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Corrupt North Hollywood Neighborhood Council Rep Turned Blind Eye To College Fraud
Neighborhood Councils are intended to provide input and oversight regarding problems in the community; but new emails show that Jo Ann Rivas may have been on the take regarding problems at Los Angeles Valley College serving the North Hollywood/Valley Glen/ Valley Village and Van Nuys neighborhoods.
On May 13, 2023, Controversial NoHo Neighborhood Rep Named In Racketeering Scheme at Los Angeles College hit the wire. This was followed a few days later by North Hollywood Neighborhood Council Rep Censors IndyBay! On May 15, 2023 after the original story appeared to disappear from Google News Feed for a time.
New documents show however that Jo Ann Rivas, current North Hollywood Neighborhood Council Rep At-Large for District 2, was well aware of the Accreditation Violations going on at Los Angeles Valley College’s Media Arts Department, including before the Valley Academic and Cultural Center was approved by the Board of Trustees months later.
Rivas can now be identified as LAVC Media Arts Student Narrative 2 (April 30, 2016), published May 5, 2023 under 'Dozen LAVC Cinema Student Narratives challenges Erika Endrijonas's LACCD success story.' Rivas's narrative is also one of the later ones collected, demonstrating Rivas was fully aware of the MANY other student narratives describing their
They also show that Rivas attended the 2016 LAVC Media Arts Department Advisory Meeting as a rep of the North Hollywood Los Angeles Police Department. Student 1 was also invited to attend by Grant Director Dan Watanabe, provided Student 1 did not raise issues. The emails also mention Watanabe wanting to have a conference with Rivas before hand about how the meeting would be run.
Transparent California records show that Rivas received financial payment for a Professional Mixers with students where she pretended to be a Casting Director. This payment may have also covered Rivas’s silence at the 2016 Media Arts Advisory Meeting.
No further record of Rivas voicing concerns about the Department appears after this. But by the time that Rivas was appointed to the Los Angeles Valley College Citizen’s Building Oversight Committee, Rivas had already clearly articulated she was aware that the Department was not graduating students in a timely manner and that the training advertised was not industry standard.
As a disabled student Rivas's seeking a certificate in Post-Production made perfect sense. What doesn't make sense is that Rivas clearly has had no problem serving in positions of public trust, being well aware that multiple issues were harming both low-income and disabled students (like herself) and did nothing about it beyond writing a single email.
From all official records Rivas looked the other way at the Media Arts Advisory Meetings, just as she looked the other way during the $20-million-dollar racketeering scheme involving the Valley Academic and Cultural Center. Something that was apparently made possible by her membership on the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council.
New documents show however that Jo Ann Rivas, current North Hollywood Neighborhood Council Rep At-Large for District 2, was well aware of the Accreditation Violations going on at Los Angeles Valley College’s Media Arts Department, including before the Valley Academic and Cultural Center was approved by the Board of Trustees months later.
Rivas can now be identified as LAVC Media Arts Student Narrative 2 (April 30, 2016), published May 5, 2023 under 'Dozen LAVC Cinema Student Narratives challenges Erika Endrijonas's LACCD success story.' Rivas's narrative is also one of the later ones collected, demonstrating Rivas was fully aware of the MANY other student narratives describing their
They also show that Rivas attended the 2016 LAVC Media Arts Department Advisory Meeting as a rep of the North Hollywood Los Angeles Police Department. Student 1 was also invited to attend by Grant Director Dan Watanabe, provided Student 1 did not raise issues. The emails also mention Watanabe wanting to have a conference with Rivas before hand about how the meeting would be run.
Transparent California records show that Rivas received financial payment for a Professional Mixers with students where she pretended to be a Casting Director. This payment may have also covered Rivas’s silence at the 2016 Media Arts Advisory Meeting.
No further record of Rivas voicing concerns about the Department appears after this. But by the time that Rivas was appointed to the Los Angeles Valley College Citizen’s Building Oversight Committee, Rivas had already clearly articulated she was aware that the Department was not graduating students in a timely manner and that the training advertised was not industry standard.
As a disabled student Rivas's seeking a certificate in Post-Production made perfect sense. What doesn't make sense is that Rivas clearly has had no problem serving in positions of public trust, being well aware that multiple issues were harming both low-income and disabled students (like herself) and did nothing about it beyond writing a single email.
From all official records Rivas looked the other way at the Media Arts Advisory Meetings, just as she looked the other way during the $20-million-dollar racketeering scheme involving the Valley Academic and Cultural Center. Something that was apparently made possible by her membership on the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council.
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