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July Full Board Meeting Teleconference
July 13, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm PDT
AGENDA
Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council
FULL BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, July 13, 2022, 6:30 pm
VIRTUAL MEETING BY TELECONFERENCE
Zoom Meeting Online or By Telephone
(https://us02web.zoom.us/j/96493712127 )
Dial (1 669 900 6833) to Join the Meeting
Then Enter This Webinar ID: 964 9371 2127 and Press #
VIRTUAL MEETING TELECONFERENCING and PHONE NUMBER FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
In conformity with the September 16, 2021 Enactment of California Assembly Bill 361 (Rivas) and due to concerns over COVID-19, the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council meeting will be conducted entirely telephonically with a call-in option or internet based service option.
Every person wishing to address the Neighborhood Council must either dial 1 669 900 6833 or go online via Zoom and enter Webinar ID # 964 9371 2127 and then press # to join the meeting. Instructions on how to sign up for public comment will be given to listeners at the start of the meeting. When calling-in telephonically, the public is requested to dial *9, when prompted by the presiding officer, to address the Board on any agenda item before the Board takes an action on an item. Zoom users should use the “raise hand” feature.
AB 361 Updates: Public comment cannot be required to be submitted in advance of the meeting, only real-time
public comment is required. If there are any broadcasting interruptions that prevent the public from observing or hearing the meeting, the meeting must be recessed or adjourned. If members of the public are unable to provide
public comment or be heard due to issues within the Neighborhood Council’s control, the meeting must be recessed
or adjourned.
Any messaging or virtual background is in the control of the individual board member in their personal capacity and does not reflect any formal position of the Neighborhood Council or the City of Los Angeles.
*PUBLIC INPUT ON AGENDA ITEMS – The public may address the Board on any agenda item before the Board takes an action on an item. Comments from the public on agenda items will be heard only when the respective item is being considered. Public comment is limited to (1) minute per speaker.
*PUBLIC INPUT ON MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA – Comments from the public on other matters not appearing on the agenda that are within the Board’s jurisdiction will be heard during the General Public Comment period. Please note that under the Brown Act, the Board is prevented from acting on a matter that you bring to its attention during the General Public Comment period; however, the issue raised by a member of the public may become the subject of a future Board meeting.
General Public Comment is limited to (1) minute per speaker and 20 minutes total unless adjusted by
the presiding officer of the board.
____________________________________________________________________________________
AGENDA
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call
Public Announcements:
Office of Councilmember Bob Blumenfield (3 minutes)
Office of Local and State Officials – if available (3 minutes each)
Other Local Agencies – if available (2 minutes each)
General Public Comment, by the Public, on Non-Agenda Items:
General Public Comment is limited to (1) minute per speaker and 20 minutes total.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Presentation
(5) minute presentation and (10) minute Q&A
818 Motel, 20157 Ventura Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91364
Ken Craft, CEO – Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission
The County of Los Angeles, in partnership with the State of California and local homeless service provider Hope of the Valley, are in the process of purchasing the100 unit 818 Hotel, near Winnetka and Ventura Blvd., across from Taft High School, for the purpose of providing interim housing for families currently experiencing homelessness. The site is slated to close escrow the first week of August and will undergo a six-month renovation process. To learn more about the project please join Hope of the Valley CEO Ken Craft for a more detailed description of the project followed by Q&A.
www.hopeofthevalley.org (15 minutes)
____________________________________________________________________________________
- Organization, Operation, Policies, & Procedures:
All comment is limited to 1 minute per speaker, unless adjusted by the presiding officer of the Board.
Time limits set for each agenda item may be adjusted by the presiding officer of the Board. Time limits may vary so the public is encouraged to join the meeting several minutes PRIOR to a specific agenda item being discussed.
- Approval of Minutes: Board Meeting, May 11, 2022 (Revised) (5 minutes)
See posted support document. Roll Call Vote
Board Meeting – June 8, 2022 (5 minutes)
See posted support document. Roll Call Vote
- Officer Reports (5 minutes)
President – Joyce Fletcher
The 2023 Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council Election for board seats in
WHWCNC Areas, 1, 3, 5 and 7 will be held on June 18, 2023.
Current vacant seats on the board – At Large Rep., At Large Alternate, Area 3 Business, Area 4 Residential Rep., Area 4 Alternate, Area 5 Business Rep., Area 5 Alternate, Area 6 Alternate, Area 7 Alternate
Vice President – Dena Weiss
Treasurer – Paul Lawler
Secretary – Karen DiBiase
Parliamentarian – Mihran Kalaydjian
- Items for Discussion and Possible Action:
Item No. (1) Treasurer, Paul Lawler
(22-068) May 2022 Monthly Expense Report – MER
Discussion and possible action: (5 minutes)
Motion for the board to approve the MER for May 2022.
See posted support documents Roll Call Vote
Item No. (2) Treasurer, Paul Lawler
(22-069) June 2022 Monthly Expense Report – MER
Discussion and possible action: (5 minutes)
Motion for the board to approve the MER for June 2022.
See posted support documents Roll Call Vote
Item No. (3) Governance Committee – Joyce Fletcher, Chair
(22-070) Stakeholder request – Board Seat, Area 4 Residential
Discussion and possible action: (10 minutes)
Motion for the board to appoint Don Patterson as the Area 4 Residential Representative.
Roll Call Vote
Item No. (4) Governance Committee – Joyce Fletcher, Chair
(22-071) Stakeholder request – Board Seat, Area 4 Alternate
Discussion and possible action: (10 minutes)
Motion for the board to appoint Rachel Tabak as the Area 4 Alternate Representative.
Roll Call Vote
Item No. (5) Education Committee – Mihran Kalaydjian, Chair
(22-072) WHWCNC Virtual Town Hall
Discussion and possible action: (10 minutes)
Motion for the board to approve a WHWCNC sponsored Virtual Town Hall to meet the two candidates running for Mayor in the November 1, 2022 Los Angeles Runoff Election. The two candidates for Mayor
of Los Angeles are Karen Bass and Rick Caruso. The date to be determined. A moderator will be invited
to moderate the virtual town hall. Candidates will discuss a variety of topics including school and education concerns and future opportunities for students in Los Angeles.
Roll Call Vote
Item No. (6) Woodland Hills Issues & Policy Committee [WHIP] – Heath Kline, Chair
(22-073) Community Impact Statement (CIS) Council File 22-560
Discussion and possible action: (15 minutes)
Motion to support pending changes and suggested additional improvements to the Los Angeles Municipal Lobbying Ordinance.
WHEREAS the WHWCNC WHIP Committee has had experience with paid lobbyists appearing before WHIP trying to influence the position of the Committee and, in turn, the WHWCNC Board, without disclosing they were paid lobbyists. Then when confronted, the individuals admitted they were paid lobbyists for a non-profit lobbying organization. However, the lobbyist failed to disclose that the 501(c) organization paying them received its funding from an industry trade association that has taken a position against widely accepted local, state, national and international standards. The WHIP Committee determined these widely accepted standards would be in the best interest of the Woodland Hills community and the City of Los Angeles.
NOW, THEREFORE, the WHWCNC WHIP Committee strongly supports the Ethics Commission proposed changes to the Los Angeles Municipal Lobbying Ordinance together with the changes suggested in the Reseda NC filed CIS and the WHIP unanimously passed DRAFT CIS statement below. We ask WHWCNC to adopt this position and so inform city officials by filing the following Community Impact Statement and emailing copies as indicated:
DRAFT CIS
(Municipal Lobbying Ordinance / Updates)
The Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council [WHWCNC] supports the changes recommended in the Report from City Ethics Commission to the municipal lobbying ordinance (MLO) regarding neighborhood councils [NCs]. We also request the consideration of changes to a few areas of the draft MLO that we believe will benefit transparency in all parts of city government.
This matter is extremely important to NCs because we are routinely disadvantaged and victimized by loopholes in the current MLO. Therefore, we ask Council President Martinez to hold hearings on Council File 22-0560 and move the updated and improved MLO for adoption ASAP.
Under section 48.08.8 of the current lobbying ordinance, a lobbyist disclosure is required only for written communications to NCs. We believe the MLO should be updated to include identical disclosure requirements when a lobbyist makes an oral presentation or public comment to an NC related to their lobbying efforts. Therefore, we deeply agree with section 48.11 of the draft MLO under consideration.
NCs continue to meet virtually due to COVID. It is anticipated virtual meetings will continue in some form even when/if the pandemic passes. Additionally, under AB 361, we are prohibited from requiring “speaker cards,” which is where traditionally lobbying disclosures had happened on our council. While the WHWCNC can require disclosure for its meetings, that disclosure has no teeth for enforcement as it is not an ordinance and does not address the other 98 NCs that similarly serve as elected advisory bodies to the city.
We believe the lack of oral lobbyist disclosure requirement leaves many NC board members and attending members of the public at an information disadvantage that should be addressed for the following reasons:
1) Transparency. We believe every voting member at a board meeting has the right to the knowledge if a lobbyist is speaking on an item for which they are compensated to lobby.
2) Diffusion of responsibility. A lobbyist may send a correct written disclosure either via mail or email. Still, often these communications do not go to every board member and attending members of the public. Unless the receiving board member is diligent in passing along these communications, the possibility exists that other board members and members of the public following the discussion would not know of the lobbyist status of the individual speaking.
3) Lack of training. NC members do not receive training on identifying or looking up lobbyist activities in the city through the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. We believe the legal onus should be on the lobbyist to be as upfront and straightforward with the board, and members of the public attending, as possible. Additionally, the responsibility is then on the paid lobbyist rather than the volunteer board member when it comes to the pursuit of this information.
The WHWCNC recommends similar verbal lobbying and paid representative disclosures for all city government meetings. Required disclosure announcements at these meetings could be made by the lobbyist or the presiding officer of the meeting. These disclosures would ensure the public is fully aware of the associations of all speakers who are paid lobbyists. NC members and members of the general public frequently listen to city government meetings or recordings of the meetings. Therefore, we strongly feel that this minor addition would bring greater transparency to city processes. We urge the City Council to adopt this simple change.
Suggested MLO Improvements. In addition, the WHWCNC would like to suggest some additional changes that it believes will further improve the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance for the benefit of all levels of City government and members of the public:
- The City Council should adopt a non-profit exemption of $200,000 in revenue or $500,000 in assets instead of the proposed $2,000,000. This change aligns with the IRS tax filing system and would allow any non-profit that files a 990-N or 990-EZ to gain exemption. This change also reflects the current San Francisco ethics ordinance. The current recommendation of $2 million in revenue is far too high and would exempt most non-profits in Southern California. Only 16% of Southern California non-profits have revenues above $1 million, so an exemption set at twice that amount would adversely impact transparency.
- The MLO should incorporate a provision requiring at the time of oral and written disclosures of a lobbyist, representative, member, agent, or employee of an IRC 501(c) (3), (4), (5) or (6) organization communicating with a City of LA entity a list of that organization’s “major donors.” “Major donor” is defined as contributing more than 5% of the annual funding to the organization during any 12 consecutive months during the preceding 48 months.
Embedded Links in the above document:
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=22-0560
https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2022/22-0560_misc_5-05-22.pdf
Roll Call Vote
Item No. (7) President, Joyce Fletcher
(22-074) Budget Request – LA Congress of Neighborhood Councils
Discussion and possible action:
Motion for the board to approve funding for $500.00 from the 2022-2023 Budget to be a Silver Sponsor
of the 2022 Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhood Councils to be held on Saturday, September 24, 2022 via zoom. The title for the 2022 Congress is “The Future of LA: Celebrating Our City”. The Congress of Neighborhood Councils is the largest annual gathering of Neighborhood Councils, bringing together board members, committee members, and members of the public from throughout Los Angeles. Dozens of workshops, keynote speakers, city department presentations, and more combine to provide learning opportunities for every audience member at the Congress of Neighborhoods.
Link: https://www.neighborhoodcongress.la/
See posted support document Roll Call Vote
- Area Reports – (10 minutes)
Area 1 – Aaron Quantz, Karen DiBiase, Mark Schwartz, Reina Cerros-McCaughey
Area 2 – Arturo Velasquez, Paul Lawler, Sean McCarthy, Kathleen Barth
Area 3 – Nancy McLean, John Sandy Campbell, Alex Farassati
Area 4 – Martin Lipkin, Dena Weiss
Area 5 – Peter Fletcher, Tristin Estandiari
Area 6 – Leslie Simon, Mihran Kalaydjian, Heath Kline
Area 7 – Joyce Fletcher, Houtan Hormozian, Logan Fisher
At-Large – Vacant
Youth Member – Talia Isaacs
- Committee Reports – (10 minutes)
Budget Committee – Paul Lawler, Chair
Community Services and Public Safety Committee – Dena Weiss, Chair
Education Committee – Mihran Kalaydjian, Chair
Environmental & Beautification Committee – Karen DiBiase, Chair
Governance Committee – Joyce Fletcher, Chair
Public Health and Homelessness Committee – Aaron Quantz, Chair
PLUM Committee – TBD, Chair
Social Media & Community Outreach Committee – Peter Fletcher, Chair
WHIP Committee – Heath Kline, Chair
Youth Advisory Committee – Logan Fisher, Chair
Ad Hoc Committee – Measure A. Parks Program – Peter Fletcher, Chair
Ad-hoc Committee – Flight Path and Noise Advisory Committee – Martin Lipkin, Chair
Announcements:
The next Regular Board meeting will be held on August 10, 2022, by teleconference. Please visit the calendar page at whcouncil.org for the complete details and to confirm the date and time.
Meeting dates for 2021 -2022 year: Full Board meeting are held the second Wednesday of every month at 6:30pm. Check the NC website calendar for a complete list of committee and board meetings. Meeting dates and times are subject to change. Check the NC calendar for updated meeting schedules.
Due to COVID 19 ALL in person meetings have been moved to virtual teleconference.
HOWEVER, please check the www.whcouncil.org website calendar page for any changes that may occur.
Adjournment of Meeting:
*THE AMERICAN WITH DISABILITIES ACT – As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services and activities. Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices and other auxiliary aids and/or services, may be provided upon request. To ensure availability of services, please make your request at least (3) business days (72 hours) prior to the meeting you wish to attend by contacting Joyce Fletcher, at (818-340-6554 or email j.fletcher@whcouncil.org or the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment at (213) 978-1551 EmpowerLa@LACity.org
*PUBLIC ACCESS OF RECORDS – In compliance with Government Code section 54957.5, non-exempt writings that are distributed to a majority or all of the board in advance of a meeting may be viewed at our website: www.whcouncil.org or at the scheduled meeting. In addition, if you would like
a copy of any record, if available, related to an item on the agenda, please contact Joyce Fletcher at
(818) 340-6554 or email j.fletcher@whcouncil.org
*PUBLIC POSTING OF AGENDAS – agendas are posted for public review as follows:
• www.whcouncil.org and go to the website Calendar page and click on the date – Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month. Check the calendar for any change of meeting date
and/or time.
• You can also receive our agendas via email by subscribing to L.A. City’s Early Notification System
at https://www.lacity.org/subscriptions
- A copy of this agenda is also physically posted on the outside of the window of the West Valley Warner Center Chamber located at 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Ste 2330, Woodland Hills, CA 91367. The Chamber is located at the Promenade Mall outside the east entrance of the mall and to the left of Ruth Chris Restaurant. The Chamber office is accessed from Owensmouth Street. Parking is free.
*RECONSIDERATION AND GRIEVANCE PROCESS – For information on the WHWCNC process for board action reconsideration, stakeholder grievance policy, or any other procedural matters related
to this Council, please consult the WHWCNC Bylaws. The Bylaws are available at our website at www.whcouncil.org
SERVICIOS DE TRADUCCIÓN – Si requiere servicios de traducción, favor de avisar al Concejo Vecinal 3 días de trabajo (72 horas) antes del evento. Por favor contacte a Joyce fletcher de la Mesa Directiva, al j.fletcher@whcouncil.org o por correo electrónico avisar al Concejo Vecinal.
Notice to Paid Representatives – If you are compensated to monitor, attend, or speak at this meeting, City law may require you to register as a lobbyist and report your activity. See Los Angeles Municipal Code §§ 48.01 et seq. More information is available at ethics.lacity.org/lobbying. For assistance, please contact the Ethics Commission at {213) 978-1960 or ethics.commission@lacity.org