| Return to FHHCC Home | |
|
Regarding the article in the L.A. Daily News 1-14-05 "Political Manipulators" |
|
When Greg Nelson spoke to our energetic forming neighborhood council many years ago, he promised us that NC's would level the playing field in the pay to play world of lobbyists downtown. In essence, he promised us that we would become lobbyists and NCs would be the training ground for tomorrow's political leaders. Later we realized that was a scary thing and chose not to get certified and to act as an independent neighborhood council. We are still working today and are successful in mentoring and empowering our neighborhoods. (see www.franklinhollywoodhills.org) This particular situation with the 1/2 cent issue highlights the real purpose of NCs in the first place - to empower the city and control constituents rather than give them a voice or greater access. The people are now censored and held hostage by the funding and "power" that they are handed along with certification. In most cases, by the time a forming NC knows what's going on, the majority of the group is stimulated by the promise of money and "power" and any dissenting voices from the group are pushed aside. This marginalizing is done with the help of the DONE staff in most cases. There are complaints filed with BONC routinely by some of the marginalized citizenry. When hearings come to address this, the forming council aided by the DONE cause the complainer to be viewed as a poor loser or someone who is not a team player -- obviously not leadership material. The complainer is encouraged to participate with the group and the group is encouraged to "reach out" to the complainer so he/she feels included... BONC feels they have done their job and the group goes along as if nothing had happen - undisturbed. So the fact that NCs are going in the direction they are is not surprising - most real leaders drop away and are turned off to the system when they get a whiff of what is really behind it. Sadly, most become turned off to volunteerism and community participation all together. This is the unfortunate consequences of turning a grassroots effort into a quazi-governmental body - NCs were to be independent - not part of the city family. This error must be rectified before NCs can really function the way we all believed they would. In closing, we encourage anyone who really wants change in their community to work with their local neighborhood organization, form block watch groups, and create strong coalitions with neighboring groups so that, when issues arise that are important, their voices can be heard the old fashioned way - by storming city hall! This is the only thing that city government and politicians respect - people they can't control. Fran Reichenbach |
|
| Return to top | |