***UPDATE*** We have started the appeals process. More information here -->  https://skidrowneighborhoodcouncil.com/2020/03/23/the-appeal-phase-1/

***UPDATE***Judge ruled against us based on a technicality that led to his determination that SRNC-FC failed to meet our Burden of Proof obligation. Even though we easily proved the City of Los Angeles FAILED to produce the vote tallies of the election results…..Huh????The City of LA already previously stated the voter tally evidence was destroyed and that they don’t have it…But because we brought this matter to court, the Burden of Proof is on us. So how can we speak on the issue of the voter tallies if they don’t exist?? Due to ongoing litigation, that’s all that we can say at this time.

The Skid Row Neighborhood Council-Formation Committee is currently engaged in litigation against the City of Los Angeles over an election that was held Downtown in 2017. The case number is BS 170257.

Our past fundraising efforts assisted greatly with court costs including filing fees and transcription costs. Recent printing costs related to the Writ also ran over $1,000. (Thank you to all previous donors!)

The primary issue in our case is this- As our SRNC-FC followed each of the required steps in the process to create a Skid Row Neighborhood Council, we, the SRNC-FC, contend that the City of Los Angeles, and it's allies, violated several of it's own rules and regulations to deny Skid Row it's just due and thereby compromised our election- which led to the demise of our campaign....Or so they thought!

Petitioners contend that the law favors our SRNC-FC, thus we are continuing to fight for our right to create a brand-new governing body which will focus specifically on Skid Row politics and also address the myriad of issues in our community, as well as support positive and uplifting events that increase community benefit.

BACKSTORY: A publicly-funded election was held pursuant to Los Angeles City Ordinance 184526 on April 6, 2017 in order to determine if a Skid Row Neighborhood Council would be formed. Petitioners were told by the City of Los Angeles that our “side” (Skid Row Neighborhood Council-Formation Committee) lost the election by 60 votes, with 766 people voting “YES” in favor of the new council formation and 826 voting “NO” against it. However, before the election was certified, Petitioners disputed the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment's administration of the election, filied timely election challenges , requested intervention from the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and other City and State departments, all to no avail.

To date, the City of Los Angeles' Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (who administered said election) has been unable to provide valid authentication for any of the "online" votes (some votes were cast online, some in person on paper ballots), or even a cohesive list of all the people who successfully cast a ballot (as in REAL people, not computer hackers or duplicate voters).

For more information, please visit: https://skidrowneighborhoodcouncil.com/

Press:

Nathan Solis, LA Judge Denies Bid to Revive Vote to Form Skid Row Council (Courthouse News Service) February 5, 2020

Mike, Skid Row Neighborhood Council Formation Committee Files Blistering Petition In Superior Court — Asks Court To “Reestablish The Rule Of Law” — And Require The City Of Los Angeles To Award Skid Row “its well-deserved Neighborhood Council” (michaelkohlhaas.org) July 27, 2018   

Jason McGahan, Why Doesn’t Skid Row Have a Neighborhood Council? Activists Sound Off in a New Exhibit (LA Mag) April 13, 2018