NEIGHBORHOODS LA-I escaped the country while the last two articles on the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) were published in CityWatch. Surprisingly I didn’t get too bruised or battered. The biggest disagreement was on the question of term limits. Many of you felt that the institutional knowledge of incumbents was helpful to new members. The Mayor has generally kept one or two previous Commission members in his recent appointments, and that makes sense.
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Congratulations to Valley Alliance Neighborhood Council, Founder and Chair Jill Barad (Sherman Oaks NC) on her appointment to the Dpartment of Water and Power Commission. She is one of the true experts in “politics Los Angeles” and will bring her vast knowledge and no-nonsense approach to a Commission that has been somewhat dysfunctional.
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By the way there have been two new BONC Commissioners appointed so there could be a quorum. It will be interesting to see what -if any- changes they implement. I will be watching!
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I still feel that everyone is subject to burnout and if terms are staggered, sufficent institutional history is retained. However, on the down side, we also encounter what is commonly known as “founders syndrome”.
According to Wikipedia, Founder's Syndrome, sometimes called “founderitis”, is where the founders of organizations fail to adapt their business methods after their company has grown. Founder's syndrome is common where there has been only one person leading the organization or the same board of directors since its inception, and occurs in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. In a nutshell, it’s reluctance to change.
An organization faces founder's syndrome as the scope of activities widen and number of stakeholders increase. Without an effective and inclusive decision making structure and process, conflicts arise between newcomers who seek effective involvement within the organization and the founder(s) who seek to dominate the decision making process. This can be very disruptive both to the organization andthe individuals concerned. It should be carefully and clearly diagnosed, then addressed quickly and decisively.
If we apply this to our Neighborhood Council (NC) System- which is definitely non-profit – Founders Syndrome occurs when original founders of the NC want to keep everything the same: Board members, officers, policies etc. I heard from many of you that is a problem in your own NC.
So how do we overcome this “founderitus”? In the for- profit world we learn that every good executive plans his or her replacement. The trick for us is to keep the founding members interested and contribute into more mentoring and community involvement. Hopefully this will allow them to share their experiences and spend less time and effort trying to keep the status quo. The toughest thing in parenting is knowing when to let go. That is probably true of NC founders.
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I to explore more of this subject in future articles, but it makes a good segway into an important event coming up, which all of NC Board members should attend. The annual Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhood Councils takes placeat City Hall on Saturday, September 28 from 8:15am to 4:15pm. Mayor Eric Garcetti will give the keynote address and the day is chocker block full of interesting (and sometimes controversial) issues that we, as NC leaders, face.
In a flagrant display of self-promotion I will be moderating a session directly after lunch. The Congress Planning Committee, under the expert direction of Chair Cindy Cleghorn, Sunland/Tujunga NC, basically told me to put my money where my mouth is.
As you may know, I have been ranting about the fact that there is no roadmap or a “Grand Design” for the Neighborhood Council System for the next decade. Perhaps there is no need and everything is great as is - BUT my panel session plans to discuss *Neighborhood Councils: The Next 10 years….A Dialogue.”
The NC system is now going into its second decade. Where do we want to be in the next ten years? Meet some of the up and coming young leaders whose ideas and work will determine if the NC system becomes even more effective or fades away. Listen to the collective experience of our City government partners giving us their “wish list.”. This will be an interactive session so bring your ideas and share in the future direction of the Neighborhood Council system.
You register at either empowerla.org [[ hotlink ]] or NCCongressLA.com. [[hotlink]] Last year we had more than 500 attendees and this year that number will rise. Don’t delay registering- it includes free breakfast and lunch, networking with City officials, and a huge variety of seminars and workshops.
This will be my third time attending the Congress and I have found it to be well worth the time invested. If you pre-register park at City Hall at no charge. That in itself is worth the trip!
To answer several inquiries 1) yes if you want to keep your comments annonymous … that is not a problem but please include your name when you send it to me. 2) I am delighted to write about some of the great things some of the NC’s are accomplishing, so don’t just send me your gripes.
(Denyse Selesnick is 2nd Vice-President of Tarzana Neighborhood Council and a contributor to Citywatch covering Neighborhood Councils.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 76
Pub: Sept 20, 2013