I hope this newsletter finds you well. It's my two month anniversary of being Interim General Manager, and I'm having more fun than I should be considering how little sleep I'm getting with all the work that needs to be done. I've decided I'll sleep in December. A crazy week got even more so when nearly all of the 95 Neighborhood Councils received a Public Records Act request yesterday from a person wanting information about their websites. Both the City Attorney and our office were inundated with emails and calls from Board members wondering if it was a hoax. It's not a joke so please work with the City Attorneys or our Neighborhood Council Support Help Line to craft a response in the required 10 days. A big thank you to our hard working City Attorneys, Darren Martinez and Carmen Hawkins, for responding immediately and drafting language for the Neighborhood Councils to use in their responses.

While that was going on, I had a nice visit from our Indonesian delegation who met with our staff, including our new Project Coordinator, Joseph Hari, who started with us last week after working in the Mayor's Office the past year and a half. West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council President and Budget Advocate Co-Chair, Jay Handal, and Dee Olomajeye, President of Palms Neighborhood Council and head of Councils 4 Councils were also there to share their Neighborhood Council experiences with our visitors.  We chatted through two interpreters while nibbling on refreshments (much thanks to our staff Betty Wong Oyama for doing all the prep work!). I think we were able to give them a basic idea of what Neighborhood Councils do, but in the end, I don't think they could grasp that our City government would give such access to its stakeholders since they had nothing like it in Indonesia. It was great to spread the word of just how unique and amazing our system is. 

I keep trying to keep these messages short, but there's always so much to share so please bear with me. Check out the updated funding reports below and the helpful information about protecting Neighborhood Council websites. We've had some problems with Neighborhood Councils losing their websites because there was no agreement for services, so we'll be offering some options in the next few weeks on how to safeguard  your Council's website.

There's also a feature below on one of our EmpowerLA Award recipients, Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, for their creative "Pothole Lottery" as well as information from Bureau of Street Services Director Nazario Sauceda about the state of sidewalks and streets in LA. Nazario is a fellow Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Council "Got It" Awardee with me for City workers who "get" the Neighborhood Councils and was one of the first heads of other City departments who approached me wanting to work with Neighborhood Councils. We chatted last week for an hour where he told me all about the streets and sidewalks and how Neighborhood Councils can help their communities in this regard. I pinned him with an "I heart NCs" button because of his enthusiasm for our system. I did ask him about that alleged controversial $10 million study for sidewalks and learned how it was taken out of context. So you Neighborhood Councils who were ready to do the study for a fraction of the cost can now relax!    

I hope to bump into you at the Region 7 elections tomorrow in East LA or at the LANCC in the morning.  Please remember that our Board Development Workshop for tomorrow was pushed to next Saturday, the 13th, instead and that our offices are closed on Monday, the 8th, for Columbus Day. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Best,