Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

September 10, 2004

Re: USC Project. Accomplishments.

NEIGHBORHOOD PARTICIPATION PROJECT PROJECT

The upcoming Congress of Neighborhood Councils on October 9, 2004 will mark the beginning of a process whereby the Congress may evolve into an event at which citywide problems and policies are discussed, and positions taken.

On October 9, from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m., I have asked a group led by Professor Terry L. Cooper from the Neighborhood Participation Project (NPP) in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California to initiate this discussion.

They will meet with representatives appointed by each of the neighborhood councils with elected boards in a forum where ideas regarding the future of the Congress can be discussed.

They have asked that your neighborhood council appoint one individual to represent your neighborhood council in this forum, and the following meetings, and one individual to serve as an alternate in case your nominee is unavailable.

The goal is to include the voice of your neighborhood council in these next steps to determine how the Congress can best accommodate the needs of the neighborhood council system, and to begin doing it with a group of people who are dedicated to pursuing this idea further.

In order for your neighborhood council to participate in this important forum, please notify us and the NPP of your appointee and alternate by e-mail (including name, e-mail address, and phone number) for each representative and alternate by replying to this message, or sending the message to done@mailbox.lacity.org. We will pass the names to the NPP and ensure that you are registered for the Congress itself. Please try and do this by October 1, 2004. Or you may call the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment toll-free at (866) LA HELPS.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE CONGRESS

At the October 9 Congress of Neighborhoods, we’ve added a feature that will allow the Neighborhood Councils to brag a little. If you send us one or two single-sentence accomplishments of which your Neighborhood Council is most proud, we will display them on the giant screen when your Neighborhood Council’s name is displayed the Celebration of Neighborhoods (Roll Call of Neighborhoods) portion of the Congress.

You will need to keep it short so it can be readable by everyone in the room. Please try and do this also by October 1, 2004. We need time to prepare the graphics.

It’s time to start showing the world that Neighborhood Councils can and are making a difference. Believe it or not, there are still some skeptics out there.

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Greg Nelson
gnelson@mailbox.lacity.org

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