I hope this newsletter finds you well. It’s been a packed week as usual here. On Monday, I was out in the North Valley’s Funding Training and Townhall while Armando was on the Westside to get feedback about the new checking account system, including the events review process. I also stopped by the East area’s Funding Training and Townhall on Wednesday as well. There seems to be a few misconceptions about the funding program floating out there that I wanted to clarify. The first is that the Department automatically gets any unspent Neighborhood Council funds and that is not true. While the Department can request the City Council to transfer any unspent funds to support our services to the Neighborhood Councils this year, I will not be doing that this year or in the future since we were able to cover our budget with our own savings from last year, and any unspent Neighborhood Council funds should be reinvested in the Neighborhood Council system.
Regarding the new events review process, please note that the need for permits and sufficient liability coverage has always been required for all Neighborhood Council events. We are now incorporating such supporting documentation into the Neighborhood Council’s Monthly Expenditure Report. Our initial review is intended to save board members’ time from having to get unnecessary coverage and to ensure the correct coverage if necessary. We’ll be continuing our Funding Trainings and Townhalls next week, but if you’d prefer to provide your feedback online, please click here.
On Tuesday, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners met at City Council President Herb Wesson’s office where Council President Wesson was the featured speaker on leadership. He offered to follow up with a special Q&A townhall where he would invite other City Councilmembers to join him in discussing Neighborhood Council issues with board members. We also had a warm welcome from United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council President Jeff Camp, who provided the Commissioners with UNNC’s great outreach magnets and a presentation about their fantastic work, particularly in the area of land use and planning in their community.
Last night, the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils had a packed room for their Board of Supervisor’s Candidate Forum between Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver. The event brought out not just Neighborhood Councils, but several judicial candidates, former City Councilmember Dennis Zine and former Deputy Mayor Torie Osborn. Next week, the VANC will co-host with Van Nuys Neighborhood Council among others the Municipal Election Reform Public Hearing at Van Nuys City Council Chambers. Click here for more information.
Tomorrow is packed with 5 regional Budget Days around the City, PlanCheckNC and the Neighborhood House Services Symposium where I will be moderating a panel on advocacy in the afternoon with Reseda Neighborhood Council President Kevin Taylor. Click here for the updated Budget Day flyers with new times.
Remember, our office is closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day. If I don’t see you around tomorrow, have a great weekend!
Best,
Grayce Liu,
General Manager
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment aka EmpowerLA
