Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Cmte Special Meeting Agenda

Thursday, September 1, 2022 – 7:30 pm

VIRTUAL MEETING BY TELECONFERENCE

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VIRTUAL MEETING TELECONFERENCING and PHONE NUMBER FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

In conformity with the September 16, 2021 Enactment of California Assembly Bill 361 (Rivas) and concerns over COVID19, the Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee 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 dial 1 669 900 6833 to access by phone or internet via browser or the “Zoom” App and enter Webinar ID # 896 1469 1727 and then press # to join the meeting. The Chair will give listeners instructions for providing public comments at the start of the meeting. When calling-in telephonically, the public is requested to dial *9, when prompted by the Chair or Moderator, to address the Committee on any agenda item before the Committee takes action on each item. Zoom users should use the “raise hand” feature.

AB 361 Updates: Submission of Public comment cannot be required in advance of the meeting, only real-time  public comment is required. If broadcasting interruptions prevent the public from observing or hearing the meeting, the meeting must be recessed or adjourned. If the people cannot provide public comment or cannot be heard due to issues within the Neighborhood Council’s control, the meeting must be recessed or adjourned.

Messaging and virtual backgrounds are in the control of the individual Committee member in their personal capacity. They do 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 Committee on any agenda item before the Committee takes action on an item. The Committee will accept comments from the public on agenda items only when the Committee considers the individual item.
• PUBLIC INPUT ON MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA – During the General Public Comment period, the

Committee listens to comments from the public on other matters not appearing on the agenda that are within the Committee’s jurisdiction. Please note that the Brown Act prevents the Committee from acting on an issue that you bring to its attention during the General Public Comment period; however, the issue raised by a public member may become the subject of a future Committee meeting.

Public Comments are limited to two (2) minutes per speaker unless adjusted by the presiding member of the Committee. The presiding member may impose time limits per each agenda item as needed.

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AGENDA

1.              Call to Order

2.              Establish Quorum: Roll Call — Heath Kline, Kathleen Barth, John Sandy Campbell, August Steurer

3.              Comments by the Public regarding Issues NOT on the Agenda.
minutes each)

4.              Approval of Available Committee Minutes:                                  Roll Call Vote

Draft minutes posted when available on whcouncil.com event page for this meeting.

Committee Items for Discussion and Possible Action: 

All comment is limited to 2 minutes per speaker unless adjusted by the presiding member of the Committee. 

 

5.             DWP Rates (Reconsideration of adopted motion)

Reconsideration and possible action to adopt a substitute motion adopted at the previous meeting on August 25th.

Reconsideration of:

The Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee recommends that the Board of the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council adopt the following motion:

The Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council [WHWCNC] supports the use of the ratepayer categories used in the Water and Power Associates recommendation letter of June 20, 2022, for the purpose of projecting rate increases for a variety of consumption DWP residential and small business users from the LA100 power system program for each year into the future where rates are forecast. See examples set forth in the attached letter. [link]. The table should show the projected rate increases for both Zone 1 and Zone 2 (high consumption areas of the SFV) ratepayers.  Furthermore, the WHWCNC asks that the LADWP widely disseminate these updated table showing projected rate increases in advance of any future rate increases through billing inserts, email and text alerts, social media and print and broadcast media campaigns in sufficient time for the public to provide input before any rate increases are put into effect.

The WHWCNC will inform the Board of Commissioners of the LADWP, DWP Management, the LADWP Rate Payer Advocate, the Mayor and City Council of this position.

Offered Substitution:

The Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee recommends that the Board of the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council adopt the following motion:

The Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council [WHWCNC] supports the Water and Power Associates letter of June 20, 2022 [letter link], to the LA Department of Water & Power [LADWP] Board of Commissioners.

The WHWCNC strongly believes that all future rate increases projected under the LA100 Strategic Long-Term Resource Plan [presentation link], or come about because of, for example, but not limited to projected increases from increased use of water from the Metropolitan Water District [MWD] and their upstream providers and surcharges that these providers may be imposing on LADWP be communicated to its customers through the use of charts like those contained at the end of the Water and Power Associates letter [bottom of page 2]

LADWP should expand its projected rate increase charts for water and electricity to show the projected rate increases for both Zone 1 and Zone 2 (high temperature-consumption allotment areas of the San Fernando Valley & East LA) [map link], ratepayers. Additionally, LADWP charts should show customers under rate plans such as “Time of Use” or have dedicated meters-billing plans for EV charging or meters for outdoor water use. Charts should be available for any new rate plans offered.

The LADWP should maintain prominently on its website updates to the rate charts that show projected versus actual rate increases for the past five years. Projected versus actual billed rates should be explained. This information will allow customers to see trends and gauge for themselves the accuracy of LADWP rate projections and the reliance they should put on them.

Furthermore, the WHWCNC asks that the LADWP widely disseminate these updated tables showing projected rate increases in advance of future rate increases. LADWP should use billing inserts, NC outreach, email, and text alerts, social media, and print and broadcast media campaigns in sufficient time for the public to provide input before rate increases take effect. Most importantly, customers will be able to respond intelligently to the signals LADWP and the marketplace is sending them about their resource consumption, savings, and generation opportunities.

The WHWCNC will inform the LADWP Board of Commissioners, DWP Management, the LADWP Rate Payer Advocate, the Mayor, the LA City Council Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice and River Committee, LA City Council Member Bob Blumenfield, and staffs of this position.

6.           Animal Services Volunteers Termination (Reconsideration of adopted motion)

Reconsideration and possible action to adopt a substitute motion adopted at the previous meeting on August 25th.

Reconsideration of:

The Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee recommends that the Board of the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council adopt the following motion:

WHEREAS the Los Angeles Times, as well as other news outlets, have run stories very critical of the Animal Services Department and conditions for animals in the City Animal Shelters, for example:

‘It’s Inhumane’: Dogs At L.A. Animal Shelters Go Weeks Or Months Without Being Walked: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-14/la-city-animal-shelters-dogs-sit-in-kennels-weeks-months-without-walks

‘Horrified’: L.A. City Council Members Call For Action On Overcrowded Animal Shelters: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-16/l-a-city-council-members-called-for-action-city-shelters

LA Animal Services Officials Blame Staff Shortage, Pandemic Challenges For Issues At City Shelters: https://abc7.com/animal-shelters-la-city-council-concerns-emergency-meeting/12061158/

; and,

WHEREAS, Volunteers who spoke with the press and others about conditions at the City Animal Shelters have been suspended or terminated; and,

WHEREAS, This harms the animals who are deprived of the essential care given by these Volunteers, making the conditions exposed in these articles even worse; and,

WHEREAS, This may likely being a First Amendment violation subjecting the City to potential liability; and,

WHEREAS, The problems at the City Shelters have been brought up at the Board of Animal Services Commissioners (BASC) meetings for many months, to no avail, because, for the most part, the BASC and Department Management did little or nothing to fix the problems; and,

WHEREAS, Recently, the Commissioners have taken steps to severely limit public comment, and to prevent Neighborhood Council resolutions and Community Impact Statement from being heard at their meetings; and,

WHEREAS,  Commissioners and Animal Services Department management have ignored complaints of Shelter Volunteers, who care deeply about the animals and needed to speak to the press, newspapers and television news, about what is going on at the Shelters; and,

WHEREAS, In a further attempt to cover-up conditions at the Shelters, the Animal Services Department management, with the apparent approval of the Commissioners, have suspended and terminated Volunteers, in an attempt to intimidate Volunteers into silence;

THEREFORE, The Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee recommends the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council RESOLVE, that it strongly condemns the suspension or termination of Volunteers for speaking with the press about conditions in the City Animal Shelters or exercising their First Amendment rights and the actions be investigated and the volunteers reinstated.

Offered Substitution:

The Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee [WHIP] recommends the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council to adopt the following CIS and submit it to the following three City Council files:

Council File 22-1111-S10 Personnel, Audits, and Animal Welfare Committee Meetings / Public Comment / Communication(s) from Public / 2022 (NO MOTION ATTACHED – only a general public comment file)

Council File 22-0943 Department of Animal Services / Animal Shelters / Budgetary Needs (AGAINST UNLESS AMENDED)

Council File 20-1177 Glue LLC / Marketing, Fundraising, Public Relations and Website Development and Management Services / Contract  (AGAINST)

DRAFT CIS

Like most Angelenos, members of the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council were appalled and disappointed by the reports in the Los Angeles Times [link to LAT] of mistreatment and neglect of animals in the care of the Department of Animal Services. It appears that the Department is understaffed and lacks skilled managerial leadership, and these shortcomings led to a profound breach of moral and fiduciary duty.

It is unfathomable how neither the Personnel Audits and Animal Welfare Committee (PAAW) nor the Mayor-appointed Board of Animal Services Commissioners gave any public indication of these problems. Instead, they left it to a newspaper exposé [link to LAT] and volunteers’ honest, heartbreaking words [link to ABC7] to make these conditions known to the broader public. News media news outlets have documented these conditions before, including occupied animal living quarters overrun by rats [link to Newsweek] and flooding shelters [link to CF 19-1584].

Necessary actions must be taken to quickly and efficiently process into the system the many people who have applied to be volunteers, including, as necessary, clerical staff being transferred to the Department to process backlogged applications. The City shelters’ substantial volunteer corps, without which the shelters could not operate, must be treated with the respect they deserve and given a formal seat at the table in current and future decision-making for the shelters and their procedures and operation. One option worth considering is the formation of a volunteers’ “Animal Services Advisory Committee,” with representatives elected by the volunteers from each of the City’s shelters.

Volunteers suspended or terminated for speaking to the media, after bringing their concerns first to Department of Animal Services management and the Board of Animal Services Commissioners only to be ignored, must be immediately reinstated. Terminating highly skilled volunteers who run shelter programs such as dog playgroups, train other volunteers, and walk the more challenging dogs further harms animals in the shelters. Retaliation against employee whistleblowers is illegal, and reprisals against volunteers are equally wrong and erode trust in our City’s governance structures. Should the City be able to terminate a volunteer for engaging in good faith criticism of the City? Good governance depends upon the willingness of constituents to speak out without fear of retaliation.

A complete and comprehensive audit should be undertaken by the City Controller of the Department of Animal Services, including its volunteer program, to analyze the Department’s needs, budget, staffing structure and numbers, and the effectiveness of its expenditures.

Additionally, the exorbitant $1.5 million contract with the marketing firm The Glue LLC should be immediately examined, and the nature, circumstances, and expenditure on this contract should be investigated by the Controller for fraud, waste, and abuse.  The contract is currently delinquent, and its costs are much higher than industry standards. This should include a review of the change in the terms of use [link to Ordinance 185617] of the Animal Welfare Trust Fund instituted in 2018, which was approved by both the Animal Services Commission and the PAAW Committee. In FY 2021-2022, 63% of all expenditures from the donor-funded Animal Welfare Trust Fund went to the Glue marketing contract (for services that have yet to be delivered) rather than the care of animals. Animal care is why people donate to and the purpose of this trust.

Contrary to the motion [link to CF 22-0943] introduced by Councilmember Koretz, this is not simply a crisis of budgetary resources; it is a crisis of dubious priorities, inept management, and derelict and negligent oversight. For example, the City has never adequately funded or enforced its spay and neuter policies, which has directly contributed to the current overcrowding. Alongside these management issues, however, it is true that the City has chronically underfunded the Department of Animal Services and must henceforth budget appropriately for the needs of the animals. There is a clear need for the Department to have permanent independent, neutral oversight, such as from an ombudsman to whom issues of concern could be directed. This is especially the case given the Department’s substantial skilled volunteer workforce. Often, they are the first to recognize needed changes and need a communication channel free of retribution.

The shelter system’s animals, volunteers, employees, and taxpayers deserve the humane and ethical treatment that a better-run department would provide. The responsibility for delivering it falls to you and your appointees.

7.  Privatization of Northeast Valley Animal Shelter built with Public Funds

Item continued from August 25, 2022.

Offered Motion:

WHEREAS, The Northeast Valley Animal Shelter is a City facility built with Proposition F funds to be a municipal animal shelter, open to the public.  It was not meant to be a private facility to house rescue organizations.  Nevertheless, the Board of Animal Services Commissioners has issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) to do just that, lease the Northeast Valley Animal Shelter to rescue organizations to operate; and,

WHEREAS, The Board of Animal Services Commissioners and Animal Services Department did not provide an opportunity for the affected Neighborhood Councils to provide input into this decision, the Department of Animal Services and City Council should receive input from the affected Neighborhood Councils before releasing the Request for Proposal for rescue organizations to operate the Northeast Valley Animal Shelter; and,

WHEREAS, The RFP was released without input from the affected Neighborhood Councils; and,

WHEREAS, the City Council introduced a resolution (Council File 22-0897, Koretz and Blumenfield) to amend the City Charter to require that the commission associated with any department contemplating the issuance of an RFP hold a public hearing or the department hold a public meeting, to provide members of the public an opportunity to offer relevant ideas for consideration by the department prior to the drafting of the RFP; and,

WHEREAS, the Animal Services Commission doesn’t appear to be doing anything to stop the RFP for the Northeast Valley Shelter;

Therefore, the Woodland Hills Issues and Policies Committee recommends that the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Neighborhood Council RESOLVE, that the Board believes the Northeast Valley Animal Shelter should be a full-service municipal animal shelter as contemplated by Proposition F and that no action should be taken on the RFP (Request for Proposal) until it is determined if this can be done.

8. Adjournment of Meeting

Meeting dates for the 2021-2022 year: Committee holds meetings on the second and fourth Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm. Check the NC website calendar for a complete committee and board meetings list. Meeting dates and times are subject to change. Check the NC calendar for updated meeting schedules.

The next Regular Committee Meeting will be held on September 8, 2022, via teleconference. Please visit the calendar page at whcouncil.org for the complete details and confirm the date and time. Any needed Special Meetings before the date will be posted there also.

Due to COVID 19, virtual teleconferencing replaces ALL in-person Committee meetings. However, please check the www.whcouncil.org website calendar page for any changes that may occur.

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• PUBLIC ACCESS OF RECORDS – In compliance with Government Code section 54957.5, the Committee provides non-exempt writings distributed to a majority of all of the Committee Members in advance of a meeting on the WHWCNC website: www.whcouncil.org or via the scheduled meeting video presentation. In addition, if you would like a copy of any record related to an item on the agenda, please contact Joyce Fletcher at (818) 340-6554 or email fletcher@whcouncil.org
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A copy of this agenda is also physically posted outside of the West Valley Warner Center Chamber window located at 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Ste 2330, Woodland Hills, CA 91367. The Chamber offices are at the Promenade Mall outside the mall’s east entrance and south of Ruth Chris Restaurant. Access the offices from Owensmouth Street. Parking is free. 

• RECONSIDERATION AND GRIEVANCE PROCESS – For information on the WHWCNC process for board action

reconsideration, stakeholder grievance policy, or other procedural matters related to this Council, please consult the WHWCNC Bylaws. The Bylaws are available at our website at www.whcouncil.org