The Fuentes Follies Get a Curtain Call

MY TURN-Wow!! Your reaction to last week's article, was tremendous. Since I heard from so many of you with your own opinions and received links to all kinds of information, I thought it was worthy of a follow-up. 

I am a glass half-full type of person so I believe there may be a glimmer of sunshine in the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council (STNC) office eviction. Many LA City Councilmembers have delusions of grandeur. Instead of seeking ways to improve their neighborhoods and be responsive to their constituents, they act as if and are treated like they’re able to walk on water, dispensing a certain amount of largess (favors) within a wide latitude. 

Both the LA Times and CityWatch editor Ken Draper said the same thing. Most every proposal that a Councilmember brings before the full council for a vote gets passed unanimously. Even more so now that Bernard Parks is gone! 

The reason given is that the individual councilmember has firsthand knowledge of his or her district and its needs. If he is in favor of something, that is a sufficient reason to vote "yes." This makes some sense since one can't be an expert in all areas of the City. But it doesn't take into consideration the personal feelings that a councilmember might have towards certain individuals or groups. 

And of course, campaign donations may play just a small part in the decision-making process … 

Okay, so where is the glimmer of sunshine? I have detected this week a rather powerful reaction from the District 7 stakeholders. I'm not just talking about the efficient, active leaders of the STNC Board that has been thrown into turmoil.  

At a special meeting held last Monday, community people, from business owners to stakeholders who usually don't attend regular NC Board meetings, came out to express their support. It was like opening Pandora's Box. The best part is, news of the situation had spread to other communities and service organizations outside of District 7 – and people showed up from all over the City. 

Unfortunately, Angelenos tend to be reactive as opposed to proactive. But I bet Councilmember Felipe Fuentes NEVER expected this reaction. In order to be fair and somewhat balanced I wrote to his Chief of Staff, Rebecca Valdez, and asked if the CM would provide answers to some questions so I could include them in this article. 

Sadly, no answers. There seems to be a pattern of non-response, so I won’t take it personally. But here are the three questions. If any of you happen to see the Councilman, maybe you can ask them for me: 

1. The new tenants have stated that they did not see the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council office and were not aware that STNC was being evicted from their small space. Who exactly will be taking that space? 
2. What is the monthly rent the City is charging each of the two new 501-3c non-profits? 
3. Do any other city agencies occupy the Sylmar or Pacoima Field office spaces? 

They didn't sound like such tough questions to me, but... 

I decided to do some checking with some of the other Neighborhood Councils in District 7 to see if they had experienced similar treatment or if it was just Sunland Tujunga. Interestingly, only two spoke on the record. Others discussed their frustration but were apprehensive about being quoted. Even though these neighborhood councilmembers expressed similar frustrations with Councilmember Fuentes’ staff, they were afraid of repercussions. 

Jessie Martinez, President of the Mission Hills NC mentioned that they had to struggle to get a new field representative from Fuentes. Apparently there were real personality conflicts between the Councilman’s rep and the NC. The person in charge of Field Reps is Yolanda Fuentes. I wonder if they are related. 

Martinez also stated that they have no bond with the Fuentes office and, although his representative shows up for meetings on occasion, there is no real collaboration.

Cindy Cleghorn (photo) , Secretary of the Sunland Tujunga NC Board, expressed her opinion that some of Fuentes’ staff would probably move into the STNC office temporarily. She said there are rumors that he might close the Sunland Tujunga field office entirely and let it be rented out to more non-profits. This means that official Council busines s for this area would have to be conducted at the Van Nuys City Hall or at the other field offices in Pacoima or Sylmar. 

Well, that is one way to avoid transparency -- just don’t let groups who are critical of the Councilmember see what is going on or who is coming and going! 

As I mentioned earlier, I received tons of emails and suggested links. One CW reader sent me a link to an LA Weekly article from 2010 which mentioned Felipe Fuentes as being one of the worst legislators in Sacramento. This person even suggested a new headline: "Fuentes voted worst legislator in State Assembly and now has a chance to be crowned the worst City Councilmember." 

I don't know if he is the worst, but I must admit the link piqued my interest. There was another rather long article that, in the LA Weekly's normal style, really lambasted the legislature. This time it was for allowing lobbyists and special interests to write legislation and then get a Senator or Assembly Member to "author" the bill and push it through. It's called "Ghostwriting". 

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In the article, writer David Futch said: 

"Fuentes was nakedly ambitious to grab Richard Alarcon's City Council seat early — before Alarcon reached his term limit in 2013 — and he openly hated Alarcon. 

"In January 2013, Fuentes introduced Assembly Bill 1676 on behalf of a wildly self-interested special-interest group made up of one: Felipe Fuentes. The retroactive law would have "immediately" forced from office any local politician caught living outside his voting district. 

"One legislator, who insists upon remaining anonymous, believe that Fuentes sent the tip to then L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley's office that launched the investigation of where Councilman Alarcon really lives. 

“Two days later, Councilman Richard Alarcon suddenly made the evening news — an investigation had been launched into allegations he was living in Sun Valley, not part of his district. Alarcon's defense was that squatters had taken over his dilapidated, slum like tract home."  

Fuentes was elected and took his District 7 council seat in July 2013. Alarcon was convicted along with his wife in 2014, sentenced to 120 days in the County Jail and restricted from running for political office. 

Even though the article was written five years ago, it makes fascinating reading. 

No wonder people are reticent about sharing their opinions. 

Back to the glimmer of sunshine. This entire "brouhaha" has caused the Neighborhood Councils to realize there is power in numbers. It has probably put other political "electeds" on notice that they are being scrutinized. Strong-arm tactics used against NCs can have long-term unfortunate effects. 

I will continue to share information and if any of you have stories to tell....let me know. 

As always comments are welcome.

 

(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist.  She is a former publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

–cw

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 81

Pub: Oct 6, 2015