I was wrong.
Jose Huizar was not absent from City Council meetings half the time since June 1 — 13 absences in all — based on my unofficial tally from looking at voting records votes day by day and seeing who was missing from the 99,3 unanimous votes of approval.
An aide to Huizar called me and then the LA Weekly which properly corrected the post based on my article.
In fact, the official tally maintained by the City Clerk shows Huizar was only absent six times — 20 percent of the time — but he was late seven times, causing him to miss many votes.
I apologize for mistaking habitual tardiness for absence from duty.
Frankly, I went to a lot of trouble to make the point that attendance at City Council meetings is rigged. All Council members are rarely in attendance at the same time, all absences are excused and attendance is monitored by staff to make sure there are 12 members present so ordinances can be adopted on unanimous votes in a single reading.
Buried in the city’s website, and previously unknown to me, are two places that track Council members attendance. One shows who was present and who was not present and carries this disclaimer:
“Disclaimer: This information is not an official
record. Accordingly, it should not be
used to determine if Councilmembers voted.on agenda items for that day. Councilmembers may ha een officially excused to arrive
late or leave early pursuant to Council Rules.
For detailed and official information, please refer to the Ciity Council Journals. The City of Los Angeles is neither responsible nor liable for inaccuracies, errors
or omissions arising out of use of this information.”
The City Council Journals site is far more useful, carrying the roll calls taken at the start and end of meetings, actions taken on all agenda items, and many other details.
Ron: if you’re gonna take a two month snap shot, why not take a year snap shot? or another two month sample snap shot? another site mentions that other councilmembers missed way more meetings for june/july than Huizar–they may have peronsal or other reasons why they missed meetings in those “two” months. Statistics 101: take various samples or take one long sample to get a better sense of absenteeism in counicl. why pick on Huizar?
The city docks my pay if I’m half an hour late. Our personal reasons are of no consequence. Why should these high-paid CC members be given a pass?