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

Simie

Last Name

Seaman

Please identify your role within the Neighborhood Council system:

Stakeholder

Phone Number

Email Address

simie@protonmail.com

Mailing Address

California

Neighborhood Council

Wilmington

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

Los Angeles Administrative Code

Section

2.20.1

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

10-24-18

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

During the course of the monthly meeting for the Wilmington Neighborhood Council Agenda Item 6f addressed Discussion and possible action to approve WNC office staff for
FY2018-2019 to be contracted through one of the Temp Services
Providers listed in the Neighborhood Council approved Vendor list. Board Member Christian Guzman who has several years of experience with the NC's, is a previous president for another NC and is also a paid minute taker for NC meetings is employed by one of these vendors. Christian was obligated to recuse himself from this agenda item and to not take part in this agenda item. This was not done. Instead Christian stood up and said he thought it was a very good idea and that he would be happy perform this duty. He then stood up and walked out of the meeting to use the restroom. There was no recusal. Upon his return the discussion on the topic was still on the floor. Christian went and sat down as the discussion continued. During this discussion it was brought up there was a potential conflict of interest. Christian didn't deny there was a conflict of interest nor did he error on the side of caution and recuse himself. The Council as a whole failed the community as once it was alerted that there was a conflict of interest they should have either demanded that Christian state whether or not there was a conflict of interest or ask him to recuse himself. Christian refused to either confirm or deny and furthermore refused to recuse himself. Furthermore during this discussion they left the amount to be paid for this proposed office staff open ended which to my understanding meant they wanted to vote to hire office staff at a rate of an undisclosed amount to be paid. At this point also the Council had failed since a discussion regarding expenditures should always have the amounts included so as to be transparent with its stakeholders. During this meeting it was also discovered that there is discrepancies in the neighborhood council's finances providing yet again another failure by the council to act.

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

Government Code Section 81000 Et Sequentes ( The Political Reform Act) Government Code 1090 Et Sequentes ( Conflict of Interest Rules) The above referenced are in place to protect the interests of stakeholders and to insure that there is no conflict of interest. Christian Guzman who had a financial interest in Item number 6f . Chrisitan is not a noive to how NC's work should have recused himself. He should never have been allowed to take part in this Agenda item. The counsel as a whole should not have allowed him to take part. The council as a whole should not even be voting on financial matters until they have the correct amounts in place to be spent especially when you considere their debit card had been suspended due to error by the former treasurer.

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.

It is apparent that the council either does not understand the rules or is failing to abide by them. As for Christian Guzman, a former president of another neighborhood council who left that counsel to be on this one has experience and knowledge. By his own admission he claims to be extremely knowledgeable. He should be suspended for 3 to 6 months from all council duties as he was well aware of the conflict of interest and yet still refused to recuse himself and sought to have influence over the council's decision.

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

Gina

Last Name

Martinez

Email Address

just4gina15@gmail.com

Phone Number

Witness Statement

wit.jpg

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

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.

simie seaman

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

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