The presentation described the voting experience and the overall ease of the election process for residents that participated
By Nick Antonicello
The Rules & Elections Committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council had a busy agenda Tuesday evening which included the findings of a community survey analyzing the dismal turnout of the recently completed community election which saw just 486 stakeholders participate, a staggering 46% decline from just two years ago.
The Rules & Elections Committee is a standing committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council and is chaired by Community Officer Christopher Lee. The other committee members include Liz Wright, Steve Bradbury, Kenya Lee and CJ Cole.
The meeting was held at the Extra Space Storage, located at 658 South Venice Boulevard.
Also in attendance was Community Officer Yolanda Gonzalez.
Community Officer Steve Bradbury presented the results of the community election survey that garnered 119 responses of which 95.8% were residents of Venice.
The presentation described the voting experience and the overall ease of the election process for residents that participated.
There are roughly 34,000 residents of Venice, of which only 1,128 requested a ballot, an all-time low.
According to the results offered, only 58% of participants completed the ballot process while 47% of those who did complete the process bothered to return a ballot.
Despite the miserable turnout, Venice still had the most community participation of any NC with the Mid-City West council finishing second with 461 voters. Of the other 15 NC’s that conducted elections, none had a total participation rate of 54 or more.
For the most part, Venice stakeholders did not receive the 25,000 or so postcards that were mailed costing approximately $5,200 in postage.
Those who participated in the survey had little if nothing to say positive about the process or voting experience which had the entire committee concerned moving forward.
Several motions were passed by the full committee that will be brought before the full board later this month:
- Election recommendations to the LA City Clerk regarding the mailing of ballots as well as a single election date for all neighborhood councils.
- A motion regarding an election audit update.
- Mandatory Robert’s Rules training for all VNC Board and Committee Members.
- Modification to Standing Rule 31 regarding financial items and approval by the VNC.
- Committee Chair succession that would require the appointment of vice-chairs to all committees.
- The creation of specified agenda requirements for the new, incoming Board of Officers during their reorganization meeting.
All motions were approved and will be sent to the VNC Board of Officers for final approval.
The meeting ended at approximately 7:30 PM.
Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of the neighborhood and exclusively covers the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Have a tip or a take all things Venice? Contact him via e-mail at nantoni@mindspring.com
