CityWatch, by Stephen Box

Now, more than ever, neighborhood councils have the opportunity to step up and participate in the restructuring of a Great City or they can settle back and assume the role of spectator. As the Mayor and City Council grapple with the city’s budget crisis and the CAO’s proposed budget cuts, neighborhood council leaders from around the city will meet again this Saturday, at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church on Gower, to refine a plan to reorganize the Department of Empowerment and to work with Councilman Paul Krekorian and the Education and Neighborhoods Committee on establishing the NC system as an essential component in the structure of Los Angeles.

The journey began last Saturday when Shawn Simons, President of the Empowerment Congress North Area, proposed an audacious and bold plan for a hybrid and money-saving version of DONE. This proposal will save money in excess of the cuts proposed by CAO Miguel Santana in his technocratic and uninspired approach to addressing LA’s priorities and core responsibilities. It will also address opportunities to focus on the core priorities of DONE and to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Shawn’s Plan was presented to the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition last Saturday and was approved with a resounding near-unanimous vote.

This past Tuesday, the CAO’s recommendations for DONE and the neighborhood council funding came before the City Council but the die was cast. Neighborhood council members had been at work since Saturday, advancing the proposed plan and appealing for a reprieve.

When community members showed up in City Council chambers to speak, newly minted Councilman Paul Krekorian, Chair of the E & N Committee, had a motion ready, seconded by six other Councilmembers, pulling the recommendations into committee and providing neighborhood councils a place at the table.

The E & N Committee meets this coming Tuesday at 3:00 pm and that deadline demands that neighborhood councils get the work done this weekend.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that neighborhood council members get it together and come up with a plan for the future. This includes the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, this includes the Neighborhood Council System, this includes the relationship the community has with the Mayor and the City Council, and it all depends on the work that gets done this Saturday, February 13 when BudgetLA gathers in Hollywood and the people of Los Angeles rise to the challenge and deliver a call to action and a plan for success. BudgetLA starts at 10:00 am.

If you believe in a leaner, more efficient, more responsive Department of Empowerment, join us at BudgetLA on Saturday @ 10:00 am.

If you want to see a strong and effective relationship between the neighborhood councils and City Hall, bring others from your community and seize this opportunity.

If you are ready to contribute to making Los Angeles a Great City, there’s a place for you at the table and the now is the time to step up and to make it happen.

Neighborhood councils exist to advise the Mayor and City Council on the city’s budget, to monitor the delivery of city services, and to engage the public in the civic process. Now is the time to act on that mandate but if neighborhood councils hesitate, the very essence of the structure of Los Angeles will change and the community will be left to wonder “What happened?”

Now is the time for the people of Los Angeles to step up and to create the Los Angeles that we’ve all imagined, and discussed, and debated, and longed for. Now is the time to act.

On Saturday, February 13 at 10:00 am, BudgetLA will be meeting at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church for a robust session that takes on DONE reorganization, the neighborhood council system, neighborhood council funding and rollovers, a strategy for working with Councilman Krekorian, Hahn, and Zine, all in pursuit of a seat at the table and a strong working relationship with City Hall.

BudgetLA

Saturday, Feb 13, 2010
10:00 am

Hollywood Presbyterian Church
Upper Terrace Hall
1760 Gower Ave, N of Hollywood Blvd.
(Enter on Yucca, Park on Yucca)
Hollywood, 90028

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