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

Luis

Last Name

Sanchez

Please identify your role within the Neighborhood Council system:

Stakeholder

Phone Number

(323) 272-7184

Email Address

luisgsanchez@sbcglobal.net

Mailing Address

Los Angeles, California 90032

Neighborhood Council

LA 32

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

5

Section

3

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

01-11-16

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.

On January 11, the LA32NC took official actions and passed 2 motions regarding elections (Item#7 $10,000; Item#8 $4549.51). Each motion had an attached itemized budget which identified vendors, amounts for specific services. The Treasurer, then, uniliaterally (without board approval) changed vendors, services, and amounts that the board voted for.

The President sent an email to me indicating that the Treasurer has this authority to make unilateral decisions to line items on budgets approved by the general board.

LA32NC Boardmembers have indicated that the Treasurer has made verbal statements that she does NOT need board approval to change amounts / vendors / services.

Attached are two receipts where vendors and amounts were changed without board approval. I do not know how many other vendors, amounts, services have been changed.

Violation #1
The attachment to the agenda stated: 15,000 postcards by Jeremy Espinoza for $495
The attached receipt shows that Charlies printing was paid over $1100 for the postcards.

Violation #2
The attachment to the January 11 agenda stated: 10 banners by Community Beacon for $550
The attached receipt shows Charlie�s printing was paid $507 for 7 banners

According to the President's attached email, this practice of changing vendors / amounts / services (the board has voted on), to vendors / amounts / service (the board has NOT approved) is the norm.

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 Treasurer has repeatedly and unilaterally made budget changes that contradict the official actions of the board. Each of these repeated actions contradict the city charter and the stated reason for the creation of neighborhood councils to encourage civic engagement, community participation and decision making, and neighborhood empower.

The Treasure should know they are required to make a recommendation to the board to revise the amounts / vendors / services and allow the board and public to weigh in on how the public's money should be spent.

This practice disregards the position /vote by the board at a public meeting, disregards the Brown Act, and laws which govern how public money is spent by an elected body.

The Treasurer is making these unilateral decisions with the consent of the President.
I have asked for written documentation of a policy that allows this practice (March 26th) and as of this date, I have not received any.

This repeated practice has become the norm in LA32NC and as a result it has disenfrachised and disempowered the board and it has disenfranchised and disempowered the 45,000+ stakeholders, the

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

2016 01 11 LA32NC board meeting agenda.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.

Luis G. Sanchez

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

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