NEIGHBORHOODS LA- Rick Orlov, writing for the Daily News, notes the City Departments that have reached out to the City of LA’s Neighborhood Councils in an effort to engage the community and gain insight into the priorities of their stakeholders.
“There’s a new buzzword at City Hall these days: metrics. Our wonkish Mayor Eric Garcetti, with his admitted mobile-phone addiction, has been pressing city agencies to quantify the level of service they provide to the public.
As a result, agencies are turning more and more to Internet surveys for public input and are now reaching out to the Neighborhood Councils to get the word out that the polls are ongoing.
The Mayor’s Office has been using the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment for years on its annual budget survey, but more recently the Los Angeles Fire Department asked for its help on its strategic plan.
Now, the Bureau of Sanitation is reaching out for ideas on how the city can better conserve, capture and reuse water. Also, Recreation and Parks is seeking community feedback on how it can better make use of its centers.
In addition to rating services and programs, the Recreation and Parks survey ventures into political territory, trying to gauge the level of support for new funding sources, either through a new parcel tax or a City Charter change guaranteeing a percentage to parks programs.
It asks how the public would support increased partnerships with private companies that could lead to more advertising at various facilities.”
To take the Rec and Parks survey, click here.
To take the Fire Department’s survey, click here.
(Stephen Box is editor of the EmpowermentLA Report where this article was first posted. EmpowermentLA.org)
-cw