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Ahead: New Peer Grievance System, New Focus |
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What’s Up with DONE
By BongHwan Kim
(The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is the city department that oversees neighborhood councils. This is the first of what will become regular first-person updates for CityWatch from the department’s general manager.)
There is a lot going on at the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) these days. It is not just the usual running around putting out “fires”, although you can be sure there is still plenty of that. We are trying to find new ways to do what we do. And this is all happening in the context of awful budget times.
There is good news and bad news for the neighborhood council system in the proposed city budget.
Mayor Leaves NC’s $50,000 in Budget, but …It was a pleasant surprise that the Mayor kept the $50,000 funding for each neighborhood council in his 2008-09 budget. But like other city agencies, DONE took a big hit, losing two positions and losing more than 50% of our operating budget. We are fighting to maintain our financial support for the elections that DONE will administer in the next budget year.
We are now in the process of trying to figure out how to do our job of helping neighborhood councils with fewer people and fewer dollars. We will actively solicit your input and advice as we make these changes.
Tough budget times are nothing new for DONE, an agency that has always operated on a shoestring. But we think that lean times can also spur creative thinking. It is time for us to look at everything we do and see if we can do it better.
NCRC Recommendations-We are under a mandate from the Neighborhood Council Review Commission (NCRC), whose 73 recommendations are well on their way to becoming city policy. The NCRC wanted us to be more flexible, to be less of a cop and more of a facilitator, and to help neighborhood councils be more autonomous but also more accountable. These mandates have been music to the ears of our hard-working staff, although we know that it is going to be a massive task to absorb it all.
So right now, there is a lot of activity at our offices. I have brought in Raphe Sonenshein and Dick Dickinson from the NCRC to work with our staff on implementing the NCRC recommendations.
We are working with neighborhood councils to organize a new peer grievance system, as envisioned by the NCRC. We are meeting with city staff to implement improved Early Notification Systems, and with city departments to improve cooperation with neighborhood councils.
We are doing long-range planning, and trying to improve our website at the same time. We are working on streamlining the funding program.
Don’t not expect miracles right away, but we think that we are on the verge of something special, even if takes us a while to get there.
Change of DONE Focus-The NCRC also recommended focusing more networking and capacity building work at the regional level, which I fully embrace. Balancing city-wide and regionally-based organizing efforts will help build capacity for neighborhood councils and also build more effective relationships with some city departments.
In keeping with this line of thought, DONE has partnered with South Los Angeles leaders to organize our first ever regional event. Titled “The Gathering – Neighborhood Councils Making Change Happen”, the event promises to be inspirational and groundbreaking.
The event is open to all and we hope that all neighborhood council leaders throughout the city will attend to learn about, network with, and offer your support to South Los Angeles leaders as they fight against gang violence while, promoting youth and families and advocate for land use strategies that value and embrace healthy communities over developer interests.
As we go along, I will keep you informed about these developments and I hope you will take the chance to send me your ideas and suggestions. (BongHwan Kim is the interim general manager of the DONE. He can be reached at:
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