After reading the article posted on gigagranadahills.com, I found it to be misleading. The stakeholder is a member of only one committee and the council has told her on numerous occasions that she is only on one committee, and she was never confirmed to be on the planning committee. Any stakeholder has the right to attend any committee meeting or board meeting. We do get the word out about our meetings, and get as much input from stakeholders as possible. I am sorry that Ms. Romney feels this way, but she knows that we have spent our monies on various other projects which include, but not limited to, the improvement and maintenance of the Veterans Triangle, support for local schools (i.e.:Purchasing of Computers, etc), and support for local programs that benefit our community. What the stakeholder does not let all of the readers know is that these secret meeting are being published in many forms of media advertisements, and we also participate in various community events such as the Granada Hills Street Faire in which we are a Sponsor, the Granada Hills Holiday Parade in which we also are a sponsor. We also work closely with the Granada Hills Recreation Center to help put on the community events that they put on such as the Halloween Bash, Spring Egg Hunt and Winter Show. We have been very proactive with working with all the other community groups in hopes of making Granada Hills a safe place to live in. The council has also put on two very successful CERT classes that have certified over 60 people.
The GHSNC is spearheading an effort to once again light up the Christmas tree located at the veteran’s triangle on the corner of Zelzah and Chatsworth. When it comes to voter turn out of the neighborhood council we sent out mailers letting people know when and where the elections were going to take place. Last election we held it in conjunction with the Granada Hills Street Faire, and at our last election there were approx 100+ voters and not 54 like stated by Ms. Romney. Like before mailers were sent out and information was posted. We can not please everyone and Ms. Romney is one person that most of the board has come to realization we can not please. We just recently sent out a newsletter in which gives the stakeholders up to date information about the council and how they may be able to contact us. I and board members Julie Carson, Erin Grohman and Dave Beauvais worked for about 2 weeks to put it all together.
When it comes to agenda items any board member can request items to be placed on the agenda along with any stakeholder. The item that is coming from the Sylmar Neighborhood Council is a partnership between all the area neighborhood councils to help raise funds for youth programs. They asked us to be a partner in this adventure. Furthermore, I do object to Ms. Romney’s comments regarding the Outreach Committee, but do respect her opinions. If we truly didn't listen to her then her idea of pens or other giveaways items would not have been considered. We ordered a type of pen that she suggested and once again just place another order for that same style of pen. I as the outreach chair do listen, and have asked my committee members to feel free and give there input on items that we can improve upon. None have done so to date. Upon taking on the role of Outreach Chair I have been out at almost every community forum or event getting the word out about the council and how we may be able to help.I think that we have done enough to at least get us to where we are at now.
To answer her comments about the sound system, it does work and sometimes we may not have the volume all the way up but it does work and its been working since we have gotten it. Another reason that the council decided to purchase the sound system is, so that stakeholders can also access audio recordings of our meetings that are available via our website. The meeting location is an item in which the council is reconsidering, but with mostly schools in our area that becomes a somewhat difficult task since schools are closed for the summer, and will most likely displace us for those months. Like I stated before we can not please everyone, but I invite you to come and take a look for yourself what the council is doing for the community.
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Good grief. Linda Romney is a bitter person.
ReplyDeleteI was appalled when she went to the Valley Regional Congress back in May 2009 and stood up during one of the courses and went on a five minute tirade, blasting the GHSNC. The course was about internet media and reaching stakeholders, and her tantrum had nothing to do with the topic. She doesn't even own a computer (her admission).
She says in the interview that she is anti-Neighborhood Councils. But really, I think she's just anti-GHSNC. If she WAS against the NC system, she would focus her bitterness elsewhere, such as downtown, rather on her local NC.
Here's the link to the original interview with Ms. Romney:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/lr8dyp