Perspective
By Ken Draper
Saying she “has concluded that it will take years” to turn the neighborhood council system in the direction she wants it to go, Diane Middleton resigned from the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners last week leaving in her wake strong … and opposing … views on her performance and her perceptions.
Middleton served 27 months on the Board and notes in her resignation
letter that, over that period, the “challenges have been considerable.”
Foremost among them, she says, was dealing with four different
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment general managers.
Never short on opinions, Middleton left the mayor’s office with a few. “What I found (again with some very positive exceptions) was that participation was so low as to be meaningless,” she said, “ … and are very stacked in favor of homeowner groups.”
She was also critical of a lack of tenant representation and “virtually no representation of stakeholders who work in the NC area. There is no outreach to labor unions … (and) little ethnic diversity within each NC.”
She was also critical of the lack civility in some neighborhood councils that made it “impossible for opposing views to be heard.”
The commissioner was upset that councils are missing an opportunity to bring stakeholders together to solve LA’s problems. “There has been a woeful lack of positive input and a focus on saying NO,” she complained, “NO to affordable housing, NO to economic development, NO to fees that pay for needed services, NO to outreach to community based organizations.”
Middleton saves her most damning shot for the DONE, which she suggested “has gone backward in the last year.”
“There is no clear work plan,” she reports to the mayor’s office. “Morale is low. Staff has no idea of departmental goals. More and more NCs are coming to BONC with complaints of DONE dysfunction.” Not a pretty picture the former commissioner paints.
Middleton is a lightening rod personality. That’s a description. Not a judgment.
She speaks her mind. And that’s a good thing. Sometimes, however, with a minimal amount of forethought. And that is not good.
She generates sparks and polarized reactions. Folks are really fond of Middleton or, really un-fond of her. Many times the reaction overshadows what wisdom the former commissioner has to impart.
Some of what Middleton suggests in her parting note to the mayor’s office is true. But, it gets lost in the know-it-all style and the undercurrent tone that leaves one with the feeling that there is an agenda here … along with the good advice.
For example, Middleton has been at war with the department almost from the outset, frustrated by a Charter that gives the DONE GM the authority to run the department instead of reporting to the BONC.
Her letter paints a picture of a neighborhood council system in trouble, covered with warts and dysfunctional. The only culprits mentioned in the letter are the DONE and the councils themselves. Somehow missing in the critique is Middleton and the board on which she served. A group that has produced more than its share of dysfunction for LA’s NC system.
With the work of the 912 Commission, the neighborhood council standoff with the Department of Water and Power, the formation of an Economic Development Committee, the NC collaboration on the Sunland Home Depot issue, the cooperative creation of the NC/Planning Pilot Program, the NC leadership on neighborhood emergency preparedness, the Downtown LA council’s leadership in the revitalization of downtown and the birth of a Planning and Land Use school …a partial list from last year alone … one might also question what neighborhood council system it is that she has been observing.
Vision is critical when charting the future. Vision … as in 20-20 vision … is also essential in assessing the present.
Perhaps the commissioner was so focused on her vision for the neighborhood council future that she lost sight of the considerable success going on right here in the neighborhood council present. _
Here is the entire resignation letter from former BONC Commissioner Diane Middleton.
January 16, 2008
Deputy Mayor Larry Frank
Office of the Mayor
200 North Spring Street, Suite 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012
RE: Resignation as Commissioner
Dear Larry:
I wish to express my thanks to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the opportunity to serve in his administration as a Commissioner on the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
As you know, our Commission meets in the evening at various locations throughout the city. This has provided the opportunity to learn about many of the 89 Neighborhood Councils and their communities.
Some of these Neighborhood Councils are vibrant, diverse, and truly committed to making their neighborhood a better place for all residents. Seeing the well functioning neighborhood councils has been the most positive aspect of serving as a commissioner.
Additionally, I truly appreciated the opportunity to work with the other BONC Commissioners who are intelligent, committed, and politically astute. Likewise, many of the DONE staff are truly outstanding and could make a terrific contribution to improving the Neighborhood Council system if given the chance. The challenges have been considerable. Foremost among these is that in the 27 months I served as a Commissioner there were 4 general managers at DONE.
The 912 Commission did a fine job at beginning to address some of the changes necessary to enable the Neighborhood Councils to be more representative. However, I have concluded that it will take years to turn the Neighborhood Council system in a direction that I believe it must go. I would like to spend my time in other areas that I believe will be more productive and I therefore respectfully tender my resignation as a Commissioner effective immediately.
Because I have invested so much time, I would like to share with you some parting thoughts based on all the information obtained through contact with staff and the Neighborhood Councils over the last 2 years.
PARTICIPATION
This is the most critical question facing the Neighborhood Council movement.
I wanted to serve on this Commission because I was enthused about the possibility of bringing together the diverse folks who work and live in Los Angeles to democratically come up with solutions to the problems facing all of us.
What I found (again – with some very positive exceptions) was that participation was so low as to be meaningless (less than 1% of the stakeholders typically even vote) and very stacked in favor of homeowner groups. There is very little tenant representation. There is virtually no representation of “stakeholders who work in the NC area”. There is no outreach to labor unions despite the increasingly positive role they are playing in the economic and political development of L.A. There is little ethnic diversity within each NC.
In some of the NCs there is a lack of civility such that it is impossible for opposing views to be heard. This has resulted in many community members refusing to even attend meetings (let alone take leadership) in the face of verbal (and even physical) abuse.
PROBLEM SOLVING
The Neighborhood Council movement has a tremendous opportunity to bring diverse stakeholders together to solve the problems facing LA in the 21st Century. That has not happened. There has been a woeful lack of positive input and a focus on saying NO: NO to affordable housing, NO to economic development, NO to fees that pay for needed services, NO to outreach to community based organizations/non-profit groups.
MOVING FORWARD
We all understand that organizing folks to take action on their own behalf is a very tough job. There are resources that could make this task easier.
Foremost among these is DONE. We should be building on success, (best practices), focusing on leadership training with an emphasis on how to increase diversity and participation, and simplifying the paperwork connected with the $50,000 in tax dollars that each of the 89 NCs receives each year.
DONE has gone backward in the last year. There is no clear work plan. Morale is low. Staff has no idea of departmental goals. More and more NCs are coming to BONC with complaints of DONE dysfunction.
The BONC set up committees to work with DONE and the stakeholders to develop objective policies . Most of these have been ignored by DONE. For example, over a year ago BONC formed a subcommittee to develop a form for the NC Self Assessment required by the Plan and 5 years overdue.
The GM resisted at every step of the way and even now (with a final self-assessment form in hand) has refused to distribute it to the NCs.
The leadership of DONE has stated that it is impossible for DONE staff to support the services mentioned above because 70% of staff time is spent on elections, bylaws, and processing funding requests. The 912 Commission recommendations that have already been adopted by the City Council should address some of these problems but I believe it will take years to see any real difference in the functioning of the NCs.
I cannot attend meetings and just “go thru the motions” with little hope of making a constructive difference.
Again, I do appreciate the opportunity to have served and I do hope that the Neighborhood Council movement will develop in a more positive, inclusive, and diverse direction.
Sincerely,
BY: COMMISSIONER DIANE L. MIDDLETON
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