LA’S NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS - Whenever I’m asked to assess the Neighborhood Council System, my answer has been the same for quite some time … a degree of disappointment.
During the design phase of the system, we knew that neighborhood council leaders in many parts of the city would spend a significant amount of time on planning and land use issues. Those are the kind of issues that have always had a direct and significant impact on the quality of life throughout the city.
But the designers also hoped that the councils would find the ability to come together from time to time as a citywide congress or coalition, and effect city hall’s decision-making.
The lack of the kind leadership at city hall that creates change is appalling.
As an exercise, try and think of just one citywide initiative you can attribute to each one of the city council members. Then eliminate proposals that were vague reactions to crises that attentive leaders would have identified much earlier. See what I mean?
Now and then someone within the neighborhood council system will step up, put on the leadership hat, and organize the councils into forcing a change to the way city hall does business.
The first occasion I remember was when Jim Alger, then the president of the Northridge West Neighborhood Council, got enough councils pointed in the same direction to convince the City Council to approve a smaller water rate increase than the one proposed by the powerful Department of Water and Power.
It was quite a feat considering that no one could recall the last time the City Council didn’t just rubber stamp the department’s rate hike.
Unfortunately, no formal muscle-flexing system was ever created. Battles continued to be forged on ad hoc basis whenever there was a leader who would step up.
In part, it’s because Mayor Villaraigosa feared that if Neighborhood Councils learned how to form united political fronts, as unions so often do, they could end up opposing some of his plans.
Neighborhood councils are just one leader away from being the powerful public voice that so many (except elected officials) still hope they will become.
Candidates are beginning to line up to run for mayor and other city offices.
The neighborhood councils have a choice.
One, they can continue to passively participate in the electoral process by inviting candidates to their meetings, letting them suck the air out of the room by reciting their campaign stump speeches, and then politely watch them dodge questions from audience as time runs out.
The reality is that town hall meetings may be the worst way for candidates and government officials to interact with constituents. Speakers count on the fact that so many people will want to ask questions on scattered subjects, or make long-winded speeches themselves, that there will be no opportunity for follow-up to their rehearsed, evasive answers.
Or two, the Neighborhood Councils can assume a leadership position by agreeing upon a few demands that they will present to the candidates in advance, and dare them to come to the meeting as endorsers.
Then the meeting can then be about which candidate is most on point, and believable to the audience.
As a starting point neighborhood councils could consider demanding: allowing neighborhood councils to create official City Council files; allowing council members to participate in selecting and evaluating general managers; returning to the policy of printing Community Impact Statements on City Council agendas; allowing councils to recommend how a portion of capital improvement dollars are spent; requiring the city to adopt a five year strategic financial plan; adding details to the City Charter guaranty that the councils receive adequate advance notice before decisions are made at city hall; and assigning one of the deputy mayors to be responsible for promoting transparency and public participation throughout city government.
There are unlimited openings for leaders.
(Greg Nelson participated in the birth and development of the LA Neighborhood Council system and served as the General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. He also served as Chief of Staff for former City Councilman Joel Wachs. Nelson now provides news and issues analysis to CityWatch. He can be reached at: [email protected] .) -cw
Tags: Greg Nelson, Los Angeles, Neighborhood Councils, LA’s Neighborhood Councils, NCs, Congress, Neighborhood Council Congress, leaders, leadership, Neighborhood Council leadership, Jim Alger, DWP MOU, Memorandum of Understanding, DWP/NC Memorandum of Understanding
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 5
Pub: Jan 17, 2012