I hope our newsletter finds you well.

This year already seems to be racing past as the days are blurring together. We held another 2016 Neighborhood Council Election Town Hall last Saturday where we continued to talk about the online voting option as well as suggested changes to the Election Manual, such as all newly elected board members taking office on July 1, 2016 instead of within 30 days of the election results. I'll be doing an online voting presentation at the LANCC meeting this Saturday, which we will live stream, and we'll continue our 2016 Neighborhood Council Election Town Hall after the LANCC. In addition, we'll be doing an online voting webinar for folks who've not been able to make it to the town halls to get the details on Wednesday, March 11th from 6pm - 7pm. Please click hereto register.

I was very happy to participate in the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates first radio show last Sunday with Controller Ron Galperin on KRLA AM 870. It's a great platform to inform more Angelenos not only about the City budget, but also the Neighborhood Council system. You can see it here. This Sunday from 6pm - 7pm, they'll be welcoming special guest host, Kevin James, the President of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works. The Budget Advocates also met with Mayor Eric Garcetti and Deputy Mayor Rick Cole on Monday to present their  white paper. They had a great conversation with the Mayor, who ended the meeting by saying a world class city like LA is one that among other things, "empowers its people." An extraordinary amount of work went into the white paper so many thanks to the Budget Advocates for continuing to raise the bar!

I'm so pleased to share that Neighborhood Councils have now filed 143 Community Impact Statements (CIS). Thank you to those Neighborhood Councils who are filing CISs. The goal is 200 this fiscal year so we are nearly there. Every Neighborhood Council should have on their agenda each month at least 1 CIS that is affecting their community. Check out the CIS section of our new website for lists of which CISs Neighborhood Councils are weighing in, how many CISs each Neighborhood Council has filed and how to file CISs. Please contact NCSupport@lacity.org if your Neighborhood Council needs help creating a CIS.

Just a reminder to select your Neighborhood Council's Civic University participants this month. Once they are selected, please have them register here. Also, the VANC's famous annual mixer is next Thursday, March 12th, at CBS Studios.

If I don't see you at the LANCC or Election Town Hall tomorrow, have an excellent weekend!

Best,

Grayce Liu,
General Manager
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (aka) EmpowerLA