I hope this newsletter finds you well. This week began and ended with me sharing my love of Neighborhood Councils with some unexpected supporters. On Monday, Policy Director Joe Hari, NEAs Amber Meshack and Tom Soong, City Attorney Carmen Hawkins and I hosted a delegation from Saudi Arabia, who were impressed with the diverse ways Neighborhood Councils empowered their communities from public safety to planning to economic development. This morning, I had the privilege of presenting Neighborhood Councils and effective leadership skills to 50 young women, ages 18 -25, at the John Muir Charter School of the Century Regional Detention Facility. These women were in wonder of the work you do for your communities and wanted to learn how they can be effective leaders as well. They couldn’t believe that a City government would support such efforts so thank you for continuing to inspire all those who are new to Neighborhood Councils.
I’m very happy to report the good news of some of our awesome partners. Interim City Clerk, Holly Wolcott, was approved as permanent City Clerk this week. We really appreciated Holly and her staff’s support in the Neighborhood Council elections, and I’m delighted that Holly will continue in her outstanding leadership role. Also, our friend, Commissioner Leonard Shaffer, of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners was reappointed by Mayor Garcetti to represent the South Valley Area. Len has been a supporter since the inception of Neighborhood Councils, and we are grateful for his continued leadership as well.
Last night, I was at the monthly VANC meeting and received a lot of important feedback from Neighborhood Council leaders last night about the new checking account system and know that we are listening. In fact, to make easier, we will be bringing your account amounts to $4000 at the beginning of each month automatically to ensure you have timely access to your funds. For more important updates to the Funding Program, please see Armando’s update this week. If you have other suggestions about the Funding Program or anything else Neighborhood Council related, please feel free to email me at grayce.liu@lacity.org.
Speaking of feedback, Councilmember Krekorian is asking Neighborhood Councils for feedback via Community Impact Statements (CF 14-0163-s4 and CF 14-0163-s3) on the Citywide Sidewalk Repair Program by October 1, 2014 though there will be a hearing on it on Monday, August 18th (more info below). Also, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners will be considering a draft Neighborhood Council Board Member Code of Conduct Policy at their Monday, August 18th meeting. Based on Neighborhood Council feedback, this policy would be in lieu of mandated harassment trainings for all board members. If you can’t make their meeting, please feel free to send your comments to Janet.Lindo@lacity.org.
The Neighborhood Council Budget Day is tomorrow, and Mayor Garcetti’s Office, the Budget Advocates and our department have co-sponsored the Neighborhood Council Budget Day Survey (more info below). Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. The Budget Advocates have prepared a great line up of speakers, including Mayor Garcetti, Controller Galperin and City Councilmember Krekorian, who serves as the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. I hope to see you there!
Have a great weekend!
Best,
Grayce Liu,
General Manager
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment aka EmpowerLA
