Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

DONE Newsletters 2009
July 8 , 2009

NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT NEWS

Impact of City Budget Crisis on Department Services
You may be wondering how the City's economic crisis will affect the services we provide to Neighborhood Councils, stakeholders and the City family.  In our ongoing effort to provide timely information on this subject, the following information update should assist you in understanding what to expect in the coming months with respect to our service delivery.

The City's 2009-2010 Adopted Budget includes a "Shared Responsibility and Sacrifice" line item which equates to a $320 million reduction in the General Fund.  The City's Furlough Program is necessary to help mitigate this budgetary reduction and preserve additional jobs.  Like every City Department, we are faced with staff furloughs, which will begin this week.

Because the status of ongoing labor negotiations among certain bargaining units varies with respect to the furlough program and early retirement incentives, approximately 80% of the Department staff (both Field and Administrative Support) are subject to taking two furlough (non-paid) days per month.  Effective July 10, 2009, the majority of our staff will be out of the office using furlough days on the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month until further notice.  Our offices will not be closed, but very minimal staffing will be available on those days to handle public inquiries.   Please bear with us as we work through work plan and service delivery re-engineering to accommodate for this reduction in staffing levels.  Your ongoing assistance and patience is greatly appreciated. 

Regional Roundtable and Training Begins on Thursday, July 23rd in the Central East Region
The theme of this quarter's Regional Roundtable and Training focuses on public safety both for your community and your NC.  Our roundtable will be with the Mayor's Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Department to discuss GRYD's work in your community and their partnerships with NC's.  The trainings will be on Board member liability and safety and will be conducted by members of the City's Department Threat Assessment Team:  Vivienne Swanigan, City Attorney - Labor Division, and Ann Phelps, Ph.D. of Prince & Phelps Consultants. 

Even as volunteers, Board members' actions may leave them subject to personal liability.  Vivienne will review the relevant laws affecting NC Boards so you can protect yourself from lawsuits.  If you've ever had to deal with a challenging Board member or stakeholder during a public meeting, you'll appreciate Ann's training on assessing people and assertive leadership.  Learn tools and techniques that help you identify which people may pose a threat to safety as well as how to effectively interact with Board members and stakeholders who are just challenging to work with.  Through examples and role playing, Vivienne and Ann will provide valuable information for maintaining a welcoming and safe environment for your NC meetings.

Central East - Thursday, July 23rd 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
South/West/Harbor - Saturday, August 15th 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Valley - Saturday, September 19th 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Locations to be determined.  To RSVP, please contact (213) 485-1360. 

Update on Location for next Congress Planning Committee Meeting
The next meeting of the Congress Planning Committee will take place on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the LACERS Board Room located on the 8 th floor of the Brunswig Building - 360 E. Second Street , Los Angeles , CA 90012.  Please RSVP to Guillermo Carreon by phone at (213) 485-1360 or via e-mail at guillermo.carreon@lacity.org to confirm your attendance at the meeting and to provide a description of your vehicle (make, license number, model, color) so that we may confirm parking for you.  Parking is available on lot 7, which is located 2 blocks east of City Hall on Judge John Aiso St. between Temple and 1st Streets.  The entrance to lot 7 is located on the east side of Judge John Aiso St .  For more information about the Congress, please call (213) 485-1360.

NC Self Update Needs Updating!
Please take a few moments to update your information on our new NC Self Update database if you haven't sign up yet.  In addition to providing your stakeholders information about their NC Board members, City departments use this database to inform the NC's of important timely announcements in areas such as transportation, planning/land use, and utilities.  If you have any questions on how to update your information, please contact your Project Coordinator. 

Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Meeting on Monday, July 20th  
The next Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (Commission) meeting will be held on Monday, July 20, 2009, in South Los Angeles at 6:30 pm.  Confirmation of the meeting site is pending, and the exact address will be identified in next week's eblast.  The Commission is very interested in hearing from all Neighborhood Councils in the South Los Angeles area and encourages everyone to come out to this meeting to participate. 

In Memory of George Truesdell, Northridge West NC Board Member
Northridge West NC (NWNC) Board Member, George Truesdell, passed away last week. George was first elected to the Board in 2006 and served as the NWNC President until about 6 months ago.  Last month, George was reappointed to the NWNC and his contributions to the Council, Valley Alliance and Valley Vote will be sorely missed.  George was very active in the community and gave freely of his time and resources to the betterment of the San Fernando Valley .  He loved his St. Bernard dogs and was truly an asset to the community. Cards and flowers may be directed to NWNC President Dennis DeYoung .

Neighborhood Councils invited to join Park[ing] Day LA 2009
On September 18, 2009, Los Angeles will be celebrating the third annual Park[ing] Day LA - a nationwide event that highlights the importance of parks and urban green space to our communities.  Each year, small, temporary parks are installed in parking spaces and streets for a day of awareness, public education, and community engagement.  This year, the Neighborhood Councils are looking to band together by participating in Park[ing] Day LA to increase awareness about public parks and their maintenance, reach out to our community about the work of Neighborhood Councils, and provide positive exposure for the NC system as a whole. To make participation as easy as possible, we will provide various resources to help you host your own temporary park. Whether a single parking space or a block party, this is a fun outreach opportunity and a great way to support the Neighborhood Council Program.  If your Neighborhood Council is interested in participating or if you would like more information, please email the NC Park[ing] Day LA Coordinators Shawn Simons and Ashley Zarella .

PlanCheckNC Hosts Transportation 2020 Master Plan on Saturday, July 11th
On Saturday, July 11, 2009, PlanCheckNC will host a program on Transportation 2020 Master Plan for LA County.  Information will be presented on what is planned, the framework for development, and what it means for land use & planning.  The program will start at 10 a.m. and will be held at the Historic Downtown Outreach Center at 114 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles.  For additional information, please contact Russell Brown at  Planning.jr2brown@gmail.com  or check out the PlanCheckNC website .

Milagro Allegro Community Garden Event Saturday, July 11th
Bring your family and friends, food to share, blankets, pillows and comfortable clothes for an outdoor event co-sponsored by Resistance is Fertile LA.  Gardening skills classes start at 10 a.m. with raffles at all events.  The garden is located at 115 S. Ave 56, Los Angeles 90042, one block SE of Figueroa behind the Highland Theater.  For more information, please call (323) 256-7122 or visit www.hpgarden.org .

Arroyo Seco NC Hosting CERT Simulated Triage Tarp Drill on Saturday, July 25th
Arroyo Seco NC will be coordinating a CERT simulated Triage Tarp Drill on Saturday, July 25, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Hermon Park, 5568 Via Marisol, Los Angeles 90042.  This drill is designed to give CERT members experience with disaster medical treatment as would be practiced on triage tarps during a major disaster.  These techniques will be demonstrated on simulated victims of a natural disaster.  Lunch will be served.  If you would like to participate as a CERT First Responder or volunteer to be a victim of a simulated natural disaster, please RSVP to Mark Legassie at (323) 823-3046 or marklegassie@gmail.com .

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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