General Manager's Update 

I hope this newsletter finds you well. As you've no doubt noticed, a lot of issues are coming down the City pipeline these days for Neighborhood Councils to weigh in on quickly. I was at the South Los Angeles Alliance of Neighborhood Councils last night, and Bureau of Sanitation was there letting everyone know that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Council File 11-1531 Single Use Carry Out Bag would be ready in late May for immediate action because a lot of issues are being pushed forward for the current City Council to wrap up before the new electeds are seated. Combined with next year's City budget work, please expect to see a lot of requests for Neighborhood Council feedback the next few months. A big thanks to Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council for sending in a Community Impact Statement on this matter! I hope more Neighborhood Councils will have the opportuntiy to weigh in on this citywide policy.

 

Speaking of budgets, the Regional Budget Day was a great success last Saturday. We had 145 folks show up at the 4 presentations around the City with Harbor/South having had 57 participants. Many thanks to Monique Earl, Miguel Santana, Neil Guglielmo and Ray Ciranna for presenting on the City budget issues. A big thanks as well to the Budget Advocates, Neighborhood Councils and the Mayor and CAO's budget staff for their hard work and to our staff, led by Joe Hari, for their amazing coordinating efforts.

 

Lastly, I really want to take a moment to acknowledge our hard working staff. Between health and family issues lately keeping staffers out of the office, we have been struggling even more to keep the work going, albeit not as timely as we'd like to, but staff always steps up to support one another because we believe in the mission of the Neighborhood Councils. So I want to appreciate and warmly thank our staff for their dedication.

 

Enjoy your weekend and don't forget that our Effective Advocacy workshops continue tomorrow in Hollywood with our Board Member Development Series!

  

Best,

 

 

Grayce Liu, 

General Manager

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment  

 

Empower Yourself.   

Empower Your Community. 

Empower LA.

    

Councilman Mitch Englander urges Neighborhood Council leaders to take a position on the new draft of the City of LA's Mural Ordinance (CF 11-0923) and to engage the community in evaluating the Mural Ordinance from the perspective of their communities...

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Commission Grapples with Stakeholder Definition!

On Monday, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners took up the first recommendations of the NC Plan review working groups-a proposal to do away with the standard definition of "factual basis" stakeholder. The motion introduced would also eliminate the requirement that councils provide board seats for those who do not live, work, or own property within their boundaries. Councils wanting to include board seats for those individuals would be allowed to write their own definition for "community interest" stakeholders. (Thanks to Valley working group chair and VANC leader Jill Banks Barad for suggesting that "community interest" better describes those who have more than a tenuous connection to a neighborhood.)...

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Regional Budget Day: A Success Four Times Over!

Thousands of Angelenos expressed their opinions and ideas on the upcoming City Budget and, during Saturday's Regional Budget Day, City officials and Neighborhood Council leaders met to learn the results. This year 5,046 community stakeholders, including 496 NC Board members, took the 2013 Los Angeles Budget Challenge over a four week period from February 1 through March 4, 2013 and also made 2,100 comments. The survey provided an opportunity to weigh in on a variety of departments and programs and as well as an opportunity to balance the City's budget. The survey results will be considered in the development of the Mayor's Fiscal Year 2013-14 Proposed Budget, which will be released on April 19th...

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Funding Update 3.22.13

All NC Treasurers and P-Card holders should work with their phone and utility service providers to switch payment of their services to an automatic monthly payment account through the US Bank purchasing card. The Department, due to continued staff shortages, will not be able to process these payments via Demand Warrant or Auto-Deduct process effective April 1, 2013. If you are currently not using the P-Card to pay for these services and are experiencing trouble setting up these automatic payments, please contact the Department to assist you right away...

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Last Saturday the Tarzana Neighborhood Council (TNC) held its first (but not last) Emergency Preparedness & Public Safety Fair at the beautiful Tarzana Community & Cultural Center (TCCC). It was one of those summer-like days that "valleyites" enjoy in the middle of winter. Public Safety Committee Chair, Elliot Durant, explained that the date was picked because he consulted the Farmers' Almanac last year to determine a perfect day in March. It was a good choice as several hundred people came away with material and knowledge to keep their families safe...

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I have decided to delay the elimination of the graveyard shift until after we hold a Town Hall Meeting on April 8th. from 7-9 PM. I am waiting confirmation that we can use the meeting room at the East Valley Shelter. I hope you will mark your calendar now and plan to attend. We will send out reminders and additional information.I invite you to study the material we send, to ask questions and to come to the meeting prepared to offer constructive solutions.We all want what is best for everyone including the animals, the community, the rescues and the safety of our staff...

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The Department's election report went before City Council on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, where Council approved the recommendations of the Education and Neighborhood Committee, instructing the Department to merge their efforts towards conducting the spring 2014 Neighborhood Council elections. They also instructed the City Attorney to prepare and present a draft ordinance that would grant authority to both the Department and to the City Clerk to jointly conduct the 2014 NC elections as detailed in the attached elections report.

Thanks to those who have weighed in on the election funding issue!  We've sent them to the City Budget Team for their consideration and will keep you updated on the final proposal.

City Council is considering the recommendations of the Education and Neighborhoods Committee, instructing the City Attorney to prepare ordinance language setting up Neighborhood Council checking accounts on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. There is also a request from the Department to create a Congress/Budget Advocate account in the Neighborhood Council fund for Neighborhood Councils to approve funds from the current fiscal year to help support the Congress of Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates work next fiscal year...

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Neighborhood Council Land Use Advocates are invited to an all-day Environmental Law Workshop on Saturday, March 30, that addresses CEQA, NEPA & Open Government. The Workshop is one of a series that are hosted by Loyola Law School's Environmental Law Society and the Sierra Club's Angeles Chapter Legal Committee. The workshop will include a one-hour CEQA commenting section and allows participants to work on a CEQA document (EIR or Negative Declaration) for a project in their own community. Other topics include a...

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