Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

November 25, 2003

Re: Community Impact Statement - Online Process

Good news! A few months ago, the City, under the leadership of the City Clerk, implemented a new system through which Neighborhood Councils could submit Community Impact Statements and have them appear on the agendas of the City Council, its committees, and city commissions.

That system permitted Neighborhood Councils to send their statements to the City Clerk via fax. The process was described in detail in a Department of Neighborhood Empowerment newsletter dated June 12, 2003. It can be found at our Web site at http://www.lacityneighborhoods.com/. Click on Newsletters.

Now, the City is ready to provide a way for Neighborhood Councils to submit their statements using e-mail.

Hopefully, this will make it easier for Neighborhood Councils. It certainly will make it easier for the City to get the statements printed on the agendas.

In order to take advantage of this system, each Neighborhood Council with an elected board will have to notify the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment of the people who are authorized to submit its statements. These people will be the official representatives of the Neighborhood Council, and the City will trust that they will be transmitting only the official and authorized Community Impact Statements.

At this time, only the City Council, its committees, and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners are prepared to print the Community Impact Statements. You will be notified as other commissioners amend their systems.

Please respond to Jackie Mendez via e-mail at jmendez@mailbox.lacity.org, or by fax to (213) 485-4608. She will need to know the names of the authorized people and their contact information.

Then they will be issued a user name and password, and be told how to input the Community Impact Statement. It is anticipated that the CIS system will be ready to receive input by December 15, so Ms. Mendez awaits your information.

The Community Impact Statement Process in General:

Community Impact Statements will be limited to 100 words. In many cases, this will end up being a summary of a more lengthy position that was taken by the Neighborhood Council. The City Clerk will attach the full and complete statement to the City Council file.

The City Clerk will not edit statements, except that in accordance with City Council rules, statements containing offensive or defamatory language will be returned by the City Clerk to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) with an explanation. DONE will send it to the NC.

If it is received in time for publication on the agenda, the statement will appear below the Fiscal Impact Statement on the agenda and be attached to the Council file.

If it is NOT received in time for publication on the agenda, the statement will be attached to the City Council file, distributed at the Council meeting, and it will be announced in the City Council meeting that a statement has been submitted. At the direction of the City Council President, or if approved by the City Council, the statement will be read into the record.

A Neighborhood Council can submit only one statement for each agenda item. If statements are submitted by several NCs on the same issue, the agenda will note that fact, and identify the NCs submitting the statements. The agenda will also note whether the NCs support or oppose the matter. The full Community Impact Statements will be placed in the City Council file.

NCs may comment on any item on an agenda. NCs should not be restricted to commenting on matters solely within the NC’s geographic boundaries, because many important issues may not be geographically based, or may directly affect more than one Neighborhood Council.

Neighborhood Councils should feel free to use the Community Impact Statement to request a delay of a vote, or a continuance of a matter. However, the City Attorney advises that such a request cannot keep the City Council from taking an action. The City Attorney also advised that the City Council should make reasonable efforts to comply with the spirit and intent of the law and notify NCs as soon as possible prior to decisions being made.

It is recommended that either the 100-word statement, or the larger statement that will be in the City Council file, include information about how the decision was made. I.e., was it a vote by the entire governing board, by a committee or by an officer that was authorized by the board to take positions, etc? The point being that we’ve already experienced some problems with individuals within a Neighborhood Council speaking for themselves and giving city agencies the impression that they are speaking for the entire Neighborhood Council.

The City Clerk will be accepting statements only from those Neighborhood Councils that have governing boards in place and therefore fully functioning, and voted in a public meeting to establish the position, or have established in a public meeting some other process to establishing official positions.

Also, feel free to provide enlightening information about the vote and the position, such as explaining the other side of a sharply divided vote, the results of an advisory vote taken may have been taken among the stakeholders, the results of a community survey, or a reversal of a previous position. For instance, if the vote is less than unanimous, decision-makers may want to know the reasoning of the other side for the sake of clarity.

The goal is to add credibility to your position.

Presently, you may submit the statement by faxing it to the City Clerk at (213) 485-1079. It can also be mailed or hand-delivered to the City Clerk at 200 North Spring Street, Room 360, City Hall, Los Angeles 90012. Your authorized representatives will receive the e-mail instructions.

If received early enough, the statement will be included on the agenda of the City Council committee that is considering the matter. To avoid delays, you should indicate which committee is about to take up the matter.

Because it is possible that a City Council committee may make important changes to an item, you can amend your statement at any time.

Happy empowerment!

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Greg Nelson

866 / LA HELPS
213 / 485-1360
213 / 485-4608 fax
done@mailbox.lacity.org email
www.lacityneighborhoods.com website