. de·cer·ti·fied, de·cer·ti·fy·ing, de·cer·ti·fies To revoke the certification of: voted to decertify the union. the Old Northridge Community Council over how its board was elected. The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners is scheduled to take up a staff recommendation to decertify the community council at its Sept. 6 meeting. ``We tried to work with them but were not able to resolve this,'' said Greg Nelson, general manager of the department. ``We had problems with how they conducted their elections and their lack of outreach to residents.'' Old Northridge Community Council officials said they will fight to remain part of the city's neighborhood council system. ``Rules do not make a neighborhood council,' said Jay Christensen, a professor of business communications at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , who serves as the council's treasurer. In electing a board, the group termed the chairman ``the grand poobah'' and the treasurer ``the bean counter bean counter n. Slang A person, such as an accountant or financial officer, who is concerned with quantification, especially to the exclusion of other matters: .'' ``Yes, we had some fun with some of the names, but that should be beside the point,'' Christensen said. City officials, however, contend the group, while creative in its approach, has become primarily an enclave enclave /en·clave/ (en´klav) tissue detached from its normal connection and enclosed within another organ. en·clave n. A detached mass of tissue enclosed in tissue of another kind. for an avid group of arts supporters and has failed to honor the spirit of neighborhood councils Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems. They can be found in many cities throughout the world. by broadening its membership. Christensen said members of the group, which usually draws about 20 people to each meeting, will fight the decertification effort. Like other neighborhood councils, the group has access to city information, serves as an advisory panel on issues in its area and is eligible for $50,000 a year in taxpayer funds. ``We aren't looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. any money from the city, but we were operating before there were neighborhood councils and were one of the first to be certified See certification. ,'' Christensen said. Nelson said the problems developed during the group's 2003 board elections. ``Basically, what happened was they had this annual arts fair, and they went around with ballots to anyone who was there to get them to vote for a slate that was put together,'' Nelson said. ``When we tried to run another election, with a monitor from the League of Women Voters League of Women Voters, voluntary public service organization of U.S. citizens. Organized in 1920 in Chicago as an outgrowth of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, it had as its original nucleus the leaders of the latter organization. , they couldn't even come up with enough names to fill all the posts. We just don't feel we have any choice in this at this point. ``We are looking for ways we can come up with something to include them in some other fashion, maybe as a caucus caucus: see convention. committee for the arts, which seems to be their main interest.'' Christensen said leaders of the group have not been offered anything specific and are still developing their plans. Nelson said there are two other neighborhood councils in the Northridge area, both of which were formed by people who felt excluded by the Old Northridge Community Council. Councilman Greig Smith Greig Smith is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 12th District, which includes Granada Hills, Northridge and other parts of the Western San Fernando Valley. Smith is also a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. , who represents the area, is aware of the controversy and asked the city agency to try to come up with a compromise. ``The issue is the people want to get involved and we support that,'' said Mitch Englander, chief deputy to Smith. ``We've asked (the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment) to put aside their differences and work with them to figure out a process to keep this group active.'' Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
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