Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
DONE Reorganization Summary

May 4, 2004

Re: DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT: REORGANIZATION SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

Given the City’s current fiscal crisis and in response to the evolution of overall Neighborhood Council needs and service, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (“DONE”) has reorganized its priorities, functions and staff. In order to accomplish the goal of assisting Neighborhood Councils in the most efficient manner possible, the Department has reorganized existing functions from the current structure of three Neighborhood Council service regions (Valley; Central and East; Harbor, South and West) by refocusing the work and service delivery.

The reorganization was a result of extensive discussion centered on the mission of the Department to serve and support Neighborhood Councils across the City. This plan was born out of the need to focus our work, prioritize the key areas of support for Neighborhood Councils, and be more effective in serving them.

After extensive discussions, there were a few key elements that Department management wanted to ensure were captured by this reorganization:

	Shifting priorities from certification to empowering groups to be effective and successful
	Efficiency in our work that supported the needs of Neighborhood Councils
	Standardizing our support across the City
	More efficiently addressing the elections work (which had grown to become a huge proportion of the Project Coordinator workload)
	Focusing our training and outreach efforts so that dedicated staff could work on these critical elements of work on a daily basis
	Priorities of our work (with the acknowledgement that we cannot continue to do everything that we would like to do)

It is our sincere belief that this restructuring allows our staff the opportunity to better focus their talents and ensures that Neighborhood Councils are more efficiently served and supported, as they become increasingly successful in this citywide system.

REORGANIZATION

The priorities of the Department are as follows:

	Serve Neighborhood Councils,
	Support them in their elections,
	Share with them standardized policies, procedures and efficiencies (where applicable),
	Provide appropriate training and technical assistance and
	Focus outreach efforts on the forming areas that have yet to be certified.

Under the leadership of Parker Anderson, DONE Field Director, this will be accomplished through the formal reorganization in the following way:

The Neighborhood Council Advocate Team, under the direction of Michele S. Cuevas, will focus on serving all Neighborhood Councils citywide. Each Neighborhood Council Advocate (Project Coordinator) will work with a group of 9 or 10 Neighborhood Councils to support Neighborhood Council effectiveness through:

	One-on-one assistance in preparations for meetings, special events, and outreach
	Processing bylaw adjustments, funding applications, office space checklists and other related forms
	Assisting with inter-personal conflict or grievances
	Supporting the development of regional coalitions between Neighborhood Councils and other city entities
	Documenting Neighborhood Council accomplishments and success stories.

This team will be geographically based throughout the City of Los Angeles in Panorama City, Van Nuys, Downtown Los Angeles, Watts, Southwest Los Angeles, the Harbor and Lincoln Heights.

The Elections and Innovations Team, under the direction of Jamiko Bell, will prioritize the important work of election support including the associated policies, procedures and outreach, streamline overall efficiencies and develop problem-solving initiatives, policies and procedures in full-time support of Neighborhood Councils, through:

	Share information and guidelines for effective elections
	One-on-one support for the development of election procedures
	Outreach plan and other election related events
	Standardize flow of information and any guidelines, or processes within the Department to Neighborhood Council leaders on applicable laws, policies from the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners or the Department, opinions from the City Attorney’s office and generally streamlining efficiencies and communications into associated policies and procedures.

This team will be headquartered in the Watts office but will also be regionally responsive to citywide Neighborhood Council election activities.

The Empowerment Academy and Community Engagement Team, under the direction of Rita Moreno, will focus on:

· Providing the Neighborhood Council leaders with appropriate training and expertise through the Empowerment Academy by building the skills and capacity of leaders to be effective in their respective Neighborhood Council.
· Assist those areas that have yet to organize a Neighborhood Council or who have been left “orphaned,” by actively engaging the community to build a base for the Certification and/or incorporation process
· Develop a centrally located Neighborhood Council Resource Library and Training Center in DONE’s Little Tokyo Offices
· Provide Departmental leadership for ongoing organization of the Congress of Neighborhoods

This team will be headquartered in the Little Tokyo Offices but will be regionally responsive to forming Neighborhood Council groups.

Other DONE reassignments of various Administrative Services Division staff was also necessitated in order to adequately integrate the analytical reporting, statistical collection and support mechanisms within each of the aforementioned Teams.

TIMELINE

The reorganization will take place during the month of May as the Department informs the public, relocates staff, and adequately transfers all relevant assignments to new parties. All staff assignments will be fully implemented no later than June 2004.

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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