Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC)
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE)

CITY OF LOS ANGELES

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BOARD OF NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSIONERS

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The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners ("Commission" or "Board") is comprised of seven members, each from a different background and a different part of the city. They are appointed by the Mayor, and confirmed by the City Council. The Commission is responsible for setting and overseeing policy. That includes approval of contracts, leases, and rules and regulations. The Commission holds regular public meetings every 1st and 4th Tuesday of each month, and may hold special meetings to conduct business.

The current members who make up the BONC are:

1. Jimmie Woods Gray, Acting President

Jimmie Woods Gray came to Los Angeles to attend college after finishing high school in Tyler, Texas. She attended Compton College, California State University, Los Angeles and received a Masters Degree from Pepperdine University. She is a teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Ms. Woods Gray has been a community activist for several decades in Los Angeles. She was elected chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party in 1994. She has been a delegate to the last three Democratic National Conventions. Ms. Woods Gray has held various elected positions in the State Democratic Party for many years and is presently a member of the Board of Directors for the National Education Association, Washington D.C. Ms. Woods Gray is currently a UTLA delegate to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor/AFL-CIO. Ms. Woods Gray resides in South Los Angeles.

2. Bill Christopher

Bill Christopher is a licensed architect in the state of California and Washington. He has served as a Founder and Principal of Urban Concepts for the past eight years. His 25 years of hands-on experience in the field of commercial architecture, combined with his extensive knowledge of community issues, provides Mr. Christopher with a unique background in the regulation, design, construction and maintenance of the built environment. Through his past experience as Planning Commissioner and Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Los Angeles, coupled with his years of working with local jurisdictions and neighborhood associations across the country. Mr. Christopher is a nationally recognized expert in land use entitlement issues. He specializes in working with public agencies and private interests on issues, which interweave planning, land use, and public policy concerns. He is a member of the Lambda Alpha Society of Land Economics, member of the Steering Committee for the Citywide Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, founder of the People for Liveable and Active Neighborhoods in Los Angeles (PLAN/LA), founding member of the Miracle Mile Coalition and Miracle Mile Residential Association, Past President of the Westside Civic Coalition and former Board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Christopher resides in Melrose Avenue area of Hollywood with his wife and daughter.

3. Michele Siqueiros

Michele currently serves as the Associate Director for the Campaign for College Opportunity where she is responsible for statewide efforts to raise public awareness about the access crisis in higher education, promote policy solutions and engage a broad based and bi-partisan coalition in support of expanded college opportunity for the growing number of young Californians.

Before joining the Campaign, she served as a Senior Project Coordinator with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment in the City of Los Angeles. In this role she facilitated the development and support of Neighborhood Councils in the Hollywood, Mid City, Central and East areas of the City.

Prior to DONE, Michele worked as a Program Manager for Public Allies-Los Angeles where she was responsible for managing partnerships between community based organizations and Public Allies. Prior to Public Allies she served as Assistant Director of Constituency Services for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund (NALEO). She was responsible for establishing and coordinating all aspects of NALEO's nationwide training and technical assistance programs for Latino elected officials and candidates interested in running for public office. Michele has also taught adult education classes for LAUSD and worked on a variety of political campaigns in the Los Angeles area.

Michele graduated from Pitzer College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Studies and Honors in Chicano/a Studies. She received her Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Michele is married and has two young children.

4. Tsilah Burman

Tsilah Burman has always been interested in and concerned with urban areas and how to create more vibrant and livable neighborhoods. She has extensive experience in the non-profit, public and private sectors. Ms. Burman holds a Bachelors Degree in Politics from Brandeis University and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California. Ms. Burman is currently Executive Director for Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust (LANLT) which creates pocket parks and community gardens in underserved neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles. LANLT involves residents in taking ownership of these parks/gardens and in every aspect of their creation and management.

Prior to LANLT, Ms. Burman was Executive Director of New Schools Better Neighborhoods advocating for and working on joint-use school projects. Just prior to that, she was Executive Director of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch, the successful campaign to save Ahmanson Ranch for conservation. She spent 17 years of her career in commercial real estate with a focus on research, marketing, and investment. In the public sector, Ms. Burman worked for State Senator Herschel Rosenthal, State Assemblymember Burt Margolin, Congressmember Henry Waxman and L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (when he was a City Councilmember). In the non-profit sector, Ms. Burman was Assistant Director of the Hollywood Revitalization Committee and has served on many non-profit Boards of Directors. She has also held leadership positions in professional organizations and served on the South Valley Area Planning Commission for the City of Los Angeles. Ms. Burman is a native of Los Angeles and currently lives in Woodland Hills with her husband and two children.

5. Tony Lucente

Tony Lucente has been the president of the Studio City Residents Association (SCRA) for 11 years, and has built an extensive record of accomplishment in both civic affairs and the private sector. Under Tony's leadership, SCRA's membership has doubled to over 2,200 households. SCRA is known for its balanced approach to land use development that has helped stimulate the economic vitality of Studio City, while maintaining the character and integrity of the community. Recent projects involving the SCRA include the creation of the highly successful Studio City Farmers Market in addition to providing support for the Studio City Business Improvement District (BID) and numerous other projects. Mr. Lucente has also moved the SCRA beyond traditional homeowner group concerns to address crime and safety challenges, establishing an effective "Graffiti Patrol" program and a close working relationship with the Los Angeles Police Department through the "Partners Against Crime" program. Mr. Lucente's expertise on planning and transportation issues also led to a previous mayoral appointment to the South Valley Area Planning Commission. Mr. Lucente is an appointee by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to the County Citizens Economy and Efficiency Commission, where he is vice-chairman and a L.A. City Council appointee to a Neighborhood Oversight Committee for a Los Angeles River beautification project. He also served on State Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg's Business Advisory Commission, is vice chairman of Project Restore for the city of Los Angeles, and is president of the Studio City Beautification Association. Mr. Lucente has been an executive with Nissan North America since 1989, where he has held various management positions in Communications, Strategic Management, Consumer Affairs, and Information Systems.

Presently, he is Director of Internal Communications for Nissan's Corporate Communications Department, where he oversees all internal communications for Nissan's North American operations.

6. Diane Middleton

Diane Middleton became a member of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners on September 28, 2005. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and got her undergraduate degree and her law degree from Wayne State University. Her home and law practice are in San Pedro. She specializes in representing injured longshore and shipyard workers.

Diane is or has been a member of the National Lawyers Guild, Harbor Bar Association, and the California Applicants Attorneys Assocation. She is a founding member of the Harry Bridges Institute. She served for five years as a commissioner of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Previously, she was the President of the Board of Directors of the Toberman Settlement Center, a member of the Board of Directors of the Harbor Interfaith Shelter. She was a poll watcher and election observer in Alabama (1987) and Mangua, Nicaragua in 1990. In 1998, she founded the Diane Middleton Foundation which is committed to supporting groups that fight for social change, economic justice, and civil rights through workplace and communty organizing.

7. Rev. Dr. Lewis Logan, II

Dr. Logan has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College. He earned both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology degree from Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. While attending Candler, he served as president of the Black Caucus, and was instrumental in establishing a Black Church Studies Program. Rev. Dr. Logan earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminar in Decatur, Georgia.

Prior to arriving at Bethel Los Angeles, he pastored, Emmanuel A.M.E. Church, he was the Senior Pastor of the Mother Church of African Methodism in the State of Georgia, St. Philip Monumental, Savannah, GA. As Pastor and Community Organizer for more than twenty years, he has coordinated national events, facilitated Visioning Sessions, Annual Conferences, District Meetings, Leadership Retreats, Re-organizational Strategic Planning Sessions and Plenary Sessions.

Dr. Logan has received national recognition of achievement as an "Outstanding Young Man of America" and was featured in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. His ministerial travels have been both international and national: Quebec, Vancouver, B.C., Ontatio, Brussels, East Germany, West Germany, Bermuda, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, California, Illinois, New York, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Texas and Florida.

Dr. Logan is married to Sudonna Moss and is the father of two boys, Lewis III and Asa Bomani Diop; and one girl Jillique Marche'.

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The Commission holds regular public meetings: Current Agenda.

The vision of a citywide system of independent and influential neighborhood councils, and the creation of a city department to guide that process, was the centerpiece of the new City Charter that was approved by the voters in June 1999.

To achieve this, the City Charter called for the creation of a new Department:

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DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT

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Mission

The mission of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is to promote public participation in government, and make government more responsive to local needs by promoting the creation of Neighborhood Councils throughout the City of Los Angeles. The department is responsible for ensuring that the Neighborhood Council leaders have the training, resources, and support to empower their neighborhoods.

Basically, DONE is the staff vehicle for BONC.

Neighborhood Councils are groups of people who, once certified by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, will elect or select their own leaders, determine their own agendas, and set their own boundaries. The goal is to make them as independent as possible from government so that they will have the influence and power to affect citywide and local decision-making far beyond what neighborhood groups have now. People would be truly empowered to guide the futures of their neighborhoods.

General Manager / Staff

The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners is supported and assisted in it's tasks by a staff whose chief administrative officers are the General Manager, Greg Nelson, and the Assistant General Manager, Claudia Dunn.

The staff includes an Executive Secretary, Barbara Arita, and other personnel devoted to the Administrative Services Division and the Systems Division.

In addition there are a number of regional Project Coordinators in the Field Operations Unit, and regional offices, called Access Centers, which have been set up around the City.

DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT

305 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

213 / 485-1360
866 / LAHELPS (toll free)
213 / 485-4608 (fax)

E-mail: DONE@mailbox.lacity.org