Early Notification System Working Group
- Draft Report -

February 21, 2003

Re: ENS Working Group Documents

If the City’s giant computer will ever upload my stuff, you’ll be able to go to www.lacityneighborhoods.com and the 35 pages of supporting documents that we’ve prepared for the ENS Working Group meeting. It was simply too much to send as an e-mail attachment.

Included in the body of this text, as a PDF attachment (reprinted below for your convenience by LACP.org), and also posted on the Web site is the 11-page working paper that has been prepared for the meeting. It includes all of ideas that we’ve collected so far. It also includes some hopefully helpful comments from DONE and the City Clerk. We didn’t just start working on this yesterday you know.

By providing this information to everyone in advance, we hope that the meeting will be more focused and productive.

Greg Nelson

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

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EARLY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM WORKING GROUP
- DRAFT REPORT -
1-21-03

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The City Charter requires that the neighborhood council system establish early warning system procedures "for receiving input from neighborhood councils prior to decisions by the City Council. The procedures shall include, but need not be limited to, notice to neighborhood councils as soon as practical, and a reasonable opportunity to provide input before decisions are made. Notices to be provided include matters to be considered by the City Council, City Council Committees, and City boards or commissions."

The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is required to oversee an Early Notification System (ENS).

Phase I of the Early Notification System (ENS) is in operation, and primarily consists of procedures that have been put in place prior to the implementation of the Neighborhood Council system. Phase I provides an electronic means through which people can have the agendas of City Council and City commission meetings delivered to their e-mail in-boxes.

a. NCs can choose to subscribe to receive the agendas of most commissions, all Council committees, and the full City Council via e-mail by clicking on the desired agendas from the City=s Web site. The agendas will be sent automatically as soon as they are released by the City Clerk or commission assistant.

b. Currently agendas are available for over 30 boards and commissions, and 20 Council committees.

c. As an alternative to subscribing to agendas, they can be viewed and printed from the meeting calendars posted on the City’s Web site.

d. Arrangements can be made with the Legislative Assistant assigned to a specific Council committee to alert the NC of the upcoming scheduling of an item.

e. NCs can provide commissions and Council committees with their positions and input regarding agenda issues by sending a "Community Impact Statement." The Statement will be made part of the official record, and may appear on the City Council agenda if time permits.

The current plan for a Phase II enhancement of the ENS includes modifying the agenda system to allow the user to customize their subscription service to receive only notices relative to specific geographic areas and/or specific subject matters. For example, only planning and land use matters in the Valley.

A related enhancement effort involves a system developed by the City Clerk=s Office that would allow users to view the underlying documents on-line, such as staff reports that explain the agenda item. A report prepared by the City Clerk that details the staff resources necessary to implement this program for the Council and Council committee meetings is pending before the Council=s Personnel Committee.

Another tool to improve communication between NC s and the City Council and boards and commissions is the recently adopted Community Impact Statement program. The City Clerk has developed an Internet-based system that will allow NC s to provide an official position statement on items pending before the Council, Council committees, and boards and commissions. If received in time, the Statement will appear on the actual agenda. Alternatively, the Statement can be read into the record. DONE, the City Clerk, and ITA are in the process of planning the rollout of this unique system.

The Hahn-Greuel motion proposed six improvements to the Early Notification System:

1. Train Neighborhood Councils about how to access information.

The motion calls for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to immediately develop an on-going comprehensive training program schedule to be in place in 30 days for the 2003 calendar year on the ENS, how to access the City Clerk files, and that each neighborhood council be trained by the end of the year.

DONE Comment: The last Congress of Neighborhoods included a workshop called Accessing Information. A transcript of the workshop is available on the DONE Web site at www.lacityneighborhoods.com. At the April 5 Congress of Neighborhoods, this training will be presented again and will include information about the new Community Impact Statement system and other ENS information. Interested parties are invited to suggest other ways in which this session could be more valuable.

City Clerk Comment: We need to establish a more comprehensive and assertive training program within DONE. Occasional attendance in a large scale "congress" environment will not provide the hands-on interactive training needed to become proficient and comfortable with the City's information access tools. The City Clerk recommends the following type of training program be developed.

a. The DONE Project Coordinators are assigned a "case load" of Neighborhood Councils for training purposes.

b. The City Clerk, and other key service departments, establish a train-the- trainer program for the DONE Project Coordinators.

c. Once trained, the DONE Project Coordinators provide training to their caseload of NCs in small group setting that allows for hands-on experience.

d. Training needs to include strategies for organizing the NC so that people are assigned to monitor the pending business of the City, and that procedures are in place to quickly determine NC position on a matter and communicate that to the City.

e. NCs should consider adopting "legislative positions" so that the City Council, committees, and boards and commissions can be alerted to standing NC positions on various matters.

DONE and ITA must complete the roll-out of computers to the NCs to ensure they have the tools in place once the training is provided.

2. City Council, its committees, and city commissions should maintain "advance agendas" through the ENS system.

The motion calls for the City Clerk to immediately begin posting "advance agendas" through the ENS system and report back to the Education and Neighborhoods Committee within 30 days on a full implementation plan.

The motion states that the City Clerk and all boards and commissions should post the advance agendas on their Web sites, and make them available through the ENS subscription system. The purpose is to provide early notification once it has been determined that issues are planned to be discussed at a certain meeting.

DONE Comment: The problem is that the Neighborhood Councils must also follow the rules of the Brown Act, and this gives them no time to give notice of a meeting, and certainly no time to research and prepare for a discussion. There appear to be two ways to do advance agendas. First, draft agendas that are “built” in electronic form could be displayed publicly on the Internet. Second, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners includes a section on their agendas called “Future Items.” This section contains items that the commission anticipates will be scheduled for commission consideration whether or not there is a tentative date. Readers are reminded that the agenda is subject to amendment and they are urged to subscribe to the commission’s agenda through the ENS. This gives the public an opportunity to have significant early notice about items of interest to them that they may want to track.

City Clerk Comment: The issuance of "advance agendas" for the City Council and its committees is not workable and may in fact cause greater confusion. Departmental commissions generally receive their agenda items from a single source (e.g., general manager), or those items are processed through a single source (e.g., general manager's office). In addition, departmental commissions do not meet as frequently as the City Council or its committees.

Agenda setting for the City Council and its committees is an ongoing process. Many factors influence finalizing a committee agenda (e.g., overall size of the agenda, departmental readiness, other items on the agenda, chair=s discretion, need for public hearing, etc.). The same factors influence the creation of a Council agenda with the additional factor of completing any required committee actions or reports.

The City Clerk recommends the following relative to "advance" notice for City Council and its committees:

a. Utilize the Council File Status that is published twice a year to see all items pending before committees.

b. Subscribe to and refer to the Council Referral notices prepared by the City Clerk for items referred to Council committees.

c. Subscribe to on-line Council and committee agendas.

d. Establish liaison with the various committee Legislative Assistants, so these staff can provide notification of when an item is likely to be taken up by either a committee or the full Council.

Relative to departmental commissions, the City Clerk recommends that those commissions develop a "referral" or "pending action" posting procedure that allows an NC to view, on-line, when the department general manager has released a report to the commission for scheduling.

3. Agenda items must be written in a way that is clear, understandable, and accurate.

The motion calls for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment develop a system so that City Council and commission agendas could more clearly and accurately describe the item that is to be discussed, and report back to the Education and Neighborhoods Committee within 30 days on these recommendations.

The motion states that the City Clerk generally repeats wording from departmental staff reports, whether or not it is understandable to the public. Departmental staff should realize that, therefore, they are writing their reports for the public, and not just for governmental officials.

City Clerk Comment: The City Council and Mayor could direct all City departments to prepare the action items in their reports in plain understandable language whenever possible. However, it must be understood that some language is utilized to meet legal requirements (e.g., Controller's fund transfer instructions).

4. Develop methods for ensuring that the public is notified about projects whether or not they appear on an agenda.

The motion calls for the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) to report to the City Council how the City can better inform the public about neighborhood projects such as street paving, demolitions, tree trimming, sidewalk repair, trenching, and other projects that significantly impact neighborhoods, and report back to the Education and Neighborhoods Committee within 30 days.

The motion says that Neighborhood Councils want to have more than early notice about items that appear on agendas. They want to know about other City projects that take place in their neighborhoods without them knowing about it.

DONE Comment: The Planning Department has fully embraced the spirit of the early notification system through two new policies, and the Neighborhood Councils have been asking if the other departments that receive applications and hold hearings on matters that affect them could do the same. As Neighborhood Councils become certified, they and the City Council offices are e-mailed regular reports that list the applications that have been accepted for review by the Planning Department within their area. Some matters will be significant and others extremely minor. But it gives the Neighborhood Councils the earliest possible notice about projects that they may want to track. Additionally, the Planning Department’s mailing contractor sends the certified Neighborhood Councils, public hearing notices via the Postal Service at no charge to them.

City Clerk Comment: Many departments already list project schedules and other information on their Web sites, such as Public Works. The "train-the-trainer" program described above could familiarize the NCs with this information access too. Departments that do not utilize the Web to post planned work programs could be directed to do so. The Mayor has directed that all departments establish an "Executive Liaison" for the Neighborhood Councils. These persons can assist NCs directly or indirectly through the DONE Project Coordinators in understanding a given department's pending work program. An example of how this has worked well is that the City Clerk Executive Office provides both direct and indirect assistance relative to NC governing board elections.

5. Publish list of items that are pending in each City Council committee.

The motion calls for the City Clerk immediately publish their list of all the files that are pending in each committee.

The motion states that if someone were to subscribe to and regularly read the City Council's “Referral Sheet” or “New Items” list, they would know about and be able to track all of the items that might eventually be scheduled before each committee. The list of pending items are currently maintained by each committee's Legislative Assistant.

City Clerk Comment: See comment about on “advance agendas.”

6. Motions introduced through the Rule 16, and agendas for special meetings should include a printed statement of urgency.

The motion calls for the City Clerk to establish a system that provides a "statement of urgency" for all items introduced through Rule 16 of the City Council, or for all special meetings of the Council, its committees, and boards and commissions. This system should include the provision that the City Clerk sends copies of all of these urgent agendas to the Neighborhood Councils via fax or e-mail as soon as possible. The City Clerk should report back to the Education and Neighborhoods Committee within 30 days on the feasibility of this system.

The motion notes that Rule 16 allows a motion to be considered by the Council without first being considered by a committee as long as the Council President approves the action, and at least 72 hours pass. This leaves little time for the public to be aware of, understand, and provide input on many issues.

The Brown Act allows the City Council, its committees, and board and commissions, to schedule special meetings with just 24 hours notice, and there is no urgency finding needed.

DONE Comment: There are times when Rule 16 used for motions are routine and minor, and not just urgent. We might consider changing this from “statement of urgency” to “statement of urgency or necessity.” Also, more than once Council President John Ferraro tried without much success to encourage Councilmembers to reduce the number of Rule 16 motions they submitted. This may a new way to accomplish that goal, and it’s self-enforcing.

City Clerk Comment: The Council could, if it so desires, adopt rules to define the format of Rule 16 motions and Special Meeting agendas to include a statement regarding either:

a. The matter is routine and does not require a committee hearing.

b. The matter is urgent and cannot be delayed by the committee process or cannot wait until the next regular meeting.

With the implementation of the Community Impact Statement, an NC will have the opportunity to ask the Council or its committees to delay taking action on an item if the NC has not had adequate time to study, take a position, or provide input on an item.

Other suggestions from Neighborhood Council leaders and others include:

7. Encourage agendas to be posted and made available through the ENS system earlier than 72 hours in advance whenever possible.

The Brown Act requires that agendas be publicly posted at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. This requirement could be met by posting a printed agenda outside the meeting room, at the City Clerk’s office, and in the lobby of City Hall where only the smallest number of people would see it. [Check posting locations.]

As a matter of practice, the City Clerk posts the agendas on the Internet and sends them to e-mail subscribers through the ENS system. But even when agendas are released, it is often just prior to the 72-hour deadline, and not when the agenda has been finalized. For example, the agenda for a committee meeting on Tuesday could be posted late Friday night. Even if Monday were a holiday, it would meet the requirements of the Brown Act, but the public would have little or no opportunity to contact any city offices before the meeting to ask questions and collect documents.

In these cases, only certain insiders receive the notice, and the public’s skepticism grows. The City should not do the minimum just because it can, and it certainly should not do the minimum in an attempt to discourage public participation. When it comes to public notification, the City should want to do the maximum. City Council committees and commissions should feel free to release their agendas whenever there is a desire to give the public a must advanced notice as possible, as required by the Charter.

DONE Comment: This would be an “invitation” to change the culture that usually results in agendas being released at “the last minute.” It would “invite” those directing the release of agendas to release them earlier when possible. The problem of “last minute” notification could be mitigated if a system of advance agendas were used.

City Clerk Comment: Our practice is to post agendas on the Internet as soon as they are finalized. We do not wait until the last possible time to post the agendas (subject to ITA internet posting update schedules.) The City Clerk cannot speak to practices by boards or commissions. Again, with the Community Impact Statement, an NC can always ask for a delay.

8. Always permit the Neighborhood Councils to testify at the City Council meeting.

The Rules of the City Council should be amended to allow Neighborhood Councils to speak during the City Council’s consideration of all items whether or not there was a public hearing held in one of its committees.

City Council rules allow the City Council to deny a public hearing when a matter reaches the City Council if there was the opportunity for a public hearing in committee.

Neighborhood Councils that have taken an official position on a matter may want to express those opinions directly to the entire City Council, through an authorized representative, because most of the City Council members likely did not attend the committee meeting and would not have heard their opinions.

City Clerk Comment: Such a policy could raise discrimination issues under the Brown Act if we allow only one "class of people" to provide public comment in a meeting where public comment is not required. The Council can always have a public hearing, even if it is not legally required under the Brown Act.

9. Require Rule 23 motions should include a “statement of urgency".

The City Council’s Rule 23 allows the City Council to consider a motion on the same day it is presented as long as the Council determines that the matter arose so recently that there wasn’t time to provide 72 hours notice, and that the need to act is so urgent that a decision can’t wait 72 hours.

The City Clerk should be asked if they could easily send copies of these urgent agendas to the Neighborhood Councils via fax or e-mail on the day they were submitted. This could be done by programming these numbers into a fax machine with “broadcast capabilities.” Because reconsideration at the next regularly schedule meeting is a possibility, the Neighborhood Councils would have an opportunity to ask for reconsideration of an item that they felt was acted on too quickly.

City Clerk comment: Rule 23s already require a presentation of the findings and a vote on the urgency issue. Relative to faxing these out to NCs, that could probably by accommodated. The City Clerk could provide motion to DONE which could fax out (I assume DONE would have better upkeep of fax numbers and contacts, etc.) However, many Rule 23s are sent “forthwith” to the Mayor, so after the Council acts and the meeting ends they have left the jurisdiction of the City Council.

10. Commissions should adopt the City Council’s “Referral Sheet” or “New Items” system.

The City Council’s “Referral Sheet” or “New Items” system is a sparkling best practice in early notification. Within a few days after a motion or communication is received and referred to a committee, it appears on the New Items list. Those who subscribe through the ENS system can have it sent to their e-mail in-box.

Next in the evolutionary process should be for all commissions to do the same thing, and post on their Web sites, and/or make available through the ENS subscription system, a list of all matters that have just entered into their system, and that are headed toward them for a decision.

Departments with a commission would have to determine when something “enters its system” and is starting a journey toward its commission. It could be when a staff report is finished and released to the commissioners. It could be when the commission gives staff an assignment that will result in a report to the commission.

City Clerk Comment: See above comment on “advance agendas.”

11. The City Council should establish an early notification goal, and adhere to it except when urgencies arise or routine matters are being handled.

The City Council could establish the “goal” of providing, possibly, at least 30 days notice to the public before making a decision on important local and citywide matters such as planning and zoning decisions, citywide ordinances, neighborhood revitalization projects, conditional use permits, alcohol permits, taxes, street closures and barricades, traffic controls, parking meter rates, variances to Building and Safety requirements, creation of assessment districts, demolitions, water and power rates, and other categories of issues that the City Council determines should be included. If any of these items must be acted upon more quickly, a statement explaining the urgency must be included. If the matter is minor or routine, a statement to that effect would be made. If there is a legitimate urgency, the public will understand. If the 30 days starts with the posting on the New Items list, few items are voted upon by the City Council within 30 days, so this wouldn’t slow the city’s business. It would be a goal not a rule.

City Clerk comment: Establishing a "goal" is neither reasonable nor necessary. All of the issues listed above have been in process for many months, and NCs would have had numerous opportunities to comment on these issues as they moved through the City processes. With real training, including what processes exist in the various City departments, the referral process, working with our Legislative Assistants, and the Community Impact Statement, NCs can have real input far earlier than when the item reaches the City Council. To continue to focus on the Council's process totally ignores that fact that all of the issues listed have been in the process for several months at the department level.

12. City Council and commission agendas could include information about who to contact or which phone number to call for additional information.

Until Phase II is completed, the primary way for someone to get a copy of the report(s) that explains the agenda item is visit the City Clerk’s Office. This is somewhat of a burden for those inside City Hall, and a significant burden for a Neighborhood Council in Wilmington or Chatsworth, and for those who don’t have easy access to transportation. Often times, the report isn’t needed because a verbal explanation will do. At other times, a report raises more questions than it answers. If departments and the makers of motions were to include a name and/or telephone number of someone who could answer questions, and that information were to be printed on the agendas, it might make it easier for the public to participate in the decision-making process.

City Clerk Comment: Most department reports have contact names, but motions do not, because they are not usually written by the subject specialist. All of our agendas have contact information. We urge the public to call or contact the Legislative Assistant that is assigned to each City Council committee, and our Council Clerks for those matters that were not heard in committee.

13. Require City Councilmembers to include a “statement of urgency” on the City Council agenda whenever a “placeholder” appears on an agenda.

From time-to-time, the City Council allows a Councilmember to place an item on a City Council agenda called a “placeholder.” This means at the time that agenda is posted, the recommendation of the committee is not known because the committee has not met. At times, a committee has been scheduled to discuss a matter just minutes before the City Council is to meet, and the placeholder allows that same matter to be voted upon without a realistic opportunity for the public to know the committee’s recommendation and communicate their positions to the City Council.

City Clerk Comment: Even with a "placeholder" item on an agenda, the item often has already been in the City process. Putting a "statement of urgency" or any other statement on the item will not add anything to the issue of notification.

14. Prohibit the chair of a City Council committee from “waiving” an item out of their committee.

Despite the fact that the City Council rules don’t permit it, the chairs of City Council committee often unilaterally decide that their committee will not discuss a matter that has been referred to their committee.

City Clerk Comment: The waiver process is not specified in the Council Rules. Notification will have occurred on the "Referral" Memorandum and the subsequent Council Agenda. NCs, if they contact the Legislative Assistant, will be made aware of when an item is waived, and which Council Agenda it is scheduled for. Waiving consideration is often used when an urgency to get the item before Council arises after the referral has been made, and when an item has been referred to more than one committee, and the item has already been heard by one committee, or when the item is considered routine.

15. Require agendas to be posted on the Internet at least 72 hours in advance.

The Brown Act requires that only the physical posting of agendas be accomplished at least 72 hours before the meeting. It does not apply to the posting of the agendas on the Internet. In reality, only a very small number of people use the posted agendas as their source of information. And it is possible that those agendas can be removed. Nowadays, thousands of people receive their information through electronic means.

City Clerk Comment: This is already done as a matter of practice.

16. Require the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC) to make its “shoot sheet” available to Neighborhood Councils.

The EIDC does permitting for film and video shoots on City and County streets. Street closures and night filming impact the community. A similar process is needed for filming on bridges and freeways.

General City Clerk Comment: We believe the immediate focus should be on training the NCs. DONE continues to focus on changing how the Council does its business. Before any changes are made, significant training and interaction by DONE with the NCs must occur in order to determine what information or notifications are not available to NCs to allow NCs to have input at the earliest possible date.

For more information contact Greg Nelson at (213) 485-1360, or gnelson@mailbox.lacity.org.