Grievance

On May 31, 2018, The Los Feliz Ledger published an article detailing how the Los Feliz Neighborhood violated city policy and state law by failing to publicize and report the ongoing operations of an "ad hoc" committee engaged in public business that should have fallen under the purview of a standing committee.

Media link here: 
http://www.losfelizledger.com/2018/05/lfnc-committees-transparency-questioned/

As a newspaper article is a public allegation, not a formal one, and is not municipally or legally binding, please find below a formal complaint and grievance regarding misconduct by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council:

Details of Complaint/Grievance:

The Los Feliz Neighborhood Council (LFNC) conducted numerous meetings in violation of City of Los Angeles policy regarding required public notifications.  These meetings included both the LFNC's "Ad Hoc Committee on Affordable Housing" and smaller "workgroups" created from it.  Not only were these meetings not held in accordance with provisions that ensure public transparency, such as those embodied in the Ralph M. Brown Act, but additionally, the LFNC violated its own Bylaws and Standing Rules.

Since the committee is composed of a mixture of approximately 5-6 current LFNC Governing Board members and non-elected stakeholders, it does not operate as a true “ad hoc committee” that, under certain circumstances, could have released it from its Brown Act requirements.

Most recently, on May 17, 2018, at 7:00 PM, the LFNC convened and conducted its Ad Hoc Committee on Affordable Housing at the Founders Metropolitan Community Church at 4607 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

For this meeting, as well as a number of others prior to the violation date cited above, Committee Chairpersons Benton Heimsath and Michael Martin, communicated directly with its members through various methods, and failed to:

1. Publicly post meeting agenda(s) in the usual form at LFNC's designated posting places: "1965 Hillhurst Avenue, (and) the Los Feliz Public Library branch at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue" as indicated on their printed agendas.

2. Electronically disseminate meeting agenda information via its website as required by Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Policy #2014-01.

3. Distribute notifications through the Early Notification System (ENS) as required by LFNC Bylaws.

4. Share printed documents and information with the public at the time it was distributed to the committee's decision makers for comment, review, debate, revision or ratification.

5. Ensure LFNC Governing Boardmembers were notified of a council meeting under LFNC auspices as per its own Bylaws and Standing Rules, Rules Policies and Procedures.

6. Follow LFNC's Bylaws, specifically Article V, Section 5, B requiring LFNC Committee Chairpersons to complete mandatory ethics training that covers the responsibilities and procedures of holding open meetings.

7. Provide meeting minutes or audio or video recordings documenting the committee’s activities for access by the public.

8. Publish meeting minutes draft(s) on LFNC website before holding subsequent meetings per LFNC Standing Rules.

9. Publish a Committee Members list on LFNC website per LFNC Standing Rules.

LFNC Bylaws Posted Here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GhDRqs8m4_VnnNoiWKWGxZGk1Yx3Rn-i/view?usp=sharing

LFNC Standing Rules Posted Here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18JntbU9hkN3-0nYQgPX97LvjSNXlDv7z/view?usp=sharing

LFNC Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) Policy Posted Here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8EUAEKXO4HBYjFDX2o0TVNsV1E/view?usp=sharing

Various LFNC Governing Boardmembers, including, on occasion, LFNC President Luke Klipp, attended this committee's meetings and were routinely copied on their e-mail correspondence.  These members were fully aware of the time, place, and subject matter of these meetings while the public was not.  Even if the responsibility of overseeing these activities was delegated to the non board member chairpersons, a sizable number of LFNC boardmembers cannot claim no knowledge of or any of the further improper implications of these actions.

On the LFNC's publicly accessible website, within a document entitled: "City Attorney - Standing & Ad Hoc Committee Guidelines", a highlighted paragraph states:

"Neighborhood Councils may create ad hoc committees in similar fashion by having the board or the President, depending on the bylaws, appoint less than a majority of the Neighborhood Council board members to evaluate a particular issue and report its findings, conclusions or recommendations to the full body.  However, should any person other than an existing Neighborhood Council board member be appointed to the ad hoc committee, then the committee must operate under the notice and posting requirements of the Brown Act."

LFNC City Attorney Policy Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8EUAEKXO4HBZmFtRkY5N01vVkk/view?usp=sharing

The LFNC also cannot claim they were unaware of what was lawfully required to conduct these meetings, and given the highly contentious subject matter falling under the categorization of "Affordable Housing", which ranges across topics such as L.A.'s "Housing Crisis," California Senate Bill 827, 828, et al., plus a pending ballot initiative calling for the repeal of California's "Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act", it is possible that the LFNC intentionally kept these meetings secret.  At the very least, there is the appearance of impropriety.

Meetings were convened, discussions were entertained, debates ensued and work product was created outside full public view of polarizing issue

It is no secret the creation, location, and sizing of affordable housing across the City of Los Angeles, the County, and the State are hotly debated topics and highly contentious issues of interest to many stakeholders.  Had the general public been properly notified each time this group's discussions took place; it could have expressed its views as mandates under California State Law and City of Los Angeles policy. The LFNC failed to afford the public its right to do so in an open and transparent venue, and further stymied transparency by not making any of this committee’s working documents public similar to method it does for all its other committees.

Also, in many of the Committee Chair's e-mail communications (submitted) they only emailed themselves, while I believe they may have blind copied (bcc) others, an act that subverts transparency. 

BACKGROUND:

According to their approved meeting minutes, on October 17, 2017, The LFNC unanimously approved (14-0) the creation of an "ad hoc committee" described as follows:

Item 6, V
"Create an ad hoc committee to recommend a set of guidelines and actions related to the LFNC’s positions on affordable housing, low-income units, Rent-Stabilized Ordinance (RSO) units, and the Ellis Act.  This committee shall be open to members of the PZHP Committee, Los Feliz stakeholders, and members of the LFNC Governing Board."  Moved: Deutsch (Jon); second: Kim (Janet).

LFNC Meeting Minutes Posted Here (pgs. 10-11):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wSGGS6GWpZOtYA05Xws9FjxDFES4NfeM/view?usp=sharing

At that time, LFNC President Luke Klipp summarized this motion as being "tabled" from the Board's meeting in September.  This was not true.  At the September 19, 2017 meeting, the LFNC's governing board created that same ad hoc committee, except the agenda language was amended to include additional subject matter for the committee to study.

LFNC Meeting Minutes Posted Here (pgs. 8-9):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw5EUPbMf2ocRDRQcmE3NElsWGs/view?usp=sharing

The September 2017 motion was approved as amended and an ad hoc committee (yet unnamed) was created at that point in time with the intent of performing pubic outreach and finding volunteers and potential chairpersons.

Regardless of whether the committee was actually created (and/or recreated) properly in a transparent way, it's known this ad hoc committee eventually went on to hold meetings on the following date (various subgroup meeting dates mentioned in communications are known only to the participants).

1. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017
Keller Williams Realty, 1660 Hillhurst Ave., L.A., CA  90027

2. WEDNEDAY, JANUARY 21, 2018 (cancelled)
Greek Theater, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., L.A., CA  90027

3. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15
Founders Metropolitan Community Church, 4607 Prospect Ave., L.A., CA  90027

4. THURSDAY, May 17
Founders Metropolitan Community Church, 4607 Prospect Ave., L.A., CA  90027

(Reference cites in conjunction with statement above)

1. Ralph M. Brown Act, 54954.2. Agenda requirements; LFNC Bylaws, Article VIII, "Meetings", Section 3 Notifications/Postings

2. Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Policy #2014-01.

3. Ralph M. Brown Act; LFNC Bylaws, Article II, B, 4

4. 54957.5. Agendas and other materials; Public records

5. LFNC Standing Rules, Policies, and Procedures, "Meeting Agendas - Distribution to the Governing Board"

6. LFNC Bylaws, Article V, Section 5, B

7. LFNC Standing Rules, Policies, and Procedures, "Chair Duties" Item 8"

8. LFNC Standing Rules, Policies, and Procedures, "Appointment of Committee Chairs", Item 4

9. LFNC Standing Rules, Policies, and Procedures, "Chair Duties", Item 9

In addition to the corrective relief requested above, in order to regain the public's trust, the LFNC should publish and widely circulate an explanation of its actions on when, where, how, and why the LFNC chose to act in this non-transparent manner, and if warranted, apologize for breaching the public trust.

The LFNC should not only undergo mandated corrective actions, which may include censure or dismissal of those responsible for this breach, but also assurances from the LFNC leadership responsible for this incident, that mechanisms will be put in place to ensure such violations will not happen in the future.  

The current Ad Hoc Committee on Housing Affordability should be disbanded, and its work product archived until such a time that its mission, intent and personnel could be adequately and publicly reviewed per the City of Los Angeles rules and regulations regarding neighborhood councils.  Regardless of outcome, any work performed by this group will live under a specter of impropriety that will render it suspect in the eyes of the public and essentially inert in its validity.


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

A violation of public trust has occurred, and must be reprimanded and remedied, to help ensure future transgressions by this municipal body do not occur.