CHICK MONITORS MAKEUP OF CITY COMMISSIONS TRYING TO GET MORE INVOLVED.Byline: Rick Orlov Orlov (Орлรณв) is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen, diplomatists and soldiers. The family first gained distinction in the person of four Orlov brothers, of whom the senior was Catherine the Great's Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Controller Laura Chick chick abbreviation for chicken (1). , keeping the pressure on Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California , said Wednesday Wednesday: see week. too many appointees to city commissions, especially the most important ones, are men and too many come from affluent areas of the city. ``It is not just women,'' Chick said at a briefing in her City Hall offices with reporters. ``We are concerned with gender, but we want to open the entire commission process up so there are more people from different economic groups, from different geographic regions.'' Over the next three weeks, Chick will list on her Web site, www.lacity.org/ctr, a database of commissioners that shows the breakdown by gender as well as the makeup makeup In the performing arts, material used by actors for cosmetic purposes and to help create the characters they play. Not needed in Greek and Roman theatre because of the use of masks, makeup was used in the religious plays of medieval Europe, in which the angels' faces of proprietary commissions and where commissioners live. ``To my knowledge, there has never been this type of information available in one location,'' Chick said. The City Clerk In the United States, a City Clerk is an elected or appointed official who is responsible as the official keeper of the municipal records. In some places, the Clerk may be known as the "Village Clerk" or "Town Clerk". has been keeping lists of commissioners, but she said it was not broken down in the categories she has developed. Chick said her analysis showed that women made up 41 percent of all commission appointments. However, when it came to the powerful independent departments of Airports, Harbor and Water and Power, women filled just three of the 17 slots. As part of her effort, she sent Hahn's office the resumes of 117 women who responded to her initial call in June for people interested in serving on city panels. Chick said she is planning a workshop at her offices on Oct. 26 to offer more details on how women can become involved. Information will be available on her Web site. ``Too often, commissions are given as rewards to campaign supporters,'' Chick said. Her audits of the Departments of Airports, Harbor and Water and Power has led to two grand jury investigations into whether there is a pay-to-play Pay-to-play Attempts by municipal bond underwriting businesses to gain influence with political officials who decide which underwriters are awarded the municipality's business. operation where companies felt compelled to make contributions to win city contracts. Two city commissioners have stepped down as a direct or indirect result of those accusations. ``Los Angeles' citizen commission form of government can be one of our great strengths,'' Chick said. ``We also know that it can be a weakness, as we have found in my audits.'' Deputy Mayor Julie Wong said the mayor would look at the resumes submitted by Chick and welcomed others from the public. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. , who serves the City Council's Rules and Elections Commission, said she agreed with the need to open commission appointments to all areas of the city. ``I'm a big supporter of the commission form of government and believe we should do all we can to reach out to get more people involved,'' Greuel said. Chick acknowledged part of the problem has been that commissioners have been asked to forgo their stipends for attending meetings and are not otherwise reimbursed. ``It makes it hard for a working person to take on this job,'' Chick said. ``That's why so many commissions are made up of rich people or retired people. Average people can't afford to take time off from their jobs.'' Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion