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NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS -
With participation and interest hemorrhaging, drastic change is required to save this grass roots democracy.
Neighborhood Councils (NCs) in Los Angeles are grassroots advisory bodies created to give residents a greater voice in local government. They’re part of the City of Los Angeles
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) and were established after the city charter was reformed in 1999, some 26 years ago.
They are local neighborhood units of government made up of volunteers who represent their community’s interests to the city. Each "NC" is independent, with its own duly elected board members, bylaws, and decision-making structure.
There are 99 Neighborhood Councils across Los Angeles.
Their objective is to informally advise and recommend city government on a variety of issues like public safety, land use and development, transportation, homelessness, and municipal services such as street repair or tree trimming.
Each of the 99 councils are appropriated an annual budget of $32,000 to support its operations and allocate funding to community projects and outreach.
They hold public meetings and host events, town halls, and cleanups.
Anyone who lives or works in a specific neighborhood council district can participate. They don't need to be a registered voter but must have a legitimate connection to the community by working or owning a property or business.
Stakeholder status is loosely defined, and you can vote if you are just 16.
Any stakeholder can submit an agenda request or make a public comment at any meeting of the neighborhood council or its numerous standing committees.
But the problem is that most members of the 15-member Los Angeles City Council provide these councils with nothing but polite lip service, as this farm league of sorts for governance could be the proving ground for their next opponent, and keeping these councils powerless, toothless and wandering through the bureaucracy that is Los Angeles is just fine with them.
For the notion of government in Los Angeles is not local, but detached, protected and preserved in this political bubble downtown and far away from an electorate that is at best disinterested and exhausted by a city unable to get just about anything seriously accomplished.
And now the public at-large has figured out that these neighborhood councils have little influence or support, but rather are personal hobbies for many members, just frustrated pseudo elected officials who would like to believe they actually matter.
For look at the numbers and the level of participation here in Venice in their bi-annual elections:
- 2019 - 1,677 voting
- 2021 - 1,925 voting
- 2023 - 892 voting
- 2025 - 465 voting (an all-time low)
For this year EMPOWER LA and the LA City Clerk's Office fumbled the ball completely by shelving same-day voting and in-person elections which all but destroyed voter turnout in a neighborhood of some 34,000 residents and was once one of the most vibrant and active neighborhood councils in all of Los Angeles.
For the process to participate was so difficult, awkward and confusing, you almost get the feeling EMPOWER LA in cooperation with the LA City Clerk did all they could to sabotage the entire process under the guise of saving money.
What this became was an exercise in democracy denied.
For years here in Venice we managed our own elections with volunteers and no help from city officials that saw thousands vote, and not hundreds participate.
One must wonder what EMPOWER LA actually does to justify its existence or the $240,621 salary of General Manager Carmen Chang that equates to $115 hour?
For the entire process of selection, governance and purpose needs to be rethought and quite frankly, rejuvenated.
Here are 10 ways to do exactly that:
- Abolish EMPOWER LA. This empty suit collection of hapless bureaucrats can't justify their own existence, much less empower an entire neighborhood. This function can easily be collapsed into the Clerk's office from an election standpoint and have the neighborhood councils report directly to the City Attorney or Controller in terms of oversight.
- Each board should have the same size representation of nine (9) members with a president, vice-president, treasurer, land use chair, secretary, and four community officers all elected at large.
- Change the terms of office from two to four years for greater accountability, stability and function. These boards spend way too much time running for the office then serving their constituencies.
- Increase the budgets of each NC to $50,000 annually and that a portion of that funding be redirected from the fifteen council offices with their bloated staffs and six-figure salaries. Pay the president of each neighborhood council $2,500 and each board member $1,000 for their time, energy and effort.
- The entire election process should be managed by the LA City Clerk moving forward. All elections will be same-day, in-person voting, no different from any other municipal election. These offices can be easily added to a March Primary ballot where you would maximize full participation. You can stagger the terms or hold them all in the same cycle. Now you will have tens of thousands directly electing these council members on par with any other elective office. If you want credible elections, a credible process must be installed and that means every registered voter can participate. These current stepchild elections need to cease.
- You must be a registered voter to participate. Few if any sixteen-year old's vote. And this further legitimizes the process and transparency. and it ensures those voting have been credentialed and vetted.
- Each councilmember must engage these neighborhood councils in a serious and productive manner. Each council member as well as all citywide offices should be required to attend one of the council meetings they represent during their term of office.
- On the issue of homelessness, local councils should have input on any strategies to reduce this crisis on the streets.
- Councils should have advisory input on the city's annual budget as well as deployment of public safety services such as the construction of a new fire and police station.
- Capital investment in sidewalks, alleys, curbs and alike should come with recommendations from these 99 neighborhood councils that are on the ground and in tune with local sentiment. Public spaces such as parks should also require neighborhood council dialogue and feedback. \
Los Angeles is a big place with the smallest (15 members) and most expensive governance in America today as city council members are the highest paid in the country. Since expanding the size of the council seems highly unlikely, sharing nominal responsibility and power with these neighborhood councils makes sense moving forward.
Neighborhood councils effectively constructed, deployed and governed serve as useful partners to their downtown counterparts. These reforms will strengthen the delivery of services while offering a sense that local input is welcomed and taken seriously.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of Venice and previously served as a legislative aide to county government and the state legislature in the state of New Jersey. He exclusively covers the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council and is a member of the OFW Committee of the VNC. You can reach him via e-mail at [email protected])
