I hope this newsletter finds you well. I was tickled that Neighborhood Councils continue to receive a lot of awesome recognition this week. On Monday, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates presented their White Paper to Budget & Finance Committee with the City Councilmembers acknowledging their excellent work. The Committee backed that support up on Wednesday when they not only approved the CAO's suggestions of providing our Department with 3 unfunded positions for policy and outreach next year, but they also voted unanimously for the CLA to find funding for the positions as well. Many thanks to Councilmember Paul Krekorian for making the motions to approve and to fund the positions!

I got to share all things great about Neighborhood Councils and how our volunteers make us work to become more open, transparent and collaborative as a City to increase civic engagement on Tuesday at the Music Center's Grand Rounds lunch discussion. On Thursday, I shared all the amazing election outreach Neighborhood Councils do citywide with the City's Election Reform Committee, which is tasked with finding ways to increase municipal election turnout. The Committee members were so impressed, they asked for a report on Neighborhood Council outreach and election system to see if they can use our best practices for municipal elections. 

Finally, Toronto's Community Choreography Dave Meslin, who spent a week with us in a deep dive 

about Neighborhood Councils for the book he's writing about democracy, told me before he left last night how impressed and inspired he was about our Neighborhood Council system. He left me with some great outreach and election ideas from other parts of the country that I'm excited to try. So kudos to the fantastic work Neighborhood Council leaders do because it does not go unnoticed! 

Other happenings this week included the passing of a new Posting Policy by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on Tuesday, which reduces the physical posting locations from 5 to 1 with other requirements. We were fortunate to have not only Dave speak at the meeting about his work, but also Councilmember Joe Buscaino stopped by to speak on leadership. Last night, the VANC had a jam packed informative agenda as usual. They considered the budget (Council File 14-0600 in case you wanted to file a Community Impact Statement or provide public comment) and also the solar developments that are suddenly popping up under the LADWP's Feed-in-Tariff or FiT program (Council File 14-0331).

Today, the City celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with a lovely presentation in City Council by Mayor Garcetti, Councilmember Joe Buscaino, City Attorney Mike Feuer and Controller Ron Galperin (download the 2014 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide in pdf here). President Barack Obama sent us a signed proclamation as well. Council President Herb Wesson is supporting the various Heritage Month celebrations, and I was happy to be acknowledged for my work along with newly approved General Manager of Building and Safety, Ray Chan, and our new Chief Legislative Analyst, Sharon Tso, who also received the Hope of Los Angeles Award for her 32 years of public service in the City of Los Angeles. More info about APAHM below.

Neighborhood Council elections continue in Regions 10 in South Los Angeles tomorrow. If I don't see you, enjoy your weekend!