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Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
DONE Newsletters 2008
February 4, 2008
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To: |
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Neighborhood Council Leaders |
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From: |
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BongHwan Kim, Interim General Manager
....Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) |
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E-mail: |
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done@lacity.org |
Re:
Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment
Dear Neighborhood Council Friends and Colleagues,
I would like to wish you all a belated happy new year. I look forward to working with you on the challenges and issues that we face in 2008; and like so many of you, I think the Neighborhood Council (NC) System will continue to grow in influence. One of the important issues NC's will address this year is self-assessment. Following is some information on Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment that I hope will be helpful to you.
| Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment Goal |
As many of you know, the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils (the Plan) and the Los Angeles City Charter call for each Neighborhood Council to "survey its Community Stakeholders at least once biennially, to assess whether their Certified Neighborhood Council has met applicable goals set forth in the Charter" (Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils, Article VI, Section 1). The purpose of the self-assessment is to give Neighborhood Councils an opportunity to highlight the things they've done well to serve their communities and to assess the challenges facing them in the future.
| Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment Work Group |
A Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment Work Group comprised of Neighborhood Council leaders, our staff and members from the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC), was established in 2007. After a number of meetings, the Work Group developed two survey forms that we believe will facilitate your efforts to gather input from your stakeholders and Board Members.
| Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment Surveys |
Stakeholder Survey Form: This form serves to fulfill the requirements of the Plan by soliciting stakeholders' views and perceptions of their Neighborhood Council's efforts in areas such as outreach, participation, and organizational effectiveness. The Stakeholder Survey was designed to meet the requirements of the Plan, while minimizing burden of participation to allow for ease of completion by your stakeholders during NC meetings or community events.
Board-Member Survey Form: The survey solicits information from elected or appointed board members that is informed by the vantage point of their board service and involvement. The survey requests information about each Council's efforts in seven areas of endeavor:
1) public participation;
2) attention to diversity and inclusiveness;
3) financial accountability;
4) commitment to openness and fairness;
5) Council involvement in advising the City and monitoring of City services;
6) awareness of City budget priorities; and
7) accountability of public officials. |
The Board Member Survey also includes a place for board members to share their Neighborhood Council's goals for the next two years and to indicate areas where support of the council would be important to its success.
| Deadline for Submission of Neighborhood Council Surveys: June 30, 2008 |
Please submit a survey from all board members and at least 100 stakeholders to: Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, 334B E. 2nd Street, LA, CA 90012, or submit them to your Project Coordinators. Please clearly indicate on the envelope(s) that it contains Self-Assessment Survey information.
| How Neighborhood Council Self-Assessment Information Will Be Used |
Each Neighborhood Council's assessment surveys will be public documents. They will be made available to the Neighborhood Council itself and to the public on the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) website. Information gathered from these surveys will be aggregated in order to prepare reports to the mayor, city council and the general public on trends and issues affecting the system as a whole. Citywide reports will show the "big picture facts" gathered from the survey process, but they will not single out a particular Neighborhood Council. Your DONE Project Coordinator is available to work with you to provide assistance in completing the surveys. Please don't hesitate to contact your Coordinator for more information.
Once again, I would like to thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to help improve your community and the City of Los Angeles. I hope to continue to apprise you of issues that matter to all of us.
Respectfully,
BongHwan (BH) Kim,
Interim General Manager
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BongHwan Kim, Interim General Manager
done@lacity.org
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
334-B E. 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
866 / LA HELPS
213 / 485-1360
213 / 485-4608 fax
done@mailbox.lacity.org
email
www.lacityneighborhoods.com
website
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