Standing Committee Examines Election Procedures and Processes for VNC
By Nick Antonicello
The Rules & Selections Committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council will be hosting a Town Meeting of sorts as they seek stakeholder comment on reforming, revising or amending the current BY-LAWS and Standing Rules for the next scheduled election which will take place in 2025.
Currently, the 21-member body has seven directly elected executive officers and an additional thirteen community officers in which stakeholders can only select a single candidate.
The board also has a single community interest officer.
During the last campaign, a majority of candidates supported changing the community officer selection process by allowing stakeholders the choice of voting for all thirteen members.
The Committee’s tasks and responsibilities are time sensitive so stakeholder input is essential in formulating any recommendations or revisions to the full board.
A meeting has been scheduled for this Saturday January 13th at 2:30 PM at the Free Public Library located at 501 South Venice Boulevard.
All Venetians are encouraged to attend.
Historically this standing committee has met infrequently and recommendations were far and few between.
But this newly constituted committee has made serious suggestions and potential amendments a priority, but not in a proverbial vacuum.
For more information about the Rules & Selections Committee and their responsibilities, please visit www.venicenc.org
The Committee is co-chaired by VNC members CJ Cole and Lisa Redmond. Other members include Treasurer Helen Fallon and Christopher Lee.
The letter below includes a link to an anonymous survey should you not be able to attend Saturday’s meeting, but offer your opinions and preferences.
Hello Venice!
Over the last few years, we’ve been hearing from our Stakeholders about the structure of our Venice Neighborhood Council, and the voting methods we currently use to obtain the present composition of our Board. For this reason, we’re now taking a serious look at our Board of Officers structure, and we want to hear from you. Currently, the Venice Neighborhood Council is made up of 21 members, which includes:
- 7 Officers elected by votes (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Communications Officer, Outreach Chair, and Land Use and Planning Committee Chair)
- 13 At-Large Community Officers, OR
- 1 Community Interest Officer, for which you can only vote for one
Our present voting system allows individual votes for each of the 7 Officer positions. And only one vote for an either At-Large Officer or the Community Interest Officer.
Please fill out the brief anonymous survey to tell us your preferences for board structure and voting at this link: https://rb.gy/wwzom8
TELL US IN PERSON! This Saturday, January 13 at 2:30 pm, we’re holding a special meeting at the Abbot Kinney Memorial Venice Library to discuss early feedback from the survey and hear from you in person regarding our Board structure and election voting. Please attend to voice your opinion. The library is located at 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, 90291.
Thank you for your participation. Your thoughts and input are incredibly valuable to help us evaluate and make changes to our current Board structure and voting procedures for the next Venice Neighborhood Council election.
Rules & Selections Committee
rules@venicenc.org
Nick Antonicello is a thirty-one year resident of Venice and covers the deliberations and actions of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Have a take or a tip? Contact Antonicello via e-mail at nantoni@mindspring.com
