GEPENC Swearing In... Well I'm Damned!

Sorry chaps, BW has been away on vacation. Back now and time to report on the action.

A month ago I questioned whether the relocation of Yolande Beckles from East LA to the West side of town might be one factor behind the conspicuous failure of the Governing Board of the Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council to hold its post-election inaugural meeting. When I cheekily suggested that the newly-elected representative for District 4 might have seduced other members away to even more elysian fields out west, a reader was quick to point out that the personal absence of our friend was less due to her ability to attract rats and children with her pipe-playing skills and more to the fact that the cross-town public omnibus service is not a model of good timing - a matter of import to those sans voiture. Nonetheless, I took this as a cynical retort and remained convinced that Yolande's days in Echo Park had come firmly to an end.

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So blow me down with a garden leaf vacuum when, last Tuesday the Board met for the first time, following the well-publicised disruptions caused by internecine warfare between board members and the unsuccessful contesting of the election results. According to The Eastsider LA (sorry for stealing your photo guys, but I simply can't afford a photographer), the meeting came as a surprise to many residents as the agenda had not been posted on the usual neighborhood message groups. The community blogzine went on to report that even some members of the Board claimed not to have been notified of the meeting, "where newly elected officers - including a woman who has been dogged by the British press – were sworn in".

So, that answers that question. Yolande Beckles is back in Echo Park, albeit after a long and tiring bus journey from wherever it is she currently lays her hat in West LA, ready to serve the people of East LA. I look forward to plenty of exciting news to come.