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NC Almanac - October 7-13 |
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1993
The mayor and city manager of Claremont, CA determined that the best way for the city to face its fiscal problems was to involve the public beyond the typical public hearings, which put the public in adversarial roles.
Armed with information, the public participants would go beyond recommending broad priorities, and deal with wasteful spending, freezing employee salaries, creating operating efficiencies, and changing methods of service delivery.
After a comprehensive set of recommendations was developed, it was put into a special newsletter and mailed to every resident in the city. In the end, the City Council developed a two-year fiscal action plan around the public’s suggestions.
2005
Larry Frank was appointed deputy mayor for Neighborhood and Community Services.
Hoping to increase their political muscle, leaders of Los Angeles' system of neighborhood councils began efforts to create a citywide congress that would allow representatives of each panel to collectively weigh in on important issues. "Until neighborhood councils unite and forward their votes, however they come out, their influence remains negligible, in my opinion," said Steve Twining, president of the Bel-Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council.
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