David Saltsburg (Zuma Dogg) Speaks on His Commitment To Neighborhood Council As City Councilmember

DAVID SALTSBURG (Zuma Dogg) as L.A. City Councilmember
(The First Two Years)

Getting Started: Neighborhood Council Involvement with Zuma Dogg as Your Councilmember

When I spoke with Joe B., last night, the thing I liked best about the conversation was that Joe was telling me that when he talks to people in the community, what THEY want to hear is, "What is your 'vision' for the district?" Don't just tell what the problems are or what you have done, but explain what you are going to do for the first two years. (Because it is just under a two year term.) And I remembered from getting signatures, when I would try to explain the problems and urgency of the matter, they would cut me off and say, "Well, what are YOU going to do?"

SO, the FIRST thing that popped up is Neighborhood Council and their involvement with the council office.

Because by attending these recent forums, the issue DOES continue to come up with ways to MANDATE or REQUIRE more NC involvement and say at the council level.

So the first thing I will commit to, and spit back at Joe B., is that over the past three years, my biggest asset and resource has been the people who have tutored and mentored me and bring me the info and how they are being screwed by the city/Wendy.

And be it Cindy, Joe, Mike S, Patricia, Lydia, Dr. Wiseman, Higby, Candido, All the NC people I've met these past few weeks...it seems they have ALL been NC participants.

AND, everyone says I am informed and look good from the podium as the "front man" presenting this voice at the City Council level at the meetings.

And as Councilmember, I am going to want to continue to look good and outperform and outshine every other CM in the horseshoe, and then THEY'LL be forced to follow:

WHY WOULD I WANT TO STOP USING MY SECRET WEAPON? Why would I NOT want to take the musicians and singers who were in my band on the road with me? I WOULDN'T?

As a matter of fact, we all know the staff is overwhelmed and budgets are tight; AND I WOULD BE NEEDING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HELPING MY OFFICE AS MUCH AS THEY WANT TO AND ARE ABLE TO.

So first of all, if Zuma Dogg is elected City Councilmember; right after the brief swearing in ceremony, EVERYONE SHOW UP IN THE ROTUNDA (cause the office won't be big enough) AND WE'LL START GOING TO WORK.

First thing; each Neighborhood Council Boardmembers/Leaders list the top priority/priorities -- AND, AS USUAL, let me know what the answer is, or what you are looking for. Because again, ZD is known for reflecting the voice of the community, and I haven't hopped on the wrong side of the bandwagon yet. NOT because I'm so smart...but because it's OBVIOUS how SHADY the stuff being done is; and there is plenty of OBVIOUS stuff to start with.

So again, not only will the NC members (and of course any one else in the community who wants to be involved in this process/but it usually ends up being mostly NC members, anyway), who will be bringing the problems to the forefront, but will be giving ZD the answers to the homework for him, which always save a lot of time in the vetting process.

AND THEN, Councilmember Zuma Dogg will show up to each NC meeting and let you know what is going to be done.

And we'll just keep that process rolling.

SO THAT'S THE FIRST THING I WILL DO, OR AT LEAST THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF.

But beyond that, here is what I initially said to Joe B. when I was talking about NC:

YOU CANNOT MANDATE OR REQUIRE NC INVOLVEMENT. You can, but it doesn't work if the CM doesn't WANT to do it. Because then they just run their own people, or put up hurdles.

My initial comment to Joe was, "As soon as I'm sworn in, I'll just be on the phone with all the same people. You won't HAVE to mandate it, because I have already been networking with all these people, just out of my own interest and challenge to always get to the bottom of these issues. (Hey, some people like trying to solve the "Wheel of Fortune" puzzle.)

So then Joe was asking me if I would let the NC leaders present me with the slate of priorities, and if I would let them know what I would do, then work with them on it until it was ready to show up and tell the NC members in person at their meeting.

And if that's what they want, that sounds good to me. It sure helps me because the NC members present all the stuff at the meeting and they decide what they want addressed FIRST, which filters everything down...and then I have no problem showing up to the meetings, unless becoming CM totally goes to my head, or something. I mean, I show up to them anyway all across the city and other committee meetings and if I stopped doing that, I lose the street level knowledge that has made me in radio as a market researcher AND as a public advocate.

BUT, I wanna make sure it doesn't get too bureaucratic and I hope I can still just call people on my cell phone at any time and don't have to wait for meetings and appointments to talk to my own constituents.

David Saltsburg (Zuma Dogg) is on the ballot in the L.A. City Council election on Tuesday, September 22, 2009. Tell everyone you know to VOTE "Zuma Dogg" if they like this idea.