Election Proceedures Working Group
Minutes, September 24, 2003

October 6, 2003

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NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
ELECTION PROCEDURES WORKING GROUP

MINUTES FOR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 24, 2003
Room 360, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012

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Attended by: Frank Martinez, City Clerk’s Office
Arleen Taylor, City Clerk’s Office
Jinny Pak, City Clerk’s Office
Laurie Lavine, Valley Glen Neighborhood Council
Jim Leahy, Volunteer Center of Los Angeles
Greg Nelson, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Jamiko Bell, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Michele Cuevas, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Rita Moreno, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Gwen Poindexter, Office of the City Attorney
Renee Stadel, Office of the City Attorney
Julie Rajan, League of Women Voters

The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will provide staff to take minutes, prepare agendas, and provide other clerical support.

Jamiko Bell will be the main contact from the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, and will be in charge of preparing the substance of the Working Group’s report. She will contact representatives from the City Clerk’s office to determine how to prepare for the next meeting.

It was decided that the Working Group will begin work with the following members:

(1) Clerk Clerk’s office
(1) Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
(1) Gwen Poindexter, Office of the City Attorney
(1) Renee Stadel, Office of the City Attorney
(1) Julie Rajan, League of Women Voters

For the next meeting, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will recommend seven (7) Neighborhood Councils (one from each of the City’s seven Neighborhood Service Areas) to serve on the Working Group. At a publicly noticed meeting, the initial Working Group will either confirm or reject the DONE recommendation on the seven Neighborhood Councils to be added to the Working Group. The public will have an opportunity to provide comment on the DONE recommendations. Each of the seven Neighborhood Councils approved for addition to the Working Group will be responsible for selecting the individual representing the Neighborhood Council on the Working Group.

The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will stress to potential volunteers wishing to serve on the Working Group as area representatives that the ideal member should have experience in writing election procedures, overseeing an election, be able to comment on and recommend procedures from a citywide perspective, and be able to attend meetings that may be held during the day and in the evening over the two or three months.

That enlarged group of 12 members will then select three additional Neighborhood Council members to serve on the Working Group. The Working Group will determine the criteria, if any, for those three “at large” members.

The Working Group will provide status reports to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners who have already accepted the responsibility of adopting the election procedures policy. The role of the City Council is unclear at this point, and it may depend upon the specific recommendations.

At this point, no quorum has been set for a meeting of the Working Group.

No time has been set for the next meeting of the Working Group.

Gwen Poindexter, City Attorney’s Office, also requested that a Brown Act presentation be placed on the agenda for a future meeting.

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For more information contact:

Shannon Hoppes

Commission Executive Assistant
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
305 E. 1st Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
213 / 847-7155
213 / 485-4608 fax
866 / LA HELPS toll free
shoppes@mailbox.lacity.org email