General Manager's Update 

 

I hope this newsletter finds you well. We were very happy to release our first EmpowerLA Yearbook this week. It's important to recognize and memorialize the Neighborhood Councils' history and ongoing contributions to the City of Los Angeles. We'll be getting hard copies of these yearbooks to your Neighborhood Councils and to the City electeds and departments in the next few weeks. They are also available at our office for pick up. I hope you enjoy it!

 

I want to really appreciate Councilmember Zine for allocating $50,000 to each of his 5 Neighborhood Councils for community improvements this week (CF 13-0676). You can read more about it here. I enjoy working with Councilmember Zine in the Education & Neighborhoods Committee and thank him very much for his generous collaboration with Neighborhood Councils.

 

Funding Director, Armando Ruiz, and I went to Wells Fargo Bank to open our main account this week, and as we get all the documentation from the second signatories and Treasurers, we'll open the 95 Neighborhood Council accounts, too, by the end of the month. We anticipate the accounts going live on July 8th since the ordinance will take effect on July 6th. Please see below for the new Funding Program workshop dates for all Board members voting on funding matters.

 

Our super staff has been consumed with Neighborhood Council funding and bylaw amendments this month, especially when the Purchase Card shut down today at noon. Thanks for your patience as we jam through 390 demand warrants in order to get them processed before the end of the fiscal year. I'll be working with our funding staff over the weekend approving demand warrants so we can make it.

 

Thank you for your work as always and have a relaxing weekend!

 

Best,

 

 

Grayce Liu,

General Manager

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment  

 

Empower Yourself.

Empower Your Community.

Empower LA.

    

Placido Domingo stood on the front steps of City Hall and serenaded Los Angeles with a voice worthy of the largest city in the most populated state in the most powerful country in the world. As he finished, he highlighted the intimacy to be found in LA's neighborhoods by pointing out he had to get to work, singing "across the street."...

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Mayor Villaraigosa officiated at LA's first virtual ribbon cutting as the Los Angeles City Planning Department embarked on one of the City's largest planning initiatives to date: re:code LA, a comprehensive revision of LA's outdated zoning code....

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The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (Commission) is accepting nominations for the second annual EmpowerLA awards. The awards are given to Neighborhood Councils that best fulfill their city charter mandate of promoting more citizen participation in government and making government more responsive to local needs....

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As we wrap up the old Funding Program, we are launching the new Funding Program, too, which will be effective on July 6, 2013. We had to push the new Funding Program workshops a week because we are finalizing the policies and procedures next week with the Controller's Office. The workshops are a combination of live trainings and webinars with multiple dates to choose from:...

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click on image to view flyer in jpg 

We are nearing the end of this fiscal year, and it is time for NCs to start planning and approving their budgets for Fiscal Year 2013-2014. Based on the Mayor's Proposed Budget, we will be sending out a budget packet to NCs to plan for their yearly allocation, which is currently set at $37,000. Approved budgets must be received by July 12, 2013 or access to FY 2013-2014 funds will be delayed...

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I hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying the lovely weather that we are having. On our Field Operations side, we have been busy with the processing of demand warrants and NPGs and working diligently to sort out any issues before the close of this fiscal year at the end of June 2013. We have also received a number of bylaw adjustment applications, which we are currently processing and if need be, scheduling those items that require a board structure change with our Board of Neighborhood Commissioners...

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The Neighborhood Council Plan Review Committees will be meeting jointly on Saturday, June 22nd to discuss and make recommendations on a number of policy issues including: Grievances and Complaints, Department duties, Commission duties, Funding / Grants, Brown Act/Sunshine Ordinance, Training, Early Notification and more...

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Board of Neighborhood Commissioners poised to complete work on Factual Basis Stakeholder issue. After months of committee meetings and receiving significant input from Neighborhood Councils, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners is planning to complete its work on Factual Basis Stakeholder policy. At its meeting on Monday, the Board will weigh in on 1) whether to remove the current definition of factual basis stakeholder and 2) allow each neighborhood council to adopt its own definition....

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