Grievance

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Grievance Form

Thank you for contacting the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment regarding your Grievance. Your concerns are important to us. Please fill out this form as completely as possible to help expedite our determination. Please be aware that the information you are submitting is subject to the California Public Records Act.

We will NOT be able to respond to your Grievance unless you provide a valid email or mailing address.
Please note that once you click Save at the upper right corner, your Grievance will be submitted.

All witness statements must be attached on this form.

The Department will not process more than three Grievance Forms filed by the same person in any calendar year and no more than five Grievance Forms filed by the same individual in any three year period. All Grievances submitted through this portal are considered processed.

First Name

William

Last Name

Cotter

Please identify your role within the Neighborhood Council system:

Stakeholder

Phone Number

(818) 366-6837

Email Address

bcotter@socal.rr.com

Mailing Address

17242 Van Gogh Street, Granada Hills, California 91344

Neighborhood Council

Granada Hills North

Neighborhood Council Bylaws

Specific Violation Alleged

Failure to indicate the nature of your alleged Grievance will result in the dismissal of your Grievance.

Neighborhood Council Bylaw

Article Number

Section

Finance

Los Angeles Administrative Code

Section

Plan for the Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils

Section

Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Policy

Please state Policy below

Department Policy

Please state Policy below

* - Any other City code, executive directive, rule or regulation applicable to Neighborhood Councils.

Date of Alleged Violation

04-05-16

A Grievance must be filed within 30 days from the date of the event giving rise to the Grievance. Any Grievance alleging a violation relating to Neighborhood Council funding must be filed within 90 calendar days of the date the expenditure is made.

Please state below

Please specify the exact rule and explain the facts of the alleged violation.

I�d like to point out several issues with the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council. In their bylaws it is stated that �All financial accounts and records shall be available for public inspection and posted on the Council website, if available.�

Yet, on their website, at http://www.ghnnc.org/financial-documents/, the last budget is for 2014-2015. There are also no �accounts and records� detailing where any monies are actually being expended. This appears to be a clear violation of the bylaws, and as such, deprives stakeholders from being able to raise issues or make decisions based on this data.

I would also like to direct you to their list of agendas and minutes at http://www.ghnnc.org/agendas-and-minutes/
1) Please note that no minutes have been posted for board meetings since September 1, 2015
2) There does not appear to be any posting of agendas or minutes for any committees

Yet, while they can�t take time to post items like these that would appear to be of use to the community, they do post items on their calendar for events not even in the community, such as WonderCon, a comic book convention in downtown LA, on the calendar for April 27. I happen to collect comic books myself, but I would prefer to see the website actually being used for city business and items of direct relevance to those of us within the GHNNC borders.

Last year, when I was on the board I asked for a vote on reducing expenses for unneeded expenses as noted in the April 7, 2015 minutes
6. Committee Reports, Motions and/or Possible Action Items:
A. Executive Committee Report
� Michael Greenwald
a. Discussion and possible motion on Time Warner services in the GHNNC office.
After a discussion a motion was made by Bill Cotter and seconded by Mike Chibidakis.
Motion: To cancel theTime Warner service (for the office), including phone and internet no later than May 31, 2015
assuming there is no cancellation penalty and replace the phone service with a Google phone.
Vote= Yes -13, No-1 (Summers)
It was noted that opening a new contract with Time Warner is not an option due to the fact that they required a 2 year
contract which is not allowed by DONE

Despite the 13-1 vote, it appears that the GHNNC did not take the approved action. In the last set of minutes posted on September 1, 2015 it shows the item was still pending then, despite the board having set a date �no later than May 31, 2015� in the motion. From the September 1 minutes:
Motion to discontinue Time Warner service to the 1139 Woodley office on or before September 30, 2015

No action was taken then as there was no quorum. In the agenda for January 5, 2016 it shows an ongoing expenses for these services.

I would like to know how the board can ignore a passed resolution and not take action as approved.

Finally, it was noted that only one vote was cast for the �Faith Based Representative� in the board election held this past Saturday. Per the bylaws the qualification to vote for that position is "Stakeholders who are 18 years or older and involved with any faith-based organization located within the Neighborhood." How could it be that only 1 person could qualify to vote then? It does not appear that stakeholders were given the opportunity to vote for this and possibly other positions, as there were several others with 1-2 votes. Other stakeholders have been raising this issue so clarification would be appreciated.

I can be reached at (818)366-6837.

Regards

Bill Cotter
17242 Van Gogh Street
Granada Hills, CA 91344

NOTE: SENT TO empowerla@lacity.org on 4/12 no response. Mailed to your downtown office 4/15 no response.

Remedy

There are various remedies available. Please select from the list below the remedy OR remedies you are seeking.
Please be advised that the Department has sole discretion in determining whether your remedy conforms with your Grievance.

From the list below, which remedy or remedies are you seeking?

1) Warning to the Neighborhood Council board, individual board member, or, members.

2) Required corrective action of the Neighborhood Council.

3) Mandated training for the Neighborhood Council, individual board member, or, members.

4) Required mediation for the Neighborhood Council board, individual board member, or, members.

5) Suspension of Neighborhood Council board until mandated trainings are taken by board, board member, or, members.

6) Temporary suspension of Neighborhood Council Funding.

7) Placement of the Neighborhood Council board under control and supervision of the Department.

8) Suspension of individual board member or members.

9) Initiation of de-certification process or process to declare board seats vacant.

Please state why you are seeking the above mentioned remedy or remedies.

The GHNNC is not following its published bylaws, is not acting on approved motions, and is not allowing stakeholders to vote in eligible categories. Perhaps its training? On any event a plan is needed to address and correct so people will engage with the NC in the future.

Witness Information

ALL of your Witness information and Witness Statement needs to be included at this time. The Department will ONLY accept and review Witness information included at time of submission.
You can find the Witness Statement form here.

Witness 1 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

Witness 2 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

Witness 3 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

If no witness, please check this box

Supporting Documents

Before submitting, please include ALL supporting documentation HERE. The Department will ONLY process and review materials included at time of submission. NOTE: The Department will only review up to 10 pages submitted. Any information submitted past 5 pages will not be taken into account.

Supporting Document

GranadaHillsNorthNC-Bylaws[1].pdf

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

By checking this box and typing my name below, I am electronically signing this form.

William Cotter

To SUBMIT, please click "Save" on top right corner.

NC Determination

Panel Determination

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Client Performance Report

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