In order to be accessible and open to participation by all members of the public, your meetings and events must take place at ADA-compliant venues. Your agendas and event invites should always contain contact info for those who need it to request special accommodations.   LANGUAGES & TRANSLATION SERVICES Keeping meetings truly accessible for everyone [...]

The Code of Conduct you signed when you first took office outlines requirements for creating a safe; productive; and respectful environment at Neighborhood Council meetings and events. Here are some trainings on how to realize those goals and become a better leader and team player: Leadership Development Workshop: presented by the City Attorney’s office, this [...]

PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS Under the California Public Records Act (PRA), Neighborhood Council records must be made available when requested by the public. Learn how to respond and what the deadlines are in this video.  

CONFLICT OF INTEREST You must “recuse yourself” -- that is, not vote - when an agenda item might create a conflict of interest between your board position and other roles you play in your personal or professional life. Learn when to vote and when to walk in this video.

BROWN ACT Many aspects of routine Board business like how and when to post agendas; what you can/cannot discuss at meetings; and how to keep email threads from turning into serial meetings are regulated by this California law requiring open & transparent public meetings. Training videos - what the Brown Act is & how to [...]

REQUIRED TRAININGS Now that you’re a public official, you must undergo training required by the City and State, and familiarize yourself with policies that govern how Neighborhood Councils and their members may operate. Until you complete the three required trainings on Ethics; Funding; and the Code of Conduct, you will not be able to vote [...]

WHAT ARE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS FOR? LA’s Neighborhood Councils are grassroots-level advisory bodies that exist to connect Angelenos to City Hall. The system was established in 1999 by the City Charter, in order to improve government responsiveness to local concerns. Currently, there are approximately 1800 elected Board Members serving on 96 Neighborhood Councils that each represent [...]

WHAT CONTACT INFO TO USE FOR NC BUSINESS Contact info for public officials, including Neighborhood Council members, is available to the public, so consider creating a dedicated email address just for Neighborhood Council business if your Council does not already offer them through its website. You may also use an app like Google Voice to [...]

Committee How-Tos Read our in-depth article on how to find & recruit great Committee Members Our “Passing The Baton” article series focuses on how to transfer Committee knowledge and materials when a new Board is seated, such as this article for Outreach Chairs. Search EmpowerLA.org for keywords "Passing The Baton" to find all articles in the series, and [...]

  Bylaws define many aspects of your Neighborhood Council, and each Council is required by the City to have them. Though the specific content varies between individual Neighborhood Councils, here’s a quick index of topics covered in your Bylaws:   # of board seats (Article V, Section 1) # of board members to make quorum [...]