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Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter
January 23, 2003
Re: Neighborhood Council Funding Plan (or “Where’s the money already?”)
Developing a workable plan for getting the $50,000 to the Neighborhood
Councils has not been easy, but nobody expected that it would be.
The main problem is that because they were mandated by the City
Charter and certified by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners,
Neighborhood Councils are, under state law, a city entity. Our Plan
for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils calls for them to
as independent from City Hall as possible. This conflict has been
the heart of the problem because city and state laws weren’t written
in a way that carved out any clear status for the Neighborhood Councils.
Therefore, our job has been to create that special status while
working within the confines of existing laws at the same time that
we’re drafting plans to possibly change those laws. For those Neighborhood
Councils that have been certified and have seated their governing
boards, this is one of the disadvantages of being a pioneer.
On December 20, we held training for the Treasurer and the second
person in each Neighborhood Council who would be handling the money.
But one question remained unclear because of a recent change in
the state’s Political Reform Act -- the law that governs conflicts
of interest.
Without getting into the gory details, changes in state law that
took effect on January 1, 2003 required that the City Council take
immediate action to ensure that Neighborhood Council leaders would
not be overwhelmed with paperwork. At its final meeting in December,
the City Council approved a request from DONE that ended the requirement
that each Neighborhood Council adopt its own Conflict of Interest
Code, as state law had required. This is significant because each
Neighborhood Council would have been required to review and update
their Conflict of Interest Code periodically.
The strict requirements of the new law forced us to find an even
more painless way to do all this. Maybe everything in life does
happen for the better.
Now, each member of a Neighborhood Council who would normally have
to file a Statement of Economic Interest because they might be involved
in making spending decisions, is considered to be a part of DONE
just for the purposes of filing these statements.
What that means is that the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners
will shortly be asked to adopt a change to DONE’s Conflict of Interest
Code, and get it approved by the Ethics Commission and the City
Council. The amended Code will explain what each Neighborhood Council
governing board member has to disclose. Some may have to disclose
more than others depending upon their level of decision-making.
Maybe everyone will be the same. That’s being worked out now. As
soon as it is drafted, it will be sent to everyone in advance of
any hearings. When that’s taken care of, the Neighborhood Council
members who have to fill out the Form 700 Statement of Economic
Interest forms will be notified by us to do so, and they would be
filed with us.
So Neighborhood Councils don’t have to worry about preparing their
own Conflict of Interest Codes.
Here’s more good news. While that’s being done, DONE will continue
with its plans to get the Neighborhood Councils their money. If
you went to the Treasurer training, you know what the process is.
If you did not attend, we will be announcing new training dates
very soon. Also, the packet of information that was given to those
who attended, and the handbook published by the Ethics Commission,
can be found on our Web site at www.lacityneighborhoods.com. Look
at the bottom of the home page in the News Flash section. After
a while, they will be moved to the Reference section inside the
Web site.
Also, we will be posting on the Web site a couple of important documents
that explain what constitutes a conflict of interest. As long as
you understand what a conflict of interest is, and you follow the
process for requesting funds described at the Treasurer training,
we can release the money to you while the commissions and the City
Council take care of the other details.
A part of the Neighborhood Council Funding Program from the beginning
was the requirement that the first increment of funding be made
in a public meeting. The reason is so your stakeholders can know,
in general, what you plan to spend it on, and so that they can have
an opportunity to express their opinions.
How you make decisions and hold meetings is contained in your bylaws.
As soon we receive that communication, we can issue your Treasurer
the stored value card with a few days.
If you have any questions, please contact your Project Coordinator,
and/or our Project Coordinator, Scott Burritt, who is our office
expert on such matters.
Scott’s number is 818 /756-9858, and his e-mail address is sburritt@mailbox.lacity.org.
Greg Nelson
213 / 485-1360
866 / LA HELPS toll-free
213 / 485-4608 fax
done@mailbox.lacity.org
email
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