March 31, 2014
Dear Mr. Crisafi:
Please have this letter read into the record of the April 3, 2014 La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) meeting.
Thank you for the LJCPA’s response, dated March 25, 2014 to the La Jolla Association’s (LJA) challenge of the March 6, 2014 annual election. Our community and our membership remains confident the LJCPA Trustees will grasp the seriousness of our election challenge and abide by City Council Policy 600-24 (600-24), the Administrative Guidelines and the City approved LJCPA Bylaws. By doing so, no further action should be required and the integrity of the LJCPA could start to be restored.
Mr. Crisafi, the intent of this letter is not to once again reiterate “point for point” the election irregularities of the LJCPA’s March election results. As a point of clarification, nonetheless I would like to briefly address the following comments in your written response;
(a) Reference was made to Council Policy 600-24 Article IX Section 3. Your response summarizes the action required by the LJCPA Board of Trustees if an alleged violation of a “singular” Trustee takes place. The election challenge, however is challenging the election irregularities of the “whole group” not the action of a “singular” Trustee. Article IX Section 3 additionally dictates if a violation of 600-24 or the LJCPA Bylaws occurs by the planning group as a “whole” or “multiple members” of the planning group, the violation should be forwarded in writing to the Mayor’s office for investigation. If after the investigation, the election irregularities are verified and the LJCPA fails to take corrective action, the LJCPA could forfeit its rights to represent our community as a community planning group and risks the loss of indemnification pursuant to Ordinance No. O-17086 NS.
(b) Pursuant to Article V Section 3 of the LJCPA bylaws, to qualify as an eligible candidate a member must have documented their attendance at three LJCPA meetings in the preceding 12-month period. At each LJCPA monthly meeting, the LJCPA Secretary, Ms. Helen Boyden, clearly states there are only two methods in which to have your attendance documented; (i) you must sign in at the back of the room or (ii) if you want your attendance recorded without signing in, you must hand to the Secretary “before” the end of the meeting a piece of paper with your printed full name, signature and a statement that you want your attendance recorded. It is absurd for the LJCPA Officers to now assert, that picking one’s roommate up at the end of a monthly meeting qualifies as a documented attendance, pursuant to the intent of 600-24 and/or the LJCPA bylaws. Additionally it is disingenuous to retroactively allow a member to document his attendance by email and/or hearsay after a challenge had been filed, as in Mr. Whittemore’s case.
Mr. Crisafi, due to the serious consequences of this election challenge it would be advantageous for the community to resolve this issue prior to involving the Mayor’s office. We are thereby asking the LJCPA Trustee’s to reconsider the merits of the election challenge. The LJA offers the following corrective actions at tonight’s meeting; (i) Swear in candidates Bob Collins, Michael Morten, Robert Mapes, Alex Outwater, Jim Ragwell, and Peter Ovanessoff as duly elected LJCPA Trustees. (ii) Request Trustee Tom Brady to remain as a Trustee until August 2014 thereby fulfilling the entire term the community elected him to serve.
Again, thank you for your years of service to our community and for your consideration in this matter.
La Jolla Association