VALLEY LEADERS SAY CHARTER REFORM HOPE FADING.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer 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. community leaders began talking Tuesday about organizing a campaign against the proposed charter reform proposal after the elected charter commission voted Monday against giving 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. decision-making decision-making, n the process of coming to a conclusion or making a judgment. decision-making, evidence-based, n a type of informal decision-making that combines clinical expertise, patient concerns, and evidence gathered from power over land-use issues. In action late Monday night, the commission also rejected proposals to expand the school board and to give pay raises to board members, deciding those relatively minor changes are not the solution to major problems in the school district. The commission's vote on neighborhood councils sparked strong reaction in the Valley. Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment em·pow·er tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers 1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize. 2. , said talks have begun among some Valley leaders about the possibility of mounting a campaign against the charter reform ballot measure. ``By killing (powerful) neighborhood councils,'' commissioners turned the charter-reform proposal into ``merely a dispute about who should have power - the mayor or the council,'' Close said. ``There have been discussions about sending a message that what has been recommended is not meaningful charter reform.'' Close, who is also president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, said it would take money and people to mount a campaign against the charter reform measure. However, he said, some labor leaders may want to join with Valley activists in killing what he called a proposal for a weak new charter. That could force city officials to revive To renew. For example, revival is the act of renewing the legal force of a contract or debt, either by acknowledging it or by giving a new promise, when the contract or debt is no longer a sufficient foundation for a lawsuit because it is barred by the running of the Statute the proposal for strong neighborhood councils. ``The sum total is we're going to have this coalition to work to defeat this charter and send the message that we want a better charter,'' Close said. Bill Powers of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley said he does not see the business group campaigning against the charter-reform proposal, but it is a major disappointment. Powers and others have talked of a last show of force in support of neighborhood empowerment when the commission convenes a Constitutional Convention on its draft charter at 9 a.m. Saturday at the downtown Convention Center. Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE, said the commission's rejection of decision-making powers for neighborhood councils will be incorporated into Valley VOTE's campaign for a secession secession, in art secession, in art, any of several associations of progressive artists, especially those in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, who withdrew from the established academic societies or exhibitions. study. Petition gatherers and backers of secession see the commission decision as evidence that Valley cityhood is the only alternative because no meaningful charter reform has been proposed, Brain said. ``People are recognizing that the Charter Reform Commission seems to be caving cave n. 1. A hollow or natural passage under or into the earth, especially one with an opening to the surface. 2. A storage cellar, especially for wine. v. caved, cav·ing, caves v. in to the status-quo special interests and selling out the voters,'' Brain said. In its editorial pages, the Daily News has strongly endorsed Valley VOTE's drive for a public study of secession that would determine whether a breakup breakup The division of a company into separate parts. The most famous breakup to date was the 1984 division of AT&T (formerly, American Telephone & Telegraph Company). This breakup was intended to increase competition in the communications industry. would be revenue-neutral to the remaining part of the city and whether the new city would be economically viable. The newspaper has also contributed $60,000 to the petition-gathering effort. On the school board issue, the commission voted against the pay raise proposal despite pleas by school board members Julie Korenstein and Jeff Horton Jeff Horton, born (date?) in Arlington, Texas, is currently an assistant coach (Special Assistant/Offense) for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He has also been active as an assistant coach at the collegiate level (Minnesota, Nevada, UNLV, Wisconsin) and as a , who said the $24,000 salary isn't enough for all the time and work. ``Why should we reward someone when the school system is in disarray dis·ar·ray n. 1. A state of disorder; confusion. 2. Disorderly dress. tr.v. dis·ar·rayed, dis·ar·ray·ing, dis·ar·rays 1. To throw into confusion; upset. 2. To undress. ?'' asked Commissioner Dennis Zine. ``It's absurd. Instead, we should be asking, What are we going to do to give the kids a better education?'' School board members say more pay would attract more candidates to the important post. Zine said school elections already attract plenty of candidates. 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. agreed with Korenstein that pay raises were justified but was in the minority. ``I think right now school board members work full time, and it is not realistic to ask them to work full time for $24,000 a year,'' Chemerinsky said. He joined the commission majority, however, against adding more members to the five-person school board. Such tinkering tin·ker n. 1. A traveling mender of metal household utensils. 2. Chiefly British A member of any of various traditionally itinerant groups of people living especially in Scotland and Ireland; a traveler. 3. in the absence of major reform would not guarantee a better school system, he said. The elected Charter Reform Commission's decisions put it at odds with the appointed Charter Reform Commission on the school issues. The panel recommended that the school board be expanded from five to nine members and that board salaries be increased from $24,000 to $36,000 to reflect increases in the cost of living since the board members last received a raise. |
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