Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

DONE Newsletters 2009
June 17, 2009

Message from Our General Manager, BongHwan (BH) Kim
The Sexual Harassment Prevention training videos are now available to NC's.  If your NC has not already received a DVD copy, one will be coming to you shortly via your Project Coordinator. The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment in collaboration with the Personnel Department responded to the Education & Neighborhoods Committee's request to assess the feasibility of providing sexual harassment training to all elected Neighborhood Council (NC) board members.  The result is a twenty minute video on the subject. As you know, the Neighborhood Council system is intended to be stakeholder-centered and as such it should be open and inclusive. This short video is available to you as a convenient means to assist you in your role as a Neighborhood Council elected/appointed Board member in ensuring that Neighborhood Councils strive to maintain an environment that is free of barriers to participation, and where every member of the community is regarded as an equal stakeholder.

Please look to your Project Coordinator to provide you with assistance and guidance through this process as our staff will track participation in order for department heads to report back to committee on this issue.   We are  working with a three month time line from the date of receipt of the video and ask that Neighborhood Council boards review the training video within this time-line, if not sooner. We hope to count on your timely collaboration and look to your leadership on this integral piece to make the NC system welcoming and inviting to all.

Invite to Mayor Villaraigosa's Citywide Volunteer Appreciation Festival on Saturday, June 27th
All NC Board members and volunteers are invited to join Mayor Villaraigosa, elected officials, and Neighborhood Empowerment staff and Commission at City Hall to celebrate and recognize volunteerism throughout the City.  Neighborhood Councils are welcome to set up table space to promote your activities and recruit more volunteers for your community.  Please contact  Barri.Worth@lacity.org  at the Mayor's Office for more information.  During the celebration event, the Mayor will be taking large group photos with all the NC volunteers on the City Hall steps.  Please join us as we re-commit ourselves to enriching community life throughout the City. 

Neighborhood Council Budgets Are Due on Friday, June 19th
NC annual budgets for the 2009-2010 year are due to us this Friday, June 19, 2009 .  Please use $45,000 for the yearly budget amount.  More information and copies of sample templates are available here .

BOARD OF NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSIONERS NEWS

Recap of the Commission Retreat
On Friday, June 12, 2009, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (Commission) conducted its annual retreat led by Gary De La Rosa of the Human Relations Commission in conjunction with Department of Neighborhood Empowerment staff and City Attorney representatives.  The purpose of the retreat was to encourage working relationships, review and revise the policy calendar and to establish directions for fiscal year 09/10 .   The next Commission meeting will be on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Los Angeles Regional Planning Area in the Community and Neighborhood for Ninth District Unity (CANNDU) NC area.  Stakeholders are always invited and welcome.

The Commission Meeting Schedule  

Regular Meeting - Monday, June 15, 2009 at 11:30 a.m.
CANCELED

Regular Meeting - Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
South regional planning area in the C.A.N.N.D.U. NC area
- location to be determined.

Regular Meeting - Monday, July 20th, at 11:30 a.m.
City Hall, 10th Floor
Conference Center, Room 1060
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles , CA 90012

CITY NEWS

Mayor Villaraigosa's Volunteer Appreciation Festival on Saturday, June 27th
On June 27, 2009, Mayor Villaraigosa will host a Volunteer Appreciation Festival and Pledge to Service at City Hall.  This event will serve as a gesture of gratitude to all those who have volunteered with Neighborhood Councils at a Day of Service since July 2005.  To kick off the event, the Mayor will lead participants in a pledge to begin, renew, and continue their commitment to service.  There will be a volunteer resource fair, and organizations will provide people with information about volunteer opportunities.  In addition, there will also be lunch, entertainment, and activities for children.  As with the Mayors Day of Service, these festivities are made possible by private donors and corporate sponsorship and are free of charge for all participants.  For more information, please see the flyer or contact Barri.Worth@lacity.org .

Bureau of Sanitation S.A.F.E. Centers Accept Analog Televisions
With the switch from analog to digital broadcasting, the City of Los Angeles ' Bureau of Sanitation reminds the public to properly discard analog televisions, antennas and other electronics by taking them to a S.A.F.E Center .  For information on locations and hours of S.A.F.E. Centers, go to their website . 

Office of Finance Is Offering a LA City Tax Penalty Amnesty for 2009
The City of Los Angeles is offering a penalty waiver for the following:  business tax, telephone, electricity & gas users tax, commercial tenant's occupancy tax, transient occupancy tax, and parking occupancy tax for businesses who have unpaid taxes, under-reported gross receipts, and who are not registered.  This offer is good between May 1 - July 31, 2009.  Please call the Tax Amnesty Hotline at (213) 978-1555 for more information or go to www.lacity.org/finance .

311 Is Reducing Hours of Service
As of July 1, 2009, the Information Technology Agency (ITA) will be eliminating the AM (midnight) shift due to budget reductions.  For more information, please click here . 

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Neighborhood Council Valley Village Offering Free CERT Training on June 27th and 28th
Neighborhood Council Valley Village is sponsoring another free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training class on Saturday and Sunday, June 27th and 28th from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  You will learn such basics as how to: manage utilities and put out small fires, provide basic medical aid, search for and rescue victims safely, organize yourselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective and collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.  Additional information can be found on the CERT-LA website .  The class size is limited so please RSVP to  dorothyapple@sbcglobal.net or call (818) 424-4440. 

Healthy City Training on Wednesday, July 1st
Healthy City will be having two free hands-on training sessions on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at the Koreatown Youth & Community Center located at 3727 W. 6th St., Suite 300, Los Angeles 90020.  From 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., there will be an Introduction to HealthyCity.org class, and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a HealthyCity.org for Advanced Users class.  Please contact Shannon Ulrickson to enroll at shannon@healthcity.org or call (213) 989-1300, ext. 36.

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BongHwan Kim, 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