The City of Los Angeles' Department of Neighborhood Empowerment has provided guidance to the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council regarding the lingering issue of unaccounted for inventory.
The ASNC's recently elected officials were inducted last October. Though the board committed to move forward in a spirit of camaraderie, they've have seen meetings marred by disputes over the location of more than $11,000 in inventory items listed as unaccounted for by Treasurer Judy Knapton.
[Click here to read the story about Knapton's report listing missing ASNC inventory]
Board member Joseph Riser and Former Treasurer Mark Legassie claim that Knapton's report was inaccurate because it listed as missing items that were purchased for other community groups, such as $1,000 Neighborhood Purposes Grant to Noah's Wish for emergency pet housing.
In their formal response to the dispute, the department concurred with Legassie that an emergency generator worth $900 and the $1,000 worth of animal crates listed as missing, were, in fact, purchased for community groups and were not the property of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council.
However, several other items are still listed as not recovered, including a cargo bin and emergency supplies that Legassie asserts were purchased as a gift for the Hermon Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
The Department has recommended a plan of action to the board to deal with the issue of the missing equipment, which calls for publicly devising a plan of action to reach out to the parties believed to be in possession of the items.
"This process will ensure that the Board has agreed as a body with respect to its property and how possession of the property should be addressed," a letter from Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Interim General Manager Grayce Liu. "Other items should be removed from the inventory list if they were lost/broken/discarded or specifically issued to another organization."
