Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

December 2, 2002

Re: NC Funding Program Update. Board of Education Motion Update. Planning Department’s Early Notification. On Power and Influence. Roberts Rules of Order.

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL FUNDING PROGRAM UPDATE

City staff is meeting everyday to put together the final details of the Funding Program. They will be announced very shortly.

In the meantime, it is suggested that Neighborhood Councils do the following:

1. Tell us the name and contact information for the Treasurer on your governing board.

2. Tell us the name and contact information for others, if you know who they are at this point, who will also be authorized to handle money and approve expenditures (other board members, accountant, bookkeeper, etc.) There will be mandatory training for at least the Treasurer – the one person who will be responsible for how the City’s money is used.

3. Begin giving serious thought to what you plan to use the initial $12,500 for. (Yes, I know it’s wrong to end a sentence in a preposition.) The decision to spend money will have to be made in public meeting so your stakeholders will have an opportunity to express their opinions of its use.

4. Don’t stress out right now about opening a checking account. More on that to come.

5. Remember that until the City Attorney is able to address the liability issues that so many of you have asked about, we’re asking you to not enter into any contracts, such as for staff, services, or office space.

BOARD OF EDUCATION MOTION UPDATE

Last Tuesday, I appeared before the Board of Education on your behalf to support the Tokofsky-Young-Kanter motion. Not only did the motion pass unanimously, but Board Member Julie Korenstein asked if should really take the Superintendent 60 days to respond to the issues contained in the motion. The Superintendent said that he would take action immediately to change the policy that requires Neighborhood Councils to reapply for permits to use school facilities for their meetings. He said he’d have an answer to this and perhaps others by the Board’s next meeting.

A special thank you to those Neighborhood Councils who wrote to the Board members in advance of the meeting. The “power of the thank you” cannot be measured. It always helps if you take the time to thank elected officials and governmental staff when they do something you like. It makes it much easier when you ask for something the next time.

CITY BUDGET SURVEYS

The Mayor’s Budget office called to remind me that some Neighborhood Councils have not yet sent in those budget surveys that were discussed at Budget Day. The fact that they are asking shows me, at least, that they are serious about wanting this input from you.

You can send them to Ray Furnish, Office of the Mayor, 200 N. Spring Street, Room 344D, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Fax: (213) 978-0720, E-Mail: rfurnish@mayor.lacity.org

EARLY NOTIFICATION – PLANNING AND LAND USE MATTERS

In clarification of the new policy of the Planning Department regarding early notification:

1. Notification for all applications accepted by the Department for review will be sent to the NCs that have been certified.

2. Notices of any case that has a public hearing will be sent to the NCs by the Department's mailing contractor.

3. Most of the notices are on the Department's Web site at www.lacity.org/pln/indexcpc.htm.

ON POWER AND INFLUENCE

For those of you who have heard it before, it’s going to sound preachy, but so many new people are coming into the system in leadership positions that I find it necessary to regularly repeat some important messages. Here’s how I answer the questions about the amount of power that Neighborhood Councils have.

After being certified, and even after having the election, Neighborhood Councils don’t have any power automatically. Real power isn’t given, it’s taken.

It’s no secret that lobbyists have a great deal of influence and power at City Hall. Yet nobody gave them any power, and they don’t have a vote in the system. And they wouldn’t have any other way. If you’re given power, those who gave it can take it away. If you have a vote, it can often be overridden. But nobody can take away the kind of power that Neighborhood Councils can accumulate.

There are three keys to getting and using that power:

1. Ensuring that your Neighborhood Council truly does represent the diversity of the area. If want the elected officials to believe that you speak for your area, those who make the decisions and take the positions should represent that diversity.

2. The City Charter requires that you communicate with all your stakeholders on a regular basis. Even if it didn’t require that, you’d want to do it. Imagine the power of the Neighborhood Council if it regularly sends newsletters to all the stakeholders in the area telling them about how their elected officials have responded to their needs.

3. Establishing good working relationships with the elected officials and governmental departments. There can be obvious mutual benefit if the Neighborhood Council and the elected official can work together. Governmental officials, as I noted earlier, respond well to people who make reasonable requests in reasonable ways, and say “thank you” when it’s done.

ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER

In answer to questions from several of you, Roberts Rules of Order is a guide not the law. Each Neighborhood Council gets to decide to what extent it wants to follow these rules. Many of us have found that following them “to the letter’ can be a deterrent to public participation.

Greg Nelson

213 / 485-1360
866 / LA HELPS toll-free
213 / 485-4608 fax
done@mailbox.lacity.org email