General Manager's Update 

I hope this newsletter finds you well. I've had to take it a little easy the last few days because I have been under the weather so I'm thankful for our great staff when they carried me along in full sprint as we race towards the end of the fiscal year. We're trying to get checks cut, reconciliations in order, Neighborhood Council meeting operation problems addressed, budget numbers straight, contracts and leases executed, bylaws approved, PRAs answered, Neighborhood Council and Alliance meetings covered and reports written for City Council and other City departments. This is on top of supporting the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners much needed work on the Plan review and re-engineering the entire funding program to a more effective checking account system. Therefore, I was happy to welcome our Administrative Director, Jeff Brill, back from leave this week so I could immediately bury him in an avalanche of work!

 

One of the few neat breaks that I had this week was attending Mayor Villaraigosa's final State of the City address.

Mayor Villaraigosa's 8th State of the City address: April 9,2013

Before he spoke, he included a great LA Voices video showing the diversity of Los Angeles.

LA Voices video

 

The other fun break was welcoming an international delegation hosted by the State Department from 19 countries around the world who came to learn about the Neighborhood Council system. I happily gave everyone "I heart NCs" pins and will keep in touch with some of the folks who want to know how to create Neighborhood Councils in their countries. Read more about both these events below.

 

I'm looking forward to stopping by the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council's board retreat tomorrow and then a restful weekend after that - wishing you the same!

 

Best,

 

 

Grayce Liu,

General Manager

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment  

 

Empower Yourself.   

Empower Your Community. 

Empower LA.

    

To My Fellow Angelenos, 

I write to you tonight to thank you for the privilege of serving as your Mayor for the past eight years. Together we have been on a journey as Los Angeles continues its march into the future. 

I hope you had the chance to join me last night at UCLA's Royce Hall as I delivered my eighth and final State of the City address. I was fortunate enough to have the time to tell my story and demonstrate how after the worst recession in generations, LA is once again "On the Move."

None of the work we have accomplished in the past eight years could have been done without the partnership, collaboration and teamwork of so many Angelenos and for that you have my deepest gratitude. 

If you were unable to attend the speech, I invite you to view the introductory video, "LA Voices," and the speech itself, which can be accessed via the links below. 

LA Voices: youtu.be/Wba-6-G_O_Y 

State of the City address: youtu.be/3bFCz0uYHJw

Yours Truly,
Antonio R. Villaraigosa 

In a city the size of Los Angeles, one of the fastest routes to City Hall is the internet. In the time it takes to find your car keys, you can be online and communicating with the Mayor and the City Council.

Effective Neighborhood Council advocates typically know three things; they know the issue, they know what they want, and they know who can help them.

Then they do something about it. Here are a few tips for effective email advocacy, followed by the email addresses of the Mayor and the City Council, complemented by a simple link that allows you to email the Mayor and the City Council with one click...

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Empowered Nations

EmpowerLA's General Manager, Grayce Liu, welcomed 19 guests from the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment where they met with department staff and community leaders. From Bahrain to Zimbabwe, the visitors included two members of Parliament, two Cabinet Ministers, two Journalists, two anti-corruption officials, and government officials charged with economic growth, healthy communities, and transparency in governance...

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Neighborhood Councils

and the Budget

LA's City Charter, in Article IX, Section 909, addresses the City of LA's Budget Priorities and specifies "Each neighborhood council may present to the Mayor and Council an annual list of priorities for the City budget. The Mayor shall inform certified neighborhood councils of the deadline for submission so that the input may be considered in a timely fashion." On Tuesday, April 16, at 1:00 pm, Councilman Bernard Parks will...

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Looking Back, Looking Forward

Over the past 3 years, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates (NCBA's) have made more then 35 recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council on how to cut expenses, raise revenues, and be more efficient. The Inspector General has adopted 22 of these items in his recommendations to the city council...

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It's great to have opinions, especially when others agree with you, but it's even better if that opinion ends up on paper so that it can be shared with others, perhaps gathering momentum as it moves forward. The Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council recently agendized the subject of "Stakeholder Definition" and then passed a motion supporting changes to the City of LA's Administrative Code, specifying the following changes...

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Health Fairs are proving to be great Neighborhood Council outreach tools, delivering much more than a simple "day in the park" to the community and the Neighborhood Council. Health Fairs offer the Neighborhood Council an opportunity to partner with other organizations in the community, establishing powerful networks of volunteerism that resonate long after the EZ-Ups come down. Creating the space and hosting other community groups is the synergy that connects school groups and church groups and resident associations with the Neighborhood Council, fulfilling the first Charter mandate - to engage the community...

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The 3rd Quarter Reconciliation Report (Jan - March 2013) is due by April 30, 2013. Please note that if you have two (2) or more outstanding reports, your funds may be frozen until those reports are submitted, per the guidelines outlined in Treasurer's Handbook...

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Last week, EmpowerLA released a list of Mayoral and City Council newsletters that allows the people to Los Angeles to stay connected to City Hall and to their City Councilmember. This week, the focus is on connecting with the Mayor and the City Council using social media. If you are not sure of your City Council District, you can enter your address here and you will find all your representatives, including your Neighborhood Council. Now let's get busy liking and following and sharing and joining and getting social with City Hall:

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