November 15, 2012
Local News & Culture. Marina del Rey
Westchester
Free S a n ta M o n i c a
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SALES RECEIPT NOT VALID AS STAKE TO VOTE LOCALLY City Attorney Trutanich addresses controversial definition of stakeholder citywide a community. The 2006 addition allowed anyone who can “affirm” a stake in a community to vote, provided they present documentation attesting to their claim. “The current definition has been problematic for some time and given recent electoral challenges at the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, it is timely that the issue of ‘factual basis stakeholder’ be reexamined in a comprehensive manner by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, with the assistance of the city attorney, and with input from the neighborhood councils,” Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar wrote to his council colleagues, Trutanich and the city agency that supervises the city’s 95 neighborhood councils, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). In his Oct. 23 letter, Huizar referred to a situation that occurred in the election of a neighborhood council within his district, where 37 percent of the ballots cast were from factual basis voters. “On Saturday, Oct. 13, the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council conducted its elections where
Photo by Roy Persinko
By Gary Walker Moving to address a continuing perception of outside voters influencing neighborhood council elections, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s office issued a declaration Nov. 13 that a single sales receipt issued in a particular community should not be used to affirm a “stake” in a neighborhood. “Rather, each voter’s ‘factual basis’ stake must reflect a substantial interest in the neighborhood, consistent with the significant stake of those who live, work or own property in the neighborhood and who are identified as stakeholders by the city charter,” Trutanich’s office confirmed. The controversy around voters who do not live, work or own land in a community where they seek to vote has been a source of controversy since the City Council expanded the definition of what comprises an eligible voter in neighborhood council elections in 2006. When neighborhood councils were created in 1999, the city charter included the definition for eligible voters as anyone who lives, works or owns property in
Presenting a sales receipt at a neighborhood council polling place is not a legally sufficient stake to qualify a voter, according to City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s office. While councils like Eagle Rock had a high percentage of factual basis voters, there were only eight in Mar Vista.
313 of the 792 votes cast were from those claiming to be ‘factual basis stakeholders,’ who are reported to have little or no relationship with the Eagle Rock community,” the councilman wrote. “This was clearly an attempt by outside interests to take con-
trol of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council and constitutes an abuse of the neighborhood council electoral process.” Mark Redick, the newly elected vice president of the Neighborhood Council of WestchesterPlaya, was pleased to learn that Trutanich was addressing the fac-
tual basis question. “It’s about time,” he said. “The city attorney has confirmed the obvious.” Del Rey Residents Association President Elizabeth Pollock sent a letter to DONE regarding the Del Rey Neighborhood Council election, where over 20 percent (Continued on page 8)
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Photo by Paul Antico
•This Week•
Louise Reichlin & Dancers, a performing company of Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers, will present the dance and multimedia suite Baggage at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica Nov. 16-18.
Zimmer, Deasy hail passage of Prop. 30 as a victory for public education By Gary Walker Gov. Jerry Brown scored a major political victory when a tax proposal that he shepherded onto the Nov 6. ballot was approved by voters by a 53 to 47 percent margin. For proponents of Proposition 30, its passage also signaled a temporary, yet significant boost to the coffers of public education. Prop. 30 raises income taxes on those earning in excess of $250,000 a year. In addition, it will raise the state sales tax from 7.25 to 7.5 percent. The tax measure will allocate 89 percent of the temporary tax revenues to K-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges. Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Steve Zimmer was at the forefront of local legislators who sought to engage parents as
well as students of voting age on the consequences of the failure of the tax measure. “The scope of the potential catastrophe that people were preparing for was unimaginable,” he said. “I don’t think many people understood what the ramifications were if (Prop. 30) failed.” The school board member, whose district includes schools in Westchester, Playa del Rey, Mar Vista, Venice and Del Rey, networked with parents as well as other interested parties to encourage everyone who was of voting age to vote. Zimmer, along with other Prop. 30 proponents, argued that without the tax revenue from the ballot measure, drastic cuts to public education would be enacted. “The message is even in the midst of an economic crisis, despite millions of dollars in nega(Continued on page 6)