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Neighborhood Council Updates

In 1999, when the members of the Los Angeles Charter Revision Commissions decided there should a form of participatory government called neighborhood councils in the city to bring the government closer to the people, they had no real idea of how the councils would work out or exactly what form they would take.  So, the commissioners mandated that after 7 years the neighborhood council system and the relationship between neighborhood councils and the rest of city government should be reviewed by another citizen commission.

In June of 2006, at the end of the seven years, the Neighborhood Council Review Commission, also known as the 912 Commission after Article 912 of the City Charter, was appointed by the Mayor and members of the City Council.  I was both honored and fortunate (there are those who would argue with the fortunate) to be appointed by Councilman Dennis Zine to represent Council District Three on the commission.  At the time he asked if I was willing to put in the amount of time that would be necessary to complete the job.

 For slightly more than a year, I and 28 other commissioners have conversed, discussed, politely disagreed and compromised on such things as the powers and roles of neighborhood councils, how they should govern themselves, outreach and the definition of a stakeholder. 

We have come up with recommendations for the composition and role of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, an advisory and policy making commission created to oversee the system and, how the role of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment should be more supportive of neighborhood councils than regulatory.  The Commission has formulated recommendations to help better the relationship between other parts of city government and the neighborhood councils, including how those departments should keep council members and stakeholders aware of things that impact their communities.

 The most difficult and contentious issue has been that of the definition of a stakeholder.  Who in the community has a sufficient interest to be called a stakeholder with the right to vote for board members and to run for board membership?  There are commissioners who believe it should be narrow and restricted and others who have fought for an open and liberal definition.  The one thing I am certain of is that the process we have established will lead to a reasonable definition supported by a majority of commissioners. 

In late September of 2007 the Commission will present its recommendations to the City Council for its consideration. If we have done our job correctly, those recommendations and the ordinances necessary for their implementation will be adopted by the City Council.  I believe we have all learned that neighborhood councils mean different things to different people and different communities.  I think we now understand the wisdom of those who drafted the Charter and the City Wide Plan for Neighborhood Councils when they stated neighborhood councils should be independent and self governing.

 While our recommendations have included some standardization to make it easier for stakeholders and others to navigate from one council to another, most commissioners have recognized that each council is unique and responsive to its particular stakeholder group.  So, was Dennis Zine right about the amount of time and work the Commission would take?  Yes he was.  What he also knew but didn’t mention was the interesting times I would have working with such a diverse gathering of community stakeholders and the great sense of accomplishment that would come at the end of the road.

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