It was a nice full weekend of Neighborhood Council activities. Thanks to our Council for Council mentors, Jay Handal and Terrence Gomes, Deputy City Attorney Carmen Hawkins, and our staffer, Tom Soong, we had a great board orientation and ethics training last Saturday in South LA. I was happy to welcome both new and experienced board members to learn about becoming effective advocates for their communities. After that, I headed over to the famous Venice Neighborhood Council BBQ where the board members did an outstanding job as usual mingling with and feeding hundreds of their stakeholders with the help of LAFD. Councilmember Mike Bonin was also there enjoying the event.
I bumped into Councilmember Bonin again on Sunday along the Great Streets of Venice Boulevard during CicLAvia on Sunday. I was riding along with Commissioner Lydia Grant of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners and LANCC Chair Terrence Gomes. We bumped into Commissioner Eli Lipmen and Del Rey Neighborhood Council member Marlene Savage as well as Mar Vista Community Council members at their Green Tent. Check out the pic from the day and see if you can find Lydia and Terrence. See more pics on Instagram.
On Monday, we were thrilled to be awarded a grant by the Innovation and Performance Commission, which was championed by Studio City Neighborhood Council President and IPC Commissioner John Walker. The grant will allow us to take the Neighborhood Council Funding Program completely online this fiscal year with real time funding data, online submissions and e-signatures. We’re extremely excited by this amazing opportunity and are very appreciative of John and the IPC for supporting us in making this innovation finally happen for the Neighborhood Council system. We anticipate many saved hours for our Neighborhood Council volunteers and a happier environment with less paper and fewer car trips to drop off paperwork.
I am really sad to share that we’ve lost several board members in South LA in the past several weeks. Long time Watts Neighborhood Council board member Henry Broomfield passed away last week at his home. Henry was a very strong advocate for his community and will be sorely missed. CANNDU Neighborhood Council President Dr. Ortho Scott and his wife were killed in a car accident this week. Dr. Scott was a gracious man, and we were very sorry to learn of this tragedy. His service will be on Tuesday, August 18th at 11 am at Holmon United Methodist Church, located at 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018.
The Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates meet tomorrow in West LA, and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners will be meeting on Monday, August 17th, at City Hall. For more info, go to our EmpowerLA calendar. The first meeting of the new Rules, Elections, Intergovernmental Relations and Neighborhoods Committee will be next Friday at 9 am. Here is the schedule for all of the City Council Committees. We’ve also sent out our subdivision policy (CF 12-1681) report back to City Council so it may be coming up soon.
Enjoy your weekend and stay cool!
