Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

September 29, 2005

To: Neighborhood Council Leaders
From: Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa

Dear Neighborhood Council Leaders:

Developing the city's budget may be the most important and complex responsibility that the mayor has to perform.  It means making difficult choices between what we would like to do and what we can afford to do. 

I need and value the insight, viewpoints, and recommendations of the neighborhood councils. Your involvement helps ensure that there is a greater public understanding and ownership of Los Angeles government.

That is why I look forward to meeting all neighborhood council leaders this Saturday, October 1 in City Hall for Community Budget Day.

As I begin preparing my first city budget for fiscal year 2006-07, the city once again finds itself facing serious fiscal problems. My staff and I will explain the upcoming challenges, share thoughts about how we can ensure a brighter future for our city, and ask you to discuss these issues in your meetings and report the results to me.

There are three important changes in this new process that you helped design.

1.  The process will be straight forward and will not require neighborhood councils to conduct stakeholder surveys.

2.  The input that I seek will not be limited to prioritizing issue areas but will instead provide input on tough decisions that will involve weighing the benefits of continuing or enhancing services against their costs.

3.  I will be seeking input not just from each neighborhood council as a whole, but, for the first time, will request survey results from each neighborhood council board member as well. These surveys will be available on Saturday.

To RSVP for this important day, contact the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment at (213) 485-1360, toll-free at 3-1-1, or by e-mail at done@mailbox.lacity.org . 

I look forward to meeting each of you. With your help, I know that we will be successful.

Antonio R. Villaraigosa

Mayor
City of Los Angeles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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