Will There Be Anyone Left To Vote?

THE GOOD NEWS about this attempt at an Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election is the record-qualifying candidate turnout: 34 candidates for 14 seats. (PDF here.) Signs for the Oct. 6 election, in English and Spanish, are unavoidable. And we have a candidate forum, Oct. 4, 6:00pm at Glenfeliz Elementary School Auditorium (3810 Hollypark). The bad news is the other forum, AVNC's online forum. Official word is it was "closed by the Independent Election Administrator because of 2 (extremely) inappropriate postings in the Election category." Sound familiar? This Administrator is getting good at shutting things down. Like the last election. In its entirety. In February Walt Sweeney trashed $12,000 of election prep over grammar corrections on the AVNC Web site. This time, grammar it ain't. It's the AV Enquirer, who comments sometimes on my Newbie blog, and may have penned the "inappropriate" posts at AVNC. I read those posts. (Didn't save them, sorry. Google cached an old July post.) They seemed no less appropriate than some of the other claptrap on the forum. (Starbucks didn't exactly shutter the site over anti-corporate coffee comments.) But if the posts were libelous or revealed personal information, let's say, why wouldn't the Administrator just ask for them to be deleted? Why shut down the entire forum? The forum is as much about nannies and pizza places and crime than this election anyway.

Locked Out! AVNC Removes Forum

WHAT WAS AN OFTEN lively if sometimes petty and etiquette-free neighborhood forum has been "removed." The host site belonging to Atwater Village Neighborhood Council offers no explanation. Please say this isn't election related. It's one thing for candidates to fire potshots at each other. It's another thing to shut out all 8,000 voters. Do we have to cancel another election, or are we all gonna play nice this time?

Atwatergate: 'Blunted by Infighting'

SPEAKING OF THINGS NEWSPAPERS might be sniffing for, our Atwater Village non elections could catch the eye of the LA Times reporter behind this piece about neighborhood councils being "blunted by infighting, poor community outreach and a lack of influence with key city departments." Particularly newsworthy since the mayor appointed Carol Baker Tharp as LA's new Department of Neighborhood Empowerment general manager. A hundred bucks says AVNC is already on her list.

Atwatergate: Tits for Tat

MORE FALLOUT FROM LAST WEEK's canceled election for Atwater Village Neighborhood Council. The candidate accused of breaking election rules responds. The council co-chairs respond. See if you can follow the bouncing balls. My eyes are... beginning... to... glaze... over. Accused Candidate Luis Lopez Responds (PDF) - "I revised my statement to clean up typographical and grammatical errors... This did not constitute 'an unfair advantage.'" [Friends of Atwater Village] AVNC Co-Chairs Ken Osborn & Jeff Gardner Respond - "The existing AVNC board will continue until a new election can be organized..." [AVNC] The usual suspects will suss it out March 8, 7:00pm, at New Hope Chapel, 2861 Los Feliz Blvd. Do they ever say fourth time's a charm? If so, good luck pulling it off.

Atwatergate: Quote of the Week

FROM AN ATWATER VILLAGE forum post: "They really did a good job getting the word out on the day. Sucks to see that someone didn't get it together to make sure it went through. I ALMOST participated this time. Now it seems like they lost my/our attention or will."

Atwatergate: A Few Logical Follow-Ups

WITH THE ATWATER VILLAGE Neighborhood Council election canceled for the third time in less than a year, one has to wonder: 1. Why cancel an entire election for alleged infractions of only two of the 14 candidates? 2. How can someone from Reseda cancel an AVNC election, issue a 660-word gossip column non election report, and then refer "all questions about the report and the canceled election to the current AVNC Board"? 3. Shouldn't the election be postponed instead of canceled? 4. Who gains from eliminating two of the three candidates for business representative? 5. Will Mrs. Newbie and I ever get to vote in a neighborhood election? Neighborhood Council Election Procedures - PDF File [lacity.org]

Atwatergate: 660 Words from the Election Administrator

THE INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATOR assigned to the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election - canceled for the third time in less than a year - reports this via Valleynews.com: "After investigation I discovered that the candidate statements posted on the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council's website were altered from the original submitted version. The two altered candidates were Michel Khalil and Luis Lopez. The altered text corrected the grammatical errors on Luis Lopez's statement and suggested looking at a website. It also stated 'Vote for Luis and Mike on February 24th!'" That's the gist of the 660-word "non election recap" from Reseda's Walt Sweeney. I can see disqualifying a couple of candidates, but canceling the entire election? Over grammar? Sweeney said he doesn't want to "waste taxpayers money," but what about the reported $12,000 cost of this election, canceled just days in advance? This statement is sure to be parsed further in days to come. Stay tuned. Neighborhood Council election scandal brewing? [Valley News]

Electile Dysfunction in Atwater Village

AFTER A BANNER YEAR for resignations (June, July, August, September) and three delays of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council elections, I think the neighborhood deserves an explanation. We could just roll our eyes and move on. But elections cost money. Banners, mailings, publicity and promotion take money and time. Does anyone know why this election was canceled and what will happen next? Is this the end of the AVNC? Leave non-libelous comments below or email: atwatervillagenewbie@gmail.com Besides, Mrs. Newbie and I were really looking forward to voting.

Breaking! Third Time is Not the Charm

SO MUCH FOR THE NEXT Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election. It was supposed to be this Saturday, Feb. 24. But then this note appears atop atwatervillage.org: "Due to election irregularities. There will be no candidate forum on Thursday, February 22 and there will be no election on Saturday, February 24. Further information will be available from the Atwater Village Board shortly." The note is signed by Walt Sweeney, RNC Chairman. Is that RNC as in Republican National Commitee? Highly doubtful. Though there is a Walt Sweeney who chairs the Reseda Neighborhood Council. Is the Valley annexing Atwater Village once and for all? A quick recap of our neighborhood's attempts at democracy: May 31, 2006 - AVNC will hold its Third Election on August 12, 2006... July 16, 2006 - The election is October 14... Aug. 18, 2006 - Approximately February 2007... Feb. 21, 2007 - February election canceled Does anyone know what the hell is going on?

For the Love of All Things Democratic

Let's not let another neighborhood election slip away. Again. After two recruiting sessions, the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council has all of three candidate applications. Even adding them to the four incumbents planning to run again, AVNC still falls short of election requirements and may postpone voting for the third time in six months. Apply here. Deadline is today, January 25, by 5:00pm. How hard could it be.

Democracy Delayed

Will the cause of freedom ever spread to our little Village? Where are the United Nations election supervisors? Help us, Condoleezza! May 31 - The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council (AVNC) will hold its Third Election on August 12, 2006... July 16 - The election is October 14... Aug. 18 - Approximately February 2007...