I hope our newsletter finds you well. It was a pleasure to join Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Josh LaFarga and President Leonard Shaffer today at the Board of Public Works to honor our Neighborhood Council Clean Street Heroes Jesus Banuelos from Pico Union Neighborhood Council and Diana Medel from Wilmington Neighborhood Council.
csi The Board of Public Works, led by President Kevin James, were rightfully complimentary about both Jesus and Diana’s community clean up activities. Many thanks to Jesus and Diana for being wonderful leaders in their community, Commissioners LaFarga and Shaffer and the Board of Public Works for recognizing their work and our staffer Octaviano Rios for capturing their stories so nicely in great videos by ITA! You can learn more about their terrific work in the article below.

For those Neighborhood Councils working on their Community Impact Statements on the proposed DWP Reform (Council File 16-0093) the Pat Brown Institute is hosting an information session

[insert link to flyer] next Tuesday, March 29th, at the Deaton Civic Auditorium of LAPD Headquarters. Our BFF Raphael Sonenshein, Executive Director of the PBI will host a panel that includes DWP Manager Marcie Edwards and Neighborhood Council DWP MOU Oversight Committee, Tony Wilkinson. Mayor Eric Garcetti will also be there to deliver opening remarks. For more information, see the article below from Tony.

marykaufmanWhile Chatsworth Neighborhood Council had a very successful selection process with nearly 400 stakeholders voting, I am sad to share that board member, Mary Kaufman, passed away. Mary was a passionate leader in the Chatsworth equestrian community, and we bonded over the fact that we both rode Tennessee Walking horses. She was the main organizer of the CNC’s annual Day of the Horse festival, which falls on April 17th this year. You can read more about Mary’s life here. We’ll miss you, Mary!

gmmsgEmpowerLA’s Director of Policy and Government Relations, Mike Fong, and Funding Manager, Mario Hernandez, graduated from the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Leadership Academy yesterday.
We were happy to celebrate with them and their families at their graduation. I really appreciate the extra work that Mike and Mario took on to take this 4 month class, which ends with a 20 page paper, while also continuing with their regular workload. Thank you, too, to the LAFD for continuing to offer this amazing course to City employees for free!

Don’t forget that the Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness Alliance meets tomorrow. Also, we’ll be closed on Monday, March 28th, in observance of Cesar Chavez Day. Have a great weekend!