Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

June 14, 2005

Re: CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOODS PRIZES. COOL IDEA #12 – HONOR YOUR HEROES. HELPFUL HINT – ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER.

CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOODS PRIZES

The next Congress of Neighborhoods will be on Saturday, June 25 at the Convention Center … as you know. At the end, we traditionally have a drawing for some wonderful prizes. This time it will not be necessary for you to attend the drawing in order to win, but you will have to attend the Congress and ensure that your contact information is on the ticket.

The first list of prizes can be found on our home page later today. We'll notify you of the additional prizes as we get confirmations.

Right now the list includes: tour of LAX, meeting the baby animals at the Zoo, taking a LA Conservancy Walking Tour, tickets to the Museum of the American West (nee: Autry Museum), tickets to the Museum of Latin American Art, lunch at the local fire station, behind-the-scenes at the Huntington Library, tour of the Los Angeles Times printing plant, tour of the Times editorial headquarters, gift certificate to either La Golondrina or El Paseo Inn restaurants in El Pueblo, a beautiful carved chess set, an emergency preparedness kit, tickets to a Dodgers game, a tag-along with a Building and Safety code enforcement inspector, and a tag-along with a Housing Department code enforcement inspector.

COOL IDEA #12 – HONOR YOUR HEROES

There are a couple of ways to honor those who have earned the right to be honored.

It's a snap to use your laser jet printer, or the printer you can rent for a few minutes, as you print certificates for those who deserve recognition. You see the City Council members do it all the time. Maybe that would be someone who has earned the right to be called “A Friend of the Neighborhood,” or the “Neighborhood Hero.”

Renaming all or part of a street after someone usually creates controversy because it involves an inconvenience to those who live or have businesses on the street. There are two easier ways to do this.

On Ventura Boulevard at Vineland and at Laurel Canyon there are signs hanging from street sign poles at the intersection proclaiming that location So-and-So Square . I believe that the first one is on Fairfax . It can be done at very little cost, and no disruption. There are plenty of intersections left.

New York (actually Brooklyn ) has another idea. They gave the street two names. Click here and see a photo of one such sign. This has never been done in Los Angeles that we're aware of, so doing the first one will probably require someone with a pioneer spirit.

HELPFUL HINT – ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER

In an previous newsletter, we suggested that Neighborhood Councils replace language in their bylaws that requires a strict adherence to Robert's Rules of Order, and replace that with language that adds words like: … “or as adopted by the board.”

The reason is that although Robert's may work for business meetings, they don't always work for Neighborhood Councils that are trying to promote public participation. The other problem is that if you aren't that one person who has memorized its hundreds of pages, you'll find yourself intimidated by those who have.

The City Council developed its own rules of order based upon Robert's. If you'd like to download those rules you can go to the city's home page at www.lacity.org, find the City Clerk on the dropdown menu, click on City Council Rules (PDF Version), and print its 45 pages. Or click here.

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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