Food Trucks and Fallacies

Human beings are 'fallible: liable to make mistakes or be deceived; liable to be erroneous or inaccurate' (Websters). What makes them so much better than imperfection, however, is their ability to rise above their situation and remedy it.

When the Food Trucks arrived I was enthused. It was something new and not just one new choice but 30 trucks at once. Wow. I attended every Wednesday night at first, in order to try several 'gourmet' foods. I had fun. I'd never eaten from food trucks before. I also did not understand why some people wanted to lock arms with me and "be seen at Food Truck Night", in my company. Apparently they thought I represented something.

The Facebook pages lit up in a new Sunland Tujunga controversy. Heading up that discussion is Tomi Lyn Bowling. Its not that Tomi means harm, she does what she deems best for others without consulting them. She is in a position of power when she does this and her views carry weight. She feels she always 'has the good of the community in her heart' while she affects change. When she is questioned she is hurt and the change she championed becomes secondary to her need for validation. Her fans surround her posts with affirmations and the true topic of discussion is lost.

Writers such as myself and Joe Barrett, will drop everything in such a situation as community controversy and become reporters. However, while informing readers all about it, we become part of the story as well. Our voices add weight to differing 'sides'. (Others such as Doc DeMulle, and Joseph Mailander from Los Feliz, deliberately report the side they favor.)

Other vocal community members like Robin Meares, Tom Borquez, Sharon Ratz and Joseph Sheppard weigh in and state their views. As vitally important as it is to hear that brick and mortar stores are determinedly opposing Food Truck Night (and 'why' they are doing so) their reasons are lost amid the sounds of battle. Tom is inspired to write a treatise on the secret meetings which eclipses Tomi's 'whole story'. A new round of controversy wraps itself around what they (and reporters) write, instead of the issue.

Sonia Tatulian, the Chamber President comes out fighting for ground on issues not even on the table for discussion. Personal insults become all that is exchanged and quiet excellent ideas from stakeholders like Cecile Vargo and Abby Diamond are lost like a flashlight in a forest fire.

What happens in this community is every issue is a stage for key players to fight over in order to be important in their own way. Its time for all the usual people to step away from the controversy and let others whose names are totally unknown to the Facebook crowd, take over. Let the quiet merchants who haven't been heard, the CoC members who have no self interest, the community members who have never dared voice an opinion... step up to the plate and take the reins. There are quiet people out there with an opinion... these are your new Unknown Leaders.

The Quiet Man is the Best Man... Vote for Mark Seigel Saturday August 4th!

As a writer I depend on inspiration; I let words fill all that clean white space on a page with lines of thought, insight and information. That said, I am inspired to write to you of someone I feel I just met even ‘though I’ve known him for years: The Quiet Man aka Mark Seigel. I will definitely vote for him on Saturday, August 4th at North Valley City Hall, 7747 Foothill Blvd. Tujunga from 2:30pm to 8:30pm. PLEASE VOTE FOR MARK SEIGEL on that day!

A few days ago I interviewed Mark Seigel who is running for the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council’s all important office of President. Once you get him talking, Mark is the most engaging candidate on the roster. But he works in such an unassuming way that he is sometimes thought of as The Invisible Man…

How will he fare as a candidate? Well in a community rife with controversy, angst, and turmoil, Mark Seigel is the Voice of Reason; a quiet voice, like your conscience. It is a relief to talk to him about issues and have no gossip or vitriol clog up the conversation. Yet he could go unnoticed for that praiseworthy reason.

I’ll tell you his platform, his views, his assurances, plans, and campaign promises in a bit; before I do I want you to know the person I interviewed on a stakeholders level: Mark is a fascinating man possessed of untapped potential this community must consider!

There are a lot of things Mark Seigel is not: he is not angry, loud, or dramatic. Mark has no hidden agenda. He is straightforward and responsive to the stakeholders. Mark is no grandstander: requires no blog or Facebook page to publicize his views, and simply shows up to every meeting on time and prepared to do the job he is elected to do. What more can a voter ask?

In a moment of passion at the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council “Meet the Candidates” on Wednesday July 11, Mark Seigel declared to the audience “YOU are the Neighborhood Council, we are just the tools you need to use, to make it happen.”

Later I interviewed Mark and asked what made him decide to run for the office of President, Mark replied “the catalyst was when Tomi Lyn Bowling pulled out after Doc’s article.” The Foothills Paper publisher Doc DeMulle ran a controversial article concerning Bowling the week before. She reportedly felt her “presence was detrimental to the Board based on the content of the article” and withdrew her candidacy. Later she allowed herself to be persuaded by community members to change her mind and run. This is not the first time Bowling has resigned, called for a vote of confidence and reinstated herself in the council. She can’t make up her mind.

For this election Bowling retrieved the candidacy she had cast aside. She reinstated her intent to run… how does that affect Mark? “Well I’m not pulling out; I’ve developed more relationships with service organizations in the community than Tomi has. I have more exposure to the American Legion, the Elks, Scouting, Masons, Chamber of Commerce, and others. I have experience others don’t realize.”

“I also know how to resolve conflict. I understand interpersonal dynamics; I was an ombudsman for years. I seek positive change and I reason with all sides. I emphasize solutions not problems and want both sides to feel their differences are resolved in a win/win manner.” (This is in sharp contrast to Tomi Lyn Bowling who rejects members from her community Facebook page if they disagree with her.)

When asked what is the first thing he would do if elected Mark firmly stated “I would educate the [new] Board on the parameters for being able to execute their jobs and I would empower them so they don’t sit idle; they can get out there and DO something; they can do it now: they can engage the community! The Board can be a help to the community, not a target for the community!”

That impassioned statement is a far cry from the light statement made by Tomi Lyn Bowling during Meet the Candidates: she said about her current Vice-Presidency and Chairmanship of the Board, “We have a good time, don’t we? Don’t we?!” And Tomi concluded with “I want to see more of what we need on Foothill Boulevard and less of what we don’t need on Foothill Boulevard!”

Mark however, is “divided” on the Food Trucks Issue and wants “to hear a lot more from both sides at STNC meetings not on Facebook pages”. He refers back to his earlier statement that he knows how to resolve conflict with a win/win solution and looks forward to input from the whole community on this issue.

On the subject of “Development” Mark Seigel is strong minded. “Any development must be community oriented. Development can help or harm our community and we have to get past the buzzwords developers use to take advantage of the community. We can’t have too much, too fast. This isn’t Beverly Hills. Sunland Tujunga is an old-fashioned homey community with 90% residential, 9% business, and 1% commercial properties. There are 56 different ethnicities in Sunland Tujunga. There are a lot of different ideas we need to hear”

Finally when asked what is the most important thing he can do if elected, Mark Seigel reiterated a favorite topic by stating two things he considers vital to leadership which he feels fully capable of: “A leader needs to recognize another’s strengths and LET them use them. And, a leader must guide and empower the Board to reach its full potential as a community resource.”

The best candidate for the position of President of the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council is Mark Seigel. PLEASE be sure to vote on Saturday, August 4th, from 2:30pm to 8:30pm. AND get all your friends and neighbors to vote as well… it is a great first time experience for young people who must be 16 to vote. See you at the polls!

http://markseigel2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/

Food Fight

Okay so I wasn’t going to write about the latest Sunland Tujunga controversy but how can I resist? When I research this story I get to eat crepes and other cool food while observing the Sunland Tujunga masses.

I kept thinking ‘there is a great story here’ while I researched the various gourmet fast food trucks and watched all the cool people. There were several hundred locals, out-of-towners and food truck followers milling in and out of the tangled and congested walkway alongside the food trucks. Pedestrians tripped over broken concrete, nearly got hit by confused and increasingly heavy Foothill Boulevard traffic and rerouted food trucks swerved in and out of spaces (their parking slots were blocked by protesters' vehicles).

The lineup of food trucks was marred by protest vehicles parked where food trucks were supposed to be. Tomi Lyn Bowling reportedly was warned that protestors in the form of ‘brick and mortar store’ owners would disrupt the night this way so she showed up to prevent it at 2:00 pm but several still evaded her and parked in the food truck slots.

Chamber of Commerce President Sonia Tatulian called LAPD Sergeant Eggers who was unable to persuade former CofC President Kathy Anthony’s son to move his truck and flatbed. It seemed to be a showdown between present and former CofC ruling parties. Sonia looked like the “angry birds” game as she expressed her displeasure. Then the Advertising Director of Voice of the Village (the “Good News” newspaper) angrily added her parked car to the mix and jammed her truck’s front bumper up against the flatbed so neither could be moved; everyone used them to lean against while eating their food. Ah, ingenuity. What fun!

I met The Fish Lady, Barbara Johnson for crepes. We were going to have lobster but that truck was a no show. Bummer. I shared fries with Abby Diamond, avoided eye contact with Kim Oglegee, discussed history with Cecile Vargo, discussed Sunland Tujunga’s castles with Tara Greer, shared vendor info with Dazey Carnes, befriended Mary Louise Burdi, saw Tomi, Sonia, Jan, Doc, Ron of Marcus Lane, and many others. I heard Doc DeMulle was blocking a parking space but when I went to check it out at the end of the row he was interviewing Tomi and his vehicle was no where near them.

For the uninitiated, Food Truck Night was orchestrated by Chamber Champions: Tomi Lyn Bowling, Sonia Tatulian, and Jan Wunderlich. It’s a huge success… at what cost remains to be seen, but there is no denying it brings paying customers in droves and we mostly have Tomi Lyn to thank for it all.

Food Truck Night invites 2-3 dozen out-of-town gourmet food trucks to the twin targets of Sunland and Tujunga every Wednesday night for great food, camaraderie, mischief, great food, mayhem, gossip, great food, mingling, favoritism and um, well yes… great food…

Oh yeah and it doesn’t hurt that these are mostly voters and the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council elections are in two months and Tomi Lyn Bowling wants to be president. Opps, well hell I said the thing no one dares to say… Tomi Lyn will yelp like someone bit her and holler “I do so much for the community!” which no one denies. It will also get her elected. Heck, she has the vote: whether throwing a party, or campaigning for one: Tomi Lyn Bowling is very good at what she does.

Ad Hoc Samoa Subcommittee Meeting

Your community of Sunland Tujunga is being championed by a grassroots group of individuals who have created a working group of great skill in record time. The Ad Hoc Samoa Sub Committee met for only the third time last night to approve and present their letter created for the STNC LUC to confront the SB 1818 High Density Project slated for Samoa Avenue in Tujunga.

The meetings were ably chaired by Tomi Lyn Bowling, who slipped into the role of one chair after another with ease as the gathering relied on the presence of two committees meeting concurrently and she was the chair for both. [Correction, Bowling is the Chair for the Land Use committee and assisted Bill Skiles who is the Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee. Skiles does a great job and we are glad to have his calm direction.] The Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council Land Use Committee accepted the prepared letter (and the work that went into it) from the Samoa Ad Hoc Committee to proceed with the STNC’s hard stand against the SB 1818 High Density Apartment Project.

The letter addresses key issues uncovered during long hours of research done by the Ad Hoc Committee members. Bill Skiles combined all the ingredients of diverse findings from each member tasked with a particular subject, to fashion an articulate argument in the letter. The letter is addressed to Michael LoGrande, the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles. Further Skiles compiled an extensive draft Subcommittee Report in anticipation of the discussions to follow with the Planning Department and the developer. This document is a work in (rapid) progress as committee members hammer out the details that form legal grade arguments against the project.

The public will be updated on the project and the Ad Hoc Subcommittee’s progress by LUC Chair Tomi Lyn Bowling this Wednesday September 14 at the STNC General Meeting and potluck at 6:30pm at the North Valley City Hall in Tujunga at 7747 Foothill Boulevard.

Community involvement: SB 1818 vs. the working committee meeting...

Received this email from Tomi Lyn Bowling regarding community participation at working committee meetings...her point is well taken with regard to avoiding public "burnout" however I feel the public is a vital contributor and should not be left to the final hour to get involved. Bowling made it a point when the Samoa Ad Hoc Committee was formed at the last STNC Land Use Committee meeting, to agendise and Brown Act this special working group, therefore making it open to the public. The public is needed to participate and assist the group. Already, the lions share of the research fell to a mere two Ad Hoc members and one community member.

I feel an informed public is the most serious adversary to right the wrongs and this subject is no easy one to comprehend without advance preparation and study; hence a special group to prepare the arguments against the Samoa Project. I also feel the public should be involved at this early stage because it is the best way to understand it all and finally I feel it is better to let a public speak from the heart because they really know what they are talking about rather than chant slogans someone else tells them too!

The best way to get started is to attend tonights STNC Land Use Committee meeting in which Bill Skiles, the chair of the Ad Hoc Working Committee will present the results so far on the Samoa working committee; if you feel moved to participate, attend tomorrow nights working committee meet and roll up your sleeves to help your community! Both meetings are at 7747 Foothill in Tujunga; tonights is at 7pm and tomorrow's is at 7:30 pm.

The email from Tomi Lyn Bowling is as follows:

Hi Terre!

Thanks for spreading the word about the Samoa project!

I just wanted to let you know that there will be meetings in the future, like when the developer comes, and when city council has attendees, where we will need massive outreach and as many people as possible to come and speak out.

These meetings with the team are more of a working group, each one researching and bringing their homework back to coordinate possible avenues to take for getting this project either fixed to make it more compatible to the area or removed from the use of SB1818 etc. If more people want to help with that research and development then that would be incredibly helpful!!!

However, if they think it's a rally meeting or one where they can voice their opposition they may be disappointed. If we have gotten people to come to these working meetings, when they thought it was a chance for them to speak out, they sometimes burn out and feel the meetings are a waste of time.  When we really need all of the shoulders to the wheel and as many voices as possible to be heard is the later meetings when the developer comes.

Just wanted to make sure you let folks know this is a working meeting.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Tomi Lyn Bowling

[And from Kathleen Travers: this invitation to the community has been posted:

I agree with Tomi regarding frustration and burnout from the general public were they to come to the SB 1818 working committee hoping to voice their feelings and concerns, and agree with you, Brock Ba'jer, that the Land Use Committee general meeting might be a better focus for that, especially on dates when City or builder representatives would be there to hear those concerns. However, the working committee could use the immediate volunteer assistance of those with land use public policy experience and knowledge (especially at the State and Federal levels, and/or in housing), statisticians, geologists, certain engineers (particularly structural) and environmental experts (chiefly in air quality and flooding/ground water recharging and contamination). If you think you might be able and willing to help, and can commit several hours and work on a tight deadline, please email me at arspoetica@yahoo.com, or come to the working committee meeting]