Patch Blog: Just What We Expect From City Hall

Although notices of meetings are usually posted well in advance and agendas are supposed to be posted 72 hours in advance, a Closed Session of the City Council suddenly appeared Tuesday on the city calendar for Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m.

Mind you, when we got our regular email notices of the West Hollywood weekly calendar, it had not yet appeared. And when we got our regular West Hollywood Public Notices update, it wasn’t there either.

So, what is this meeting that suddenly and quietly appeared on the calendar? Some urgent matter that just transpired requiring immediate attention?

No. It’s a Public Employee Performance Evaluation of City Manager Paul Arevalo by the City Council.

Even though it’s a closed session, it requires public notice and allows for public comment at the beginning before the meeting is closed. It’s taking place at City Hall in the 1st Floor Community Conference Room.

Shouldn’t we have a say about his performance?

Since most complaints about our governance boil down to complaints about the “process” leaving citizens out of the loop, and since the City Manager is in charge of that “process,” am I the only one who thinks maybe the citizens might have something to say about Mr. Arevalo’s performance? And shouldn’t we have been given the normal timely notice of our opportunity to do so?

So let’s not allow another under-the-radar opportunity to slip by us. Let City Council members know exactly what you think of the way the City is being run. Council members can’t have it both ways. Either Paul Arevalo is directing the unaccountable process on his own or he’s doing it at the direction of some or all Council members.

It’s time to find out which is the case. If City Council believes he’s to blame for a broken process, now is their opportunity to do something about it. They can send him packing to his home in Pasadena. Or they can choose to approve of his practices and the status quo.

Either show up Thursday evening to comment or send emails to all the Council members ASAP. You won’t get this chance again any time soon!

And please share your comments to City Council members with us. Perhaps we can inspire one another.

You can find Paul Arevalo’s city bio here: http://www.weho.org/index.aspx?page=415

Here’s the link to the notice: http://www.weho.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9944

Here are Council members’ emails:

jduran@weho.org

jprang@weho.org

jdamico@weho.org

aland@weho.org

jheilman@weho.org

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