I hope our newsletter finds you well. We had a great Election Town Hall last Saturday where we did a final review of our draft 2016 Election Manual with Neighborhood Council leaders. We’ll be finalizing the manual by November 6th so if you have any other suggestions, please email them to elections@empowerla.org. Many thanks to our Neighborhood Council Elections Administrator, Jay Handal, and Election Coordinator, Jose Galdamez, for leading a productive session! We’re really excited about the energy around the Neighborhood Council elections. If you haven’t yet taken one of our TUX Teams Elections and Outreach sessions, please check one out in November on our EmpowerLA Calendar.
I was so pleased to stop by Neighborhood Council Valley Village on Wednesday night to give Vice President Ginny Hatfield
our Neighborhood Council Spirit Award for her great work with the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Council’s Executive Committee. It was both Ginny and NCVV President Tony Braswell’s birthday that night, and they spent it working for their community, civic engagement rock stars that they are. NCVV hosted LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl that evening, who provided information about City versus County services and how she was tackling issues of drought, emergency prep, homelessness and affordable housing. She was super informative, and the community members were very appreciative of the time she spent with them. HUGE thanks to NCVV and their wonderful work of connecting their stakeholders to elected officials who impact their day-to-day lives!
On Thursday, our Neighborhood Council Advocate Melvin Canas graduated from the Los Angeles Fire Department Leadership Academy. Melvin spent 4 weeks over the course of 4 months learning West Point Academy techniques on leadership. It’s a fantastic program that is offered by the LAFD to City staff for free, and we are so thankful that they always make room for our EmpowerLA staff. Much appreciation to Melvin for putting in the hard work to finish the course. Congrats, Melvin!
Our EmpowerLA staffers, Kathleen Quinn, Jessica Pua and Michelle Sangalang, were happy to welcome international visitor, Daisy Arellano Sayangda, who is the Mayor of Santol in the Philippines, and tell her about the Neighborhood Council system. Mayor Arellano Sayangda was very impressed not only with how the Neighborhood Councils are effectively engaging community members on City issue, but also with how Neighborhood Councils are becoming the training ground for activists who are on the City Council, in the Controller’s Office and appointed to City Commissions. Read more about her visit below. Thanks to Kathleen, Jessica and Michelle for being awesome hosts!
Just a reminder that the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners regular meeting on November 3rd has been cancelled. They may be holding a special meeting instead on November 5th in South LA. You can sign up for their agendas on the Early Notification System here.
Have a happy and safe Halloween tomorrow!
Best,
Grayce Liu,
General Manager
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (aka) EmpowerLA
