(REPUBLISHED FROM OURLA.ORG)
Paul Krekorian got a lesson Friday in how City Hall works when his
colleagues on the City Council rejected his committee report for the
City Clerk to come back on Tuesday with options on how the newly-formed
Westwood Neighborhood Council could hold an election by July.
As chairman of the Education and Neighborhoods Committee, Krekorian proposed a series of steps
for the City Clerk to take in response to widespread criticism of the
process for holding NC elections between March and July, including
giving each council the power to decide on term limits and use
volunteer poll workers.
The only controversy was over
Krekorian’s recommendation the the City Clerk “report on the
feasibility of including the newly-certified Westwood Neighborhood
Council in the City Clerk’s upcoming 2010 Neighborhood Election cycle,
and on a process by which new certified neighborhood councils will be
included in the City Clerk’s neighborhood election process.”
Krekorian
offered a reasoned case on why several options should be considered
because of cost and expediency to allow for Westwood to be able to
elect its board in the coming months rather than wait two years for the
next NC election cycle.
Westside Councilman Paul Koretz would
have none of it, insisting the City Clerk would just come back next
week with reasons for “why it can’t be done.”
He was backed with
vehemence by Richard Alarcon, whose right to hold office has been
questioned by District Attorney investigators who served search
warrants based on a tip that the councilman doesn’t actually live in
the Valley district he represents.
So the issue was whether
the City Clerk’s office had to be ordered to do its job or whether it
could be trusted to provide reasonable alternatives for Council
consideration, a small point to be sure.
The vote was 10-1
against Krekorian — a rare lack of unanimity that was in a sign that
the Council’s political agenda now includes pleasing the NC movement
and a lesson for Krekorian that he will find himself isolated and
without support if he tries to buck the sytem when larger issues come
up.