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By Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Mayor
What an incredible year 2007 has been – a year of challenges and of unmistakable successes – from the tragic high-profile gang crimes early in the year, to the historic strides just this month in reforming our schools.
As the new year approaches, I want to thank the 1,600 neighborhood council and community leaders who have been with us every step of the way.
When I took office more than two years ago, I asked the community to dream with me and to work with me to create a better Los Angeles for us all. It’s you who have answered the call.
Without your engagement on the issues that matter the most to Angelenos, we could never have moved closer to our dream of a safer, greener Los Angeles, where more kids are reaching college and where budgets are back in the black.
I know that Angelenos are tough customers – our neighborhood leaders especially. I set the bar high with a bold agenda. And now, at the end of 2007, I am proud that we in the City are making real progress on every major issue and delivering results every Angeleno can see.
Two years after I launched a campaign to put 1,000 new officers on our streets, we are on track to having the largest police force in Los Angeles City history. Today, the LAPD has over 400 more officers than in 2005. We have met all of our hiring targets and will reach 10,000 officers in two years.
The results have been felt on the ground: To date, gang homicides are down nearly 30%, and Los Angeles is safer than it has been since the 1950s.
Of course, public safety is not our only long-term issue. Parents across Los Angeles have told me they are concerned with the environmental legacy that we are leaving our children.
City Hall is listening, and in 2007 I put an environmentalist in charge of the Department of Water and Power. We are now over half way to our goal of getting 20% of our energy from renewable sources by 2010 and we’re picking up speed.
At the Ports – the Los Angeles Basin’s worst polluter – we are on the cusp of completing the most ambitious environmental plan undertaken by any port in the world; we’re taking more than 16,000 dirty trucks off the streets and slashing diesel pollution by 80%.
Cleaning up the ports may not be the lead story on the evening news, but it’s one of the biggest policy issues this City now faces – and one of my top priorities. And in one year, we will all be breathing easier.
I believe that the strength of this City and our communities is built on a spirit of service and active engagement. So I am proud that together in 2007 we made Big Sunday the largest regional weekend of community service in the nation.
Driven by the desire to give back, 50,000 volunteers picked up a shovel, served a meal or lent their neighbors a hand at more than 400 service projects throughout the City. Together we renovated the neglected homes of senior citizens, created art in local parks, and planted gardens in over 200,000 people-hours of volunteer service.
This year I look forward to seeing the same level of community involvement at the next Day of Service event on January 26, 2008 in Mar Vista, Del Rey, Venice and surrounding communities.
Community involvement, of course, isn’t relegated to service days.
I believe the participation of Neighborhood Councils is vital in helping to ensure that the real needs and concerns of stakeholders throughout the City will be brought to the table and fully addressed.
Since 2002, Neighborhood Councils have provided important input to the development of the City budget, guiding and directing our budget priorities through surveys and feedback.
As we head to fiscal year 2008-09, I invite you to help me develop my proposed budget and share with me your thoughts on how we should create a balanced budget that is fiscally responsible and addresses the fundamental issues of our City. I urge you all to participate in this very important decision-making process by completing the budget survey. See www.lacityneighborhoods.org for more information.
I also want to thank the Neighborhood Council Review Commissioners and staff for their 15 months of sweat and labor reviewing the eight-year history of Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles.
As a result of months of research, deliberations, and public hearings, the NCRC came up with 73 recommendations to strengthen the existing Neighborhood Council system. I support and applaud their work, and I am committed to working with City Council, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, Neighborhood Councils and the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to implement these recommendations and bring government and neighborhoods closer together.
I approach this renewed opportunity with great optimism – and also great sorrow.
After a nationwide search, this February I was delighted to appoint Carol Baker Tharp as the new General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Carol was uniquely qualified in experience and acumen, and was eternally committed to the belief that civic engagement is a vital element of democratic governance.
She was a proven leader, scholar, community servant and – to many here – a friend.
When we lost Carol to breast cancer last month, the Neighborhood Council system and the civic engagement movement in Los Angeles lost a true community advocate.
Carol loved the City of Los Angeles and spent years working diligently to strengthen its neighborhoods. Her integrity, intelligence, compassion and humor will be missed dearly.
Although we mourn her passing, we take comfort in the fact that her ideas and vision will continue on. I am dedicated to carry through Carol’s vision for DONE and the Neighborhood Councils, and believe we must work together to ensure that her dream of community empowerment is truly realized.
As we look towards the future, I haven’t stopped setting high expectations for my staff and for the City of Los Angeles.
In 2008, I will be focused on tackling the tough challenges of traffic gridlock and mass transportation, on fighting gang violence and improving our public schools.
I look forward to strengthening our great City through engagement, collaboration and partnership between City Hall and the diverse communities of Los Angeles.
And I want to thank every one of you for your dedication and commitment, for spending countless hours dealing with City and community issues, and for keeping up your energy, enthusiasm and extraordinary dedication.
Friends, 2007 has been an incredible year for the City of Los Angeles. I believe that together we will make 2008 even better.
Yours truly,
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
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