Saturday, October 21, 2006

Constituent Bill of Rights?

What's with Councilman Bill Rosendahl's Constituent Bill of Rights? There are only 8; and really, do they say that much? The reason this is important to look at is because of ongoing issues affecting the constituents of Westchester as noted here by CurbedLA. )But, remember, the students at LMU are also constituents and, thus, are entitled to the same rights. Perhaps they'll pursue right # VII!)

Here they are (with comments in italics):
I. The right to prompt, professional and efficient service.
OK.
II. The right to be treated with dignity and respect by friendly, courteous and attentive City employees.
Appreciated.
III. The right to ask questions and receive accurate and useful answers.
Great. What if my questions are non-city related questions? Is it my right to get accurate and useful answers?
IV. The right to prompt return and follow-up calls concerning complaints or requests.
That's a good policy.
V. The right to be educated about the services provided by the City and how to obtain such services.
Good to know the constituents can be "schooled" by CD11 staff.
VI. The right to an inclusive and transparent process for community development, parks, and transportation decisions.
I'd like to be included in all decisions about stop signs being install in CD11 - it's my right, apparently. But why only these three issues? Why not all issues? Municipal expenditures? Construction? Public works improvements? No? Ok.
VII. The right of all constituents to meet with their councilmember at weekly "open office hours" in the district.
Weekly? So we have the right to meet with the councilman on a weekly basis? What about setting up a standing meeting on Thursdays at 4pm?
VIII. The right to advance notice and reports for all neighborhood projects and deliberations.
All Neighborhood projects and deliberations? Wow - that's a lot of letters and reports being sent out by email or in hard copy! I don't see every project listed on the website (or any, for that matter) - how does one know what projects or deliberations (what are those exactly) are happening?

Councilman Rosendahl should be applauded for providing rights for the constituents, but please, don't make them unattainable. Numbers I, II, & IV seem to be reasonable, but the other 5 "rights" seem to be a little far reaching and unrealistic. That just makes the council office look patronizing.

The framework of the his website appears to want to fulfill these "rights," but things don't seem updated or complete - like what is the status of the empowerment congress?

To be fair, Rosendahl has recently issued a press release/statement on the proposed widening of Sepulveda between Howard Hughes and 74th Street. Listening to neighbors, he has decided not to support such a project. This could mean two things: he listens to neighbors and does what is right for the greater community, or he listens to neighbors and caves to NIMBYism. I guess the travelers on Sepulveda and the neighbors will have to judge. And if they don't come to a consensus, the Councilman has a nifty tool on his website they could use called "Virtual Town Hall". It hasn't been used in a while... but maybe they'll get it up and running? It's the right of the constituents to have it working - oh, wait, that's not one on the list. Oh, well.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rosendahl is a NIMBY enabler. His meddling with the MTA Venice yard deal and Wilshire bus-only lanes makes many of us advocates unhappy despite his laudable promotion of the Green Line serving LAX.