EDITORIAL RULES OF DISORDER THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN UNRULY NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS.THE elitists in 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. City Hall must take great comfort in their dubious report that cites instances of violence and incivility in·ci·vil·i·ty n. pl. in·ci·vil·i·ties 1. The quality or condition of being uncivil. 2. An uncivil or discourteous act. at neighborhood council meetings. Such findings confirm the professional politicians' sense of superiority, and provide all the reason they need to continue denying the 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. adequate funding or even nominal power Nominal power is a measurement of a mediumwave radio station's output used in the United States. AM broadcasters are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate at a specific nominal power, which may be (and usually is) different from the transmitter power output. . But we can think of worse things than government bodies in which people are passionate about what they believe in to the point of incivility -- like passionless government bodies, where everyone treats each other well, even as they threaten the public with utter contempt by doing business behind closed doors. We make no apologies for the scattered examples of poor conduct that have been on display at a few neighborhood councils in the past year. The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment reports that in the first nine months of 2006, there have been 18 incidents of disruptive behavior, ranging from insults, racially charged terms and even physical violence. But a little heated debate is in some ways better than what we get out of the professionals on the City Council, who seldom seem to disagree on anything because everything is a backroom back·room n. or back room 1. A room located at the rear. 2. The meeting place used by an inconspicuous controlling group. adj. 1. deal. The professionals were united on raising trash fees for cops and on Measure R, the fraudulent initiative that gives the pols a chance at an extra four years in office. They rarely part company whenever some new scheme comes along to fritter away to diminish; to pare off; to reduce to nothing by taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to fritter away time, strength, credit, etc. s> See also: Fritter taxpayer money or further reduce L.A.'s dismal public services. And they've enacted such strict rules of decorum DECORUM. Proper behaviour; good order. 2. Decorum is requisite in public places, in order to permit all persons to enjoy their rights; for example, decorum is indispensable in church, to enable those assembled, to worship. that the public barely gets a chance to voice a protest. Members of the City Council have achieved near-perfect civility because they're all working toward the same end -- benefitting each other and their narrow circle of friends and supporters. They've also set neighborhood councils up for failure by giving them neither the funds nor the authority to do much of anything. Is it any surprise that these symbolic bodies sometimes end up attracting an irritable, frustrated bunch? The bad apples on the neighborhood councils are an embarrassment to democracy, but no more so than their mentors in City Hall. |
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