Happy New Year! I hope this newsletter finds you well in 2014. We are right back into the swing of all things Neighborhood Councils. Candidate filing has opened in all 4 Valley regions, and each is holding their own Rally in Valley to sign up candidates for their Neighborhood Council elections. We were excited to see the first of the Neighborhood Council LADWP ads encouraging stakeholders to join Neighborhood Councils appearing in the January bills. A huge thanks to LADWP Commissioner (and Neighborhood Council guru) Jill Banks Barad for making that happen!!

I'm thrilled that Neighborhood Councils are getting noticed for their great civic work for Los Angeles. Over the holidays, I was contacted by the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, D.C. from a team that is supporting the federal Building Neighborhood Capacity Program, a key program of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, an interagency strategy launched in 2010 by the Obama Administration. They would like technical support in the creation of a Neighborhood Council system that is occurring in Frayser, a community in Memphis, TN. On Monday, we fielded questions from representatives of the Mongolian government on the Neighborhood Council system. Apparently, Mongolia has their own Neighborhood Councils, and they wanted to learn from us. They even attended the Greater Valley Glen Council meeting to observe them in action. Board of Public Works President Kevin James talked about Neighborhood Councils and their growing influence in City government on KFI 640 am radio (click here). Neighborhood Councils and the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates' work were even acknowledged in the Los Angeles 2020 Commission's report released this week (more below).

I think this well deserved attention is due to the dedication and successes of our Neighborhood Council leaders as they work hard each day to make their communities better. Just this past week, Neighborhood Council leaders met at the LANCC, the HANC, the VANC, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates and the Valley regional outreach committees and events in addition to the over 30 Neighborhood Council board and committee meetings around the City as volunteers! My New Year's Resolution is to be as awesome as LA's Neighborhood Councils.

Thank you to all the Neighborhood Council leaders for your work! We at the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, aka EmpowerLA, look forward to collaborating with you to make Neighborhood Councils more connected, more influential and more successful in 2014.

Have a great weekend!