"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there." Yogi Berra "Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized." Daniel Burnham Neighborhood Councils were created with a purpose, “To promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs.” Individual

The City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee has completed the first phase of the Budget Hearings and is scheduled to reconvene on May 14th when the Chief Legislative Analyst will report on the proposed changes to the Mayor’s 2013-14 Proposed Budget. The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment’s GM, Grayce Liu, appeared before the Committee on the last day of the initial round of hearings

When Arts4LA went to City Hall, their visit had all the elements of a great story, at least as defined by Aristotle who wrote in Poetics that all great stories have the same basic elements. Arts4LA had a Plot, the City of LA faces many threats and the Hero is positioned to fend them off, delivering the City of LA it’s rightful place as a prosperous, well educated, culturally rich, vibrant City.

The City Council voted, and the Mayor approved in April, a new permanent City account to help fund the outreach efforts of future NC Budget Advocates and the expenses of the annual Congress of Neighborhoods held every September. It is a single account (47J220) capped at $100,000 to benefit both activities but NCs must earmark the amount for each purpose, which will be tracked by the Department. During

The Mayor’s Proposed Budget was presented by Deputy Mayor Monique Earl who referred to it as “a commitment to the delivery of City Services” and CAO Miguel Santana who says he gets nervous when municipal revenue is down and he gets nervous when revenue is up. The highlights of the $7.7 billion budget are: Creation of a new Economic Development Department focused on small business support, workforce

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has delivered the Mayor’s Proposed Budget to the City Council which will now commence the annual budget hearings on April 30, a process that consists of reviewing each department’s budget, one by one, in public meetings. The Mayor is responsible for developing the Mayor’s Proposed Budget. The Budget and Finance Committee then has two weeks to review the Budget and

The City Council recently approved Council File: 11-1020-S1, which provides Neighborhood Councils with a tool for transferring funds from their current budget into an account that will hold the funds so that they can be used for the operation of the Congress of Neighborhoods in September and/or for outreach for next year’s Budget Advocates. As the 2012-2013 Funding Cycle comes to a close, Neighborhood

On Wednesday, April 17th, another significant Neighborhood Council empowerment milestone was reached. For the third year in a row, your Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates (“NCBAs”) were requested to present their views and recommendations concerning the City Budget to City Council. This year the basis of the presentation was their White Paper report entitled, “The Angeleno’s Recipe For

LA’s City Charter, in Article IX, Section 909, addresses the City of LA’s Budget Priorities and specifies “Each neighborhood council may present to the Mayor and Council an annual list of priorities for the City budget. The Mayor shall inform certified neighborhood councils of the deadline for submission so that the input may be considered in a timely fashion.” On Tuesday, April 16, at 1:00

Budget Advocates to Meet with Michael LoGrande Over the past 3 years, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates (NCBA's) have made more then 35 recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council on how to cut expenses, raise revenues, and be more efficient. The Inspector General has adopted 22 of these items in his recommendations to the city council. Now, we are informed that the city is planning