NC WATCH-There are two ways of my describing this year’s LA Neighborhood Congress: One is from a Journalist’s point of view; and the other from an Activist/planning Committee member’s point of view.
As someone covering the Congress and talking with various attendees … it was successful. Attendance was about the same as last year, maybe a few more. Some of the workshops were filled and attendees raved…others were filled and thought the presenters were lacking. Some of the workshops had sparse attendance. It was probably the topic. It was pretty much like most of the conferences we attend for our various industries and associations.
From an Activist’s point of view it could have been so much more! Some of the basic workshops are available on line. When you have 700 plus attendees under one roof it is a wasted opportunity to try and teach “how to run a meeting” in seventy minutes. These basic workshops can be given regionally throughout the year. There is no venue where members from the ninety-five Neighborhood Councils (NC) can debate the issues, look at both sides and come to conclusions.
Tom Peters of the “Peters Principle Theory” said, “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” The Congress in my opinion was well managed.
The City Council chambers were “standing room only” and half of the City Council members showed up for the opening session, as did the City Controller, Ron Galperin, City Attorney Mike Feuer and City Council President Herb Wesson.
It certainly looked like they were having a very good time and their camaraderie with each other seemed genuine. The ones that showed up are all supportive of the NC. Some of the same ones, who didn’t show last year, didn’t show this year. One can assume they aren’t especially gun ho on stakeholders voicing their opinions.
Mayor Eric Garcetti was the “keynote” and as usual he had the audience’s complete attention. Most of what he said lived up to the title of ‘chief cheerleader” for the NC system. He reported on the progress from the last year and spoke about the “retreat” he held the previous day encouraging all Department Heads to work together.
There was something he said which really grabbed me and to paraphrase…Think big ideas and don’t necessarily ask permission first …you can always ask forgiveness afterwards. I happen to be a big exponent of the “big idea” theory. I can also be accused of doing new things first and asking forgiveness later.
Most of the officials at the Congress talked about needing to partner with the various NC’s to get things done. Sure, that is sometimes used as “sop to the masses”, but I think it was pretty genuine.
Aside from the Mayor’s call for big ideas, the rest of the Congress was devoted to primarily basics. Admittedly almost 50% of the attendees were new to their NC Board and there were some stakeholders as well who needed the basics. The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (EmpowerLA) and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) gave annual awards to NC’s who had done something great for their neighborhoods. Some of the projects are really neat and deserve to be highlighted in a separate article in a future issue.
There were some big but practical ideas presented at the closing session, which as part of being Co-Chair of the Program Committee I had organized. It was a new, somehow controversial idea and enjoyed a large attentive audience.
We have in the NC system something called Alliances. These are NC’s, which are in a regional area and have formed a group. Most of them meet monthly and concentrate on things that are germane to their localities.
There are two others under the “alliance” umbrella. One is the Budget Advocates who work with all of the City departments, the Department of Budget and Innovation, Controller’s office etc. The LA City charter calls for budget input to the Mayor from the NC’s and this group is responsible for the gathering and dissemination of material to the NC’s and the Mayor. The other is “Plan Check” which works closely with the City Planning Department, since most building projects are introduced to the NC first.
I asked six of the geographical Alliances to present their best idea to take the NC system to the next level of success. Five out of the six agreed and their presentations were for the most part visually appealing and verbally very appealing if spontaneous applause is any indication.
Now my activist “hat”…I had the best time working with most of the Alliances. They were so creative and came up with some great ideas. I was particularly excited to see some of the young leaders take charge. Too many of the NC activities are headed, by those who have been in place for many years.
The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC) was the first Alliance in the City and was founded by the dynamo Jill Banks Barad who remains as Chair, as they celebrate their twelfth-year anniversary. She presently serves as a Commissioner on the Department of Water and Power along with her other NC activities.
She didn’t present one idea…but ten… which were greeted by an enthusiastic audience who gave their approval by both cheers and applause. Her first was a carryover from last year’s Congress when the audience gave their opinion that if they are officially addressing the City Council on behalf of either their Alliance or individual NC they be given five minutes-not the usual two minutes which get cuts to one, if the agenda is too long.
Nothing happened last year…so City Council President Herb Wesson– will it be considered this year?
It is really disrespectful to the NC’s, who put in so much of their own time to do things for the City, to be dismissed and treated like some of the habitual complainers from John Q. Public. They should also be able to speak before public comment and be part of the agenda. On the other hand…I don’t remember a formal request being made to the City Council.
The Alliance of River Communities, or ARC, is Los Angeles's newest NC alliance and is comprised of 14 neighborhood councils, along and around the LA River and the Arroyo Seco. The ARC purposely chose those rivers as its namesake to be an inclusive representation of the common waterways that tie the region together and that link all of the neighborhoods that are in EmpowerLA's regions 7 and 8. The ARC covers parts of council districts 1, 4, 13 and 14, which represents a very diverse and often dense swath of Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Alliance President, Hector Huezo, charmed the audience with his reference to suggesting that the ninety-five NC’s get politically active, which he referred to as two “dirty words”. Being on a first name basis and interacting with not just the Council offices but also the City departments that affect your community is vital. This eliminates surprises about policy changes and allows NC’s to have input.
David Behar and Alex Hall, representing Harbor Association of Neighborhood Councils (HANC) presented a very clever video featuring various members of different NC’s each making suggestions to improve the NC system.
The suggestion from Terrence Gomes, President of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC), which invites membership from the entire City, talked about the various Alliances forming an “Alliance of Alliances” so that they could have strength in numbers for solving problem in common and still keep their regional concerns.
It was tough being the last to present but Brett Shears, representing the South Los Angeles Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (SLAANC) delivered a rousing close with their six point suggestions. He said it was very much a collaborative effort from many of their members. They stressed the need for “early notification” from all departments of City Hall, which were changing policies or budgets.
There were two themes that all the Alliances had in common: Communication with all City agencies being a two-way street; and proposing that both the Department of Empowerment and the City Attorney be more “empowering” and less punitive.
It is a shame that the majority of Los Angeles residents don’t realize the potential strength of their Neighborhood Councils. They are the “first responder” to local problems. Let’s see how and if these ideas are followed up.
As always your comments are welcome.
(Denyse Selesnick is a contributor to CityWatch covering policies, activities and foibles in NC Land. She is a former second vice-president and Outreach Chair for the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 79
Pub: Sep 30, 2014
