General Manager's Update 

 

I hope this newsletter finds you well. Wow, I was so inspired this week by Neighborhood Council leaders stepping up to work collaboratively with Mayor Garcetti and the City Council on the DWP labor contract. The meeting of the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates and the LANCC on Monday gave many in the system the opportunity to hear about the issues and weigh in both in person and online in front of Mayor Garcetti, who made a surprise appearance. I hope those Neighborhood Council folks who think they don't have a voice in city issues take note that your opinion does count. Mayor Garcetti and the City Council were able to move forward with the DWP labor contract, and both Mayor Garcetti and Council President Herb Wesson acknowledged the helpful role of Neighborhood Councils in the process (more info below). A huge thank you to all the players for working collectively to Empower LA!

 

I was already running pretty high from my great time with Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council on Saturday. I assisted with their Board retreat where they also had a surprise guest of Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who stopped by and discussed how they could work better with one another. If you haven't had a Board retreat before, I highly recommend it as a good way for your Board to get on the same page about your priorities and goals as well as get educated at the same time. Let us know if you do because we're happy to assist.

 

 

At the Education and Neighborhoods Committee this week, I was excited to welcome Councilmembers Nury Martinez and Mitch O'Farrell to the committee led by our awesome Chair, Councilmember Bernard Parks. They were able to push through the changes in the elections ordinance as well as the stakeholder definition. I'm hoping we can have everything in place by October. They also moved our Board of Neighborhood Commissioner appointment for the Harbor area, Victor Medina, and Commissioner Karen Mack's reappointment so our Commission will hopefully be back in action in September.

 

I'll be heading out of town on a much needed break next week so I can come back mid-September recharged and ready to tackle elections and the Funding Program again. I've asked our Funding Program Director, Armando Ruiz, to be Acting General Manager while I'm gone. In addition, I'm arranging for some super guest writers to step in the next three weeks to write in the GM's Message spot so stay tuned.

 

Have a wonderful weekend and carry on Empowering LA!

 

Best,

 

Grayce Liu,

General Manager

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment  

 

Empower Yourself.

Empower Your Community.

Empower LA.

    

Mayor Eric Garcetti made an unannounced and unexpected visit to last Monday's NC Budget Advocates and Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC) Town Hall meeting, offering evidence of his commitment to empowering the Neighborhood Councils of Los Angeles and to reforming the DWP. The Town Hall meeting was conducted by Neighborhood Council leaders in response to the rapid pace of the proposed DWP labor contract as it came from behind closed doors and to the floor of the City Council for a public hearing that drew a significant response from the community...

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Neighborhood Council leaders that want to track the Council Files that are relevant to their communities will need to sift through a lot of routine administrative actions, rewards, liens, resolutions, and other Council actions. Here is how the more effective councils stay on  

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The Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, joined by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition, stepped up to the plate on Monday night, August 19th, and made a significant impact on Los Angeles' political process by organizing a well-attended Town Hall at a pivotal point in the debate over the proposed contract between the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 union (IBEW). At the start of their Town Hall meeting, the Budget Advocates were pleasantly surprised by an unannounced visit from Mayor Eric Garcetti, who took the opportunity to outline his priorities for the DWP...

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Any community activist worth their salt has had to grapple with an overload of information, typically resulting in an email inbox that is overflowing, making it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Here are some tips on setting up filters and folders that will help you manage your email inbox...

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We're only one week away from the deadline to submit your completed budget packages! Please work hard to ensure that your Neighborhood Council funds are not affected by missing the September 1st deadline. Your completed Budget package should contain the following:

1. Board approved budget for FY 2013-2014
2. Board Roster
3. A Strategic Plan (may be submitted online)
4. NC Outreach Survey (may be submitted online)
5. Board resolution or minutes indicating Board approval of this budget package...

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In June, the NC Plan Review Committees issued nine recommendations to the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners regarding important policies which govern the Neighborhood Council system. The Commission decided to postpone voting on the recommendations for 60 days to give Neighborhood Councils the opportunity to weigh in. If you or your Neighborhood Council has not yet weighed in but would still like to, the deadline for taking the survey or directly writing to the Commissioners is September 1, 2013.  The nine motions address the topics of...

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