Greetings! We hope our weekly newsletter finds you well.

As first order of business we’d like to say a heartfelt Congratulations to our very own Amber Meshack, Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate, as she graduated today from the Los Angeles Fire Department Leadership Academy. This is a wonderful accomplishment and we are so very proud of Amber for all her work, dedication and leadership in the course of this training as well as in the course of her work with the Department and Neighborhood Councils. We equally recognize the leadership in our General Manager, Grayce Liu, for being so supportive and nurturing and ensuring that Department staff add to their tool kit and professional development.

Bylaws….
Thanks to those Neighborhood Councils that have submitted bylaws changes in order to meet our deadline of May 1, 2015. We still have not heard from a number of Neighborhood Councils regarding Bylaws. Please remember that as we gear up for elections, it is critical that we have all changes in by the identified deadline. The Bylaws Moratorium will be effective May 1, 2015 which means that after this date, we will not be able to accept bylaw adjustment applications. If you need assistance and/or guidance with changes to your bylaws, please reach out to your Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate..

Training….
Please note that field staff have been conducting training for specific boards on request. Your NEAs can work with you to develop a work plan and ensure that the board is meeting any challenge head on. We can address any issues dealing with operations, meetings, board dynamics and leadership development through a board retreat. Please let us know if you’d like our assistance.

Agendas & CIS…
Thank you for sending your agendas to NCSupport@lacity.org As of the beginning of the fiscal year, July 2014 to present, we have received 2,676 agendas which have been posted to the Early Notification System (ENS). Please continue to send them in and don’t forget that we need them in pdf format. With regards to Community Impact Statements (CIS) since start of the fiscal year, we are up again at 165! Kudos to those NCs making use of this great and unique tool! Congratulations on your CIS participation, we see it increasing every week and are thrilled that you are being proactive about weighing in on issues concerning your community.

Civic University…
Civic University is underway! Based on some of the feedback we’ve heard, folks are enjoying the sessions and learning a lot from them. We thank everyone who stepped up to participate and hope that you are able to apply and share the information learned during the course of the sessions with your fellow board members.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach us at NCSupport@lacity.org or by calling the Department’s Help Line at (213) 978-1551.

Best,

Leyla A. Campos
Director of Field Operations

Empower Yourself. Empower Your Community. EmpowerLA