GM’s Message 12.09.16

I hope our newsletter finds you well. My first week back in the office after my trip to the Global Forum on Direct Democracy and a quick vacation has been jam packed with goodness. First, HUGE thanks to Acting General Manager Armando Ruiz for doing a great job while I was away from the office. I got my first look at the awesome final design of our FY 2017-2018 Budget Proposal, which we submitted this month.  Many thanks to Armando and our IT team, Sevak Paramazian, Arin Abedian and Jose Galdamez for their amazing work on the proposal!  We have submitted a very robust budget ask, but as you will see, it covers not only essential Neighborhood Council meeting operations, but also project work on issues Neighborhood Councils have stated are important to them, including emergency preparedness, including emergency bins, in a partnership with the Emergency Management Department; election outreach conducted by EmpowerLA and more active civic engagement on the City side; support for issues on homelessness, purposeful aging and sustainability; and access to on demand trainings. I encourage you to review at least the Executive Summary so you can get an idea of the wonderful work of Neighborhood Councils that we are trying to support.

On Tuesday, I was so happy to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Wilmington and Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Councils with the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners. It was delightful to hear stories about how Wilmington Neighborhood Council was first to certify.

According to CSPNC co-founder and former Commissioner Doug Epperhart, it was because he asked someone to take both applications to City Hall for him. When the Department staff asked which one he wanted to give first, he arbitrarily handed over Wilmington’s application. Thank you to Wilmington Neighborhood Council for hosting and providing refreshments, to Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilmember Joe Buscaino for recognizing WNC and CSPNC’s achievements and to all of the board members and stakeholders who came to speak about the experiences with the Neighborhood Council system these many years. The Commission will be heading over to East Los Angeles on January 3, 2017 to recognize Glassell Park Neighborhood Council, whose certifying team included a then Councilmember Garcetti and Council staffer Mitch O’Farrell, and the other East Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils celebrating their 15th year anniversary.

Last night, I was at the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils to share on our budget and other department activities. It was wonderful as always to see the engaging conversation on issues affecting the Valley Neighborhood Councils. Councilmember Paul Krekorian’s Legislative Deputy, Matt Hale, was there to speak on the Neighborhood Council election motions for online voting (CF 15-1022-S2) and for other election issues (CF 04-1935-S1), which was taken up by the City Council last week.  Matt clarified that City Council has asked our department to provide an after action report within 30 days regarding the online voting experience and that until then, online voting for Neighborhood Council elections are suspended. We’re working to ensure that we provide this information to City Council as soon as possible.