PANEL BACKS COMPROMISE ON NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer Split over the issue of how to select 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. , Los Angeles' elected Charter Reform Commission voted Monday to give voters a choice between elected councils or those selected by the communities, possibly at caucuses. Commission Chairman Erwin Chemerinsky Erwin Chemerinsky (born 1953) is a well-known professor of Constitutional law and federal civil procedure, has recently accepted a position at the University of California, Irvine, in the new Donald Bren School of Law, beginning in 2009. said ``there is intense division'' on the 15-member charter panel as well as in the community on this issue, so the voters should be allowed a choice between two ballot measures. ``We've been threatened by both sides,'' Chemerinsky said regarding community input on the issue. ``Our commission is very divided about what is the best approach.'' Commissioner Dennis Zine said the compromise is the only way to salvage the notion of having neighborhood councils in the new charter. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why we can't trust the voters to make the choice,'' Zine said. ``Otherwise we're going to have a stalemate stale·mate n. 1. A situation in which further action is blocked; a deadlock. 2. A drawing position in chess in which the king, although not in check, can move only into check and no other piece can move. tr.v. and go nowhere.'' The vote was 8-4 to put two measures on the ballot, with Commissioner Paula Boland among those arguing against dividing the issue. Boland said voters will be confused if they have to make a choice. ``We were elected to do a job. We cannot bifurcate To divide into two. this charter. I think it's a huge mistake,'' Boland said. Under the proposal, the main charter with dozens of reforms previously approved would include a system for community selection of the neighborhood councils. Under the model recommended Monday, residents of each City Council district would submit a plan to a new Department of Neighborhoods to self-select its commission, possibly by holding a community caucus, in a way that would guarantee that each panel represents the diversity of its neighborhoods. One proposal that might be used calls for seats to be reserved for, and voted on by, business interests, homeowner groups, property owners and the heads of social service agencies and churches. Commissioner Bill Weinberger said the neighborhood council system will still give local residents a better chance to influence their city government. ``It would give communities and neighborhoods a better voice, an institutionalized in·sti·tu·tion·al·ize tr.v. in·sti·tu·tion·al·ized, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·ing, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·es 1. a. To make into, treat as, or give the character of an institution to. b. voice in city government,'' Weinberger said. A separate ballot measure would allow voters to approve a system for electing neighborhood council members. The commission met Monday at Melrose Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Hollywood. Their recommendations will be put into a draft charter to be considered at a Constitutional Convention scheduled for Nov. 7 at the Convention Center. The panel will then finalize its proposed charter after the convention and submit it to voters next year, giving 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. residents a chance to replace a charter that is 73 years old and is blamed for giving residents an ineffective city government. One of the biggest complaints has been that the city government that operates downtown is too distant and inaccessible for residents of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and other parts of the city. The commission was still wrestling Monday with what authority to give neighborhood councils over land-use issues. Last week the commission voted against giving decision-making powers over land use to the neighborhood councils. |
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