Thursday: Neighborhood Council Candidates

CANDIDATES FOR the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election March 20 are shaking hands and soliciting votes at Thursday's candidates forum. Check out the candidate statements (PDF file) and come ready with questions. Or just with handshakes. Refreshments will be served:

• AVNC Candidates Forum
• Thursday, March 11, 8:00pm
• Christ's Church Griffith Park
• 3852 Edenhurst Ave

Last Chance to Run for Neighborhood Council

THE DEADLINE to declare as a write-in candidate in the March 20 Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election is Feb. 18. Download and complete the AVNC candidate filing packet.

What's the difference between write-in candidates and the candidates who declared at last month's deadline? Basically, the City of LA won't post the statements of write-in candidates, and voters will have to, naturally, write the names on the ballot.

Learn more at the next AVNC meeting, Thursday Feb. 11, 7:00pm, Christ's Church Griffith Park.

Important 2010 Dates for AVNC Candidates

ATWATER VILLAGE Neighborhood Council (AVNC) elections are upon us, with deadlines coming for interested candidates. AVNC seeks:

• 2 North Atwater Residents
• 2 Central Atwater Residents
• 2 South Atwater Residents
• 2 Business Reps
• 2 Community Group/Non-profit Reps
• 2 Church/Religion Reps
• 1 School Rep
• 1 Parks & Recreation Rep
• 1 At-Large Rep

One way to declare your candidacy is by filing a form at the next AVNC meeting: Thursday Jan. 14, 7:30pm, Christ's Church, 3852 Edenhurst Avenue.

Registration deadline is Tuesday Jan. 19 and the AVNC election is March 20.

Download the entire AVNC candidate filing packet.

How Atwater Village Went This Election

ARMCHAIR ANALYSIS of the Los Angeles Times precinct map reveals how our little slice of northeast LA voted on Election Day 2008. The leanings of Atwater Village: Presidential Race: Obama (solidly) Prop 4 Abortion Notification: No (but just barely) Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban: No (but just barely) Measure R Transit Sales Tax: Yes (solidly) No big surprise except this: precincts a few blocks away in the City of Glendale voted Yes to ban gay marriage. Apparently it's more than just the train tracks that separate us.

The 15-Minute Election

ONE OF THE (many) nice things about living in Atwater Village is voting in Atwater Village. For this national election day, our polling place at Glenfeliz Boulevard Elementary serves an area barely 3 blocks wide, maybe 7 blocks long. Which the lines never are. (Long.) More photos from my 7:30 a.m. vote. UPDATE: Unlike some polling places (looking at you, Lincoln Park Recreation Center) the Atwater Village election officials did not ask for photos IDs. Some voters in my line volunteered IDs, but none were asked for them.

Spraying Some Pre-Election Hate in Atwater Village

WHO'S READY for this election to be over? I bet the owner of this car, near Edenhurst and Dover, has had enough. He emailed that he "awoke this morning to find that my 'No On 8' sign and car had been vandalized. Someone spray painted 'Fags' across my back bumper." Another reader noticed a similar (if more nonsensical) pro-Prop-8 message: "I noticed someone had tagged the fence on the corner house of Sunnynook and Valleybrink. Black spray paint was sprayed over the 'Vote No' sign with what looked like 'VAG.' I don't know what VAG could mean in response to Prop 8 but clearly tagging that happens on someone’s fence is not something to be taken lightly. Very uncool indeed." Yes, very uncool.

On Election Night, Eat Like the French

roast chicken, originally uploaded by calamity_hane.

FROM A RELIABLE source, the shes-krafty diary, come deets on Election Night haps at Canele, 3219 Glendale Blvd. Election Day Special Menu at Canele Romaine with blue cheese and cherry tomatoes Meatloaf or roast 1/2 chicken with mashers and vegetables Apple pie and ice cream $22 prix fixe (does not include beverage, tax, gratuity) This will be the entire menu Nov. 4, 2008, and Chef Corina promises live election coverage on a TV rented for the occasion.

Obama Now Leads by 36% (of Cookies)

THIS JUST IN from lunch at Porto's Bakery in Burbank: the donkey cookie leads the elephant cookie by a whopping 36 percent. Barack Obama: 1,695 donkey cookies, 68% John McCain: 796 elephant cookies, 32% Even the undecideds win, as they walk away with at least a mango smoothie and perhaps a media noche sandwich.  Do we smell a fresh-baked mandate?

Atwater Chatter: Not-So-Scary Neighborhood Edition

NEWS FROM IN AND around Atwater Village, one LA neighborhood happy to have taken in a few evacuees from the latest California fires. Gang leader convicted - Timothy McGhee, 34, leader of Atwater Village's Toonerville gang, is found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, four of attempted murder ... Verdicts were welcome news here, where "residents feared McGhee would get off after an almost six-year wait." [LA Daily News] Glendale Boo-levard - Fourth annual "trick or treat fall festival," 3100 block of Glendale Blvd., Friday, Oct. 26, 4:00pm to 5:30pm. [AVNC] Neighborhood Council Election Final Report - Ouch! "In observation of the numbers of votes (398) that were cast in this election, the Human Relations Commission hopes that the Neighborhood Council will not be satisfied with a voter turnout for this election in a neighborhood council that represents over 20,000 stakeholders." Right, City, call us back when you empower neighborhood councils to actually do something. [City of LA] The carp are biting - "Yesterday I came across these dudes fishing in the Glendale Narrows ... Here's Jon and Dean with their carp 'Double Header,' around 4-5 lbs. each." [Nature Trumps] Jim not really a Field Deputy... just a lowly Case Worker - Someone must really hate this guy. [The CD14 Enquirer]

Election Over, Forum Returns

NOW THAT THE COUNCIL election is over, the online neighborhood forum - unceremoniously stripped from the Internet a few weeks ago - is back. It looks like the offending, election-related comments have been removed. Check out the first post after hiatus, and peruse the rest of the forum. Glad to have it back. Now let's try to behave.

Now, Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Neighborhood

AT LAST, IT'S OVER. Barring any meddlers from Reseda, these are your Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election winners (with vote totals): Resident North Atwater - Fernando Dejo-Grundy (203), Leonora Gershman (258) Resident Central Atwater - Phillip Alexander (85), Jenn Hoffman (88) Resident South Atwater - Nancy Mejia (106), Ken Osborne (158) Business Rep. - Jeff Gardner (236), Diane Serafino (249) Religious Rep. - Bruce Fleenor (132), Lenore Solis (205) Community/Non-profit Rep. - Christine Anthony (227), Luis Lopez (188) School Rep. - Tim Warner (268) Park & Rec Rep. - Roberta Javier (190) As one of today's 398 voters, I'm pleased to see most of the people I chose on this list. But there are some I didn't choose who also made it. Term limits, anyone?

You Don't Even Have to Live Here

INTERESTING ELECTORAL TRIVIA: Los Angeles neighborhood council elections are open to all "stakeholders." Who exactly are these stakeholders? The list: Homeowners Renters Property owners Business owners Employees of neighborhood businesses Members of cultural institutions (theater group, art gallery, etc.) Members of religious institutions (churches) Members of service or community non-profit organizations (animal rescue organization, historical society, etc.) Students of neighborhood schools (16 years and older) Members of park and recreation centers (soccer teams, etc.) So basically if you spend more than a few hours in Atwater Village, you might be able to vote in tomorrow's AVNC election. The entire council could be controlled, for all we know, by Costco employees. The election is Saturday, Oct. 6, 9:00am to 4:00pm, Holy Trinity Church, 3716 Boyce Avenue. Candidate statements here.

Atwater Chatter: So Much Drama Edition

Other voices, same neighborhood. So much drama for such a small village - "Apparently, with the election coming up, someone made a posting that broke the forum's rules regarding etiquette and libel... Why the postings were not simply removed instead of the entire forum shut down, I don't understand.... Full disclosure: I am running for the AVNC." [Atwater Village is for Lovers] Zagat releases 2008 survey - "Zagat has released its So. California survey results for 2008. Pizzeria Mozza scored highest among newcomers, followed by Atwater Village's Canele." [The Knife] Hollywood PrivacyWatch - "Dinner at Canele in Atwater Village, saw John Cho or as my friend who spotted him first put it, 'the only Asian actor I recognize, you know, the dude from Harold & Kumar.'" [Defamer] Atwater Village Offers New Mural to Graffiti Gods - "This weekend we checked out Vince's Market (est. 1939) and the mural is coming along nicely, at least 60% done. Here's hoping $2.50 carnitas sandwiches scare away more bandana bandits than Oscar-nominated songs from Good Will Hunting." [Curbed LA] REMINDER: Atwater Village Neighborhood Council Election - "AVNC Election day, Saturday Oct. 6, 9:00am to 4:00pm, Holy Trinity Church, 3716 Boyce Avenue." [Friends of Atwater Village]

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?

A Campaign Cycle Even Obama Could Love

ONLY 30 DAYS TO hawk yourself to your neighbors. Just a month to convince fellow Atwater Villagers that you should represent them in Neighborhood Council. You can't miss the election signs on nearly every corner of the hood. What's your excuse? (Mine: here.) On your mark... Candidate Application: Due Thursday September 6, 5pm (PDF Form) Candidate Forum: Thursday October 4, 6pm, location to be determined AVNC Election: Saturday, October 6, 9am to 4pm, Holy Trinity Church, 3716 Boyce Ave. More: atwatervillage.org

Run Early, Run Often

I HAVE HIGH HOPES for the next Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election. Not just because election volunteers asked me, the Newbie, a.k.a Mr. Pink Lady, to run. (I respectfully declined. My political aspirations are about as deep as the LA River in a drought.) I have high hopes because, darnit, this is AVNC's fourth attempt at an election. And if third time is supposed to be charm, fourth time must be beyond charmed. Run, neighbors, run: AVNC Election Candidates Candidate Form: Download PDF Info Session: Aug. 29, 6:00pm, Atwater Village Library, 3379 Glendale Blvd. Filing deadline: Sept. 6, 2007, 5:00pm AVNC Election: Oct. 6, 2007, 9:00am to 4:00pm, Holy Trinity Church, 3716 Boyce Ave. More: atwatervillage.org All 14 seats are open: two each from north, central and south Atwater Village; plus representatives for nonprofits, community groups, businesses, churches, schools and parks.

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]