Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

January 28, 2005

Re: CITYWIDE ELECTION PROCEDURES APPROVED BY COUNCIL. FUNDING PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT IN E&N COMMITTEE ON TUESDAY. TWO BONC ITEMS CONTINUED TO FEBRUARY 22. CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOODS PLANNING GROUP TO MEET. FORM 700 EXEMPTION IN COUNCIL ON TUESDAY.

CITYWIDE ELECTION PROCEDURES APPROVED BY COUNCIL

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the new citywide election procedures for neighborhood councils. We will be creating a special place on our website to place the procedures and an FAQ. In the meantime, you can find the procedures at the bottom of our home page. The are effective immediately, but won’t be used for those Neighborhood Councils that have already started into their election process. The procedures should drastically reduce the amount of time that it takes to develop and amend election procedures while guaranteeing that the elections are open and fair.

FUNDING PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT IN E&N COMMITTEE

There will be a special meeting of the Education and Neighborhoods Committee on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at Reseda High School, 18230 Kittridge Street.

On our home page you will find our staff report that proposes support for Councilman Dennis Zine’s motion to allow Neighborhood Councils to use its city money to make grants to individuals or nonprofit organizations. This is called the Neighborhood Purposes Grant report.

TWO BONC ITEMS CONTINUED TO FEBRUARY 22

At its meeting last Tuesday, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners decided to postpone a decision on agenda items 5 and 6 until it meets again on February 22. The two items concerned the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council election, and a possible new policy on quorums for Neighborhood Councils.

CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOODS PLANNING GROUP TO MEET

As usual, we will be bringing together all those who wish to evaluate the last Congress of Neighborhoods, and start planning the next Congress of Neighborhoods on June 25. This will be the first of several meetings. It will be held February 10, 6:30 p.m. at our offices at 305 East First Street.

FORM 700 EXEMPTION IN COUNCIL ON TUESDAY

The proposal to exempt Neighborhood Council board members from filing out the financial disclosure reports (aka Form 700) will be heard by the full City Council at its meeting on Tuesday. It has been approved by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners and the Education and Neighborhoods Committee.

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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