New Year, New Friends, New Possibilities

By Robert Shore, President, PLBRA
Utility Transparency is advancing.  As you may recall, this is a proposed ordinance that would require landlords to provide transparency when passing through utility bills, as occurs here at Park La Brea.  In my last column, I reported that Councilmember Raman’s office was encouraging about the idea, but wanted to see support from outside the District.
We have now delivered in a major way.  Since last I wrote, the proposal has been endorsed by the North Valley Democratic Club, the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, and the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council, where our Zone 6 representative, Ryan Weisert, brought it to the Board’s attention.  Even more exciting, when Councilmember Paul Koretz (who became our representative on City Council when the new map became effective on December 10) heard about the proposal, he publicly agreed to work with Councilmember Raman’s office to craft an appropriate motion.  Councilmember Raman’s office has informed me that Councilmember Koretz has already followed through on that commitment.  I hope to be able to report next month that a Council motion has been introduced to adopt Utility Transparency.

Councilmember Koretz’s quick action brings me to my next topic — the change in our representation brought about by the decennial redistricting.  We are now in Council District 5, which means that for the next year, our interests will be represented in City Council by Councilmember Koretz.  (Term limits prevent him from seeking another term, so we will have another representative starting in December.)  The Councilmember has already taken a clear interest in subjects of importance to our residents, and he is demonstrating his commitment to us with his time.  We are delighted to announce that Councilmember Koretz will be our guest at our January 9, 2022, Annual Meeting.  The meeting will take place via Zoom.  We ask that you arrive by 3:45 to settle in and get situated so that we’re ready when the Councilmember begins speaking.  Councilmember Koretz is scheduled to start speaking at 4:00 p.m.

And this brings me to my final subject — the Board elections that are going on now.  We mailed the ballot to all of our members (except for a handful for whom we didn’t have good addresses).  If you’re a member but you didn’t get a ballot in the mail, you can download one from our Web site at plbra.org/election. There also are ballots and candidate statements on the door of the PLBRA Office in the Lobby of Tower 39.  The ballot contains clear and thorough instructions concerning the mechanics of voting and how to make sure your ballot gets counted.  IF YOU'RE A MEMBER, PLEASE VOTE.

Second, one of the biggest frustrations your current Board has faced this year has been a lack of sufficient hands to get done all of the work we want to accomplish.  We were disappointed that more candidates weren’t elected to the Board last year.  Being elected to the Board requires a candidate to receive at least 30% of PLBRA’s total membership as of December 10, 2021 (the “record date” for the meeting, according to our Bylaws).  That’ll mean nominees need 52 or 53 votes to get elected.

In practice, that means there’s no way for members to abstain.  If you don’t vote for a candidate, in effect you’re voting against that candidate.  With this in mind, I have a request for our members as they consider their ballots.  We would like as big a Board as possible.  So my request to our members is that you vote for all candidates unless you have a specific reason not to vote for someone.  The more people we have on the Board, the more hands we have available to advance your interests.

We at the Residents Association would love to hear your thoughts.  E-mail us at [email protected].  See you next month.