Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
Central Downtown LA Jean Huiskens 1
Central Downtown LA Patricia Berman 2
Central Greater Wilshire Julie Stromberg 3
Central Hollywood United Sheila Irani 4
Central Mid City West Scott Epstein 5
Central Pico Union Edgar Hernandez 6
6 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Downtown LA
Wow. Could so go over 500 words. This grassroots Commitee formed, to get roofs fot those less fortunste. We have approached Governent funding look8ng at both short term and long term goals. Short term, we are doing a drive so the zhomeless don't hsve to live like animsls. Describe how this Next, a roof. nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
This is great section. Too many use Orginazations for ther own self purpose or to get their narrative out. I get that. But come on, NO HOME? NO HOME. I can't imGine having to spend Describe how the one night in skid toe, let alone years n years. Makes me ill thinking about it. Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
We Are All IN is a group of Amazing People that started with just a few, and now we are at a Thousand. We are focusing on the Homeless. Now, a Thousand may not sound like a lot. But, "We are all in". Each one of us is trying to provide comfort to those with no roof. The material things we with homes take for granted, Warm food, bed, blankets, etc. Its cold all night. To me, this Group is so personal. We all are just a few paychecks away from being onvthe street. Describe the project, No one is protected from this fate. Govt holds paycheck, if your lender has no compassion, initiative or meeting ypur on the street. operations.
Please, please this group is trying to safe lives. Oje tent at a time. What is more importsnt then helping those in need? I canit think of anything more important. Just think...Humsn Beings ate lying in bus stops, on benches, cardboard boxes, or right on the street!!! picture Provide any additional yoursrlf, lsying your head down on a cold, hard surface. Put aside there are cars raising by, comments that you feel inches from your head, put aside People walk over thrm like Garbage, put aside MENTAL OR would be helpful in DRUG use. We could easily fill a column on the rampid drug use. Put aside all negative on the selecting the roofless. Today is a new day. We have a chance to fix this!!! Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Downtown LA
In creating this job fair, the members of DLANC engaged LA County and City, and City Council resources in a way that had never before been achieved. LA County has no program to Describe how this directly address joblessness in Skid Row. DLANC members went to LA County Job nomination promoted Development meetings as volunteers to gain access to vendors who would otherwise not more civic engagement in have ventured into Skid Row. DLANC also invited City Councilman Huizar’s office to government and/or made participate. The Councilman donated the tables, chairs and bathroom facilities for the event. government more The LAPD also participated, meeting and listening to constituents and their concerns. Overall, DLANC provided a focal point for city and county agencies come together and responsive to local needs. address the issue of joblessness that is ignored in an area of Los Angeles that is most in need.
DLANC works hard to include all residents and stakeholders in one of the most diverse areas of Los Angeles. We may be the only area of the city that includes residents from every Describe how the income level ‐ from extreme poverty to extreme wealth, and a vast ethnic diversity that Neighborhood Council reflects the ethnic history of downtown and its shift into a hotspot for millennials, empty upholds the ideals of nesters, entrepreneurs, and new development. DLANC is acutely aware of these extremes inclusiveness, non‐ and works hard through outreach and projects such as the Skid Row Job and Resource Fair to discrimination, meet and engage downtown's residents and stakeholders where they live and work, with transparency and openness, a willingness to listen, and an invitation to participate. independence in their operations.
The Skid Row Job and Resource Fair was held in San Julian Park in Skid Row on April 10, 2018. DLANC members worked to bring over 40 vendors who offered a wide range of resources and jobs. The idea was to meet the needs of the residents of Skid Row at every level of job seeking, including the need for housing, food stamps, addiction, and mental illness assistance, criminal record expungement, business clothing, resume help, interviewing skills and of course, jobs. Companies such as Goodwill, Chrysalis, The Broad Museum, and many Describe the project, others came ready to hire. Other providers such as The Weingart Center and the Downtown initiative or meeting Womens'Center offered programs to assist residents in building their job skills. Participants were offered a snack and juice upon exiting the fair. A survey was also administered to operations. better understand their experience of their lives. The Midnight Mission provided lunch to the volunteers and the vendors. Overall, the day was very successful. Almost 400 residents signed in to the fair. Goodwill received over 50 applications. One security company hired 5 people that day. Assemblyman Miguel Santiago awarded a Certificate to DLANC acknowledging the Job Fair's service to the community.
As president of DLANC, I need to add that I have never been more proud of the people who populate our board an/or volunteer to help with projects like this Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Greater Wilshire
The Green Fair introduced the community to all the City departments that may be resources for them in adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. In essence, the Green Fair connecting the City to its residents, especially its youngest residents. Fair attendees learned about all the city resources available to them and rebates the City offers to help them adopt a more Describe how this sustainable lifestyle. By facilitating this connection between the City and its residents, the nomination promoted GWNC promoted the City and its residents working together toward a common goal. The Fair more civic engagement in also connected residents to local non‐profits promoting sustainability. Some of these non‐ government and/or made profits, such as KYCC, are funded by the City via grants for their work. For example, at the government more Green Fair, KYCC gave free trees to attendees to help replenish our urban forest. Growing our responsive to local needs. urban forest will help combat climate change. KYCC is able to give these trees to Angelenos for free because of a grant from the City. The Green Fair really helped show Angelenos that its City is really working for them and thinking towaed the future.
The GWNC is a very diverse body with members from various ethnic and economic Describe how the backgrounds and sexual orientation. The GWNC truly represents our diverse community. We Neighborhood Council focus many outreach efforts on the higher density areas of our neighborhood council in order to reach more people and increase diversity. The GWNC is an inclusive body with the purpose upholds the ideals of of unifying the diverse Greater Wilshire community. It has done ao successfully for over 15 inclusiveness, non‐ years. discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The GWNC organized its first Green Fair this year. The free, community event was designed to appeal the Angelenos of all ages and economic backgrounds. For the Green Fair, the GWNC brought together several City agendies and departments, such as LADWP and LA Sanitation, and several local non‐profit organizations, including the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Hancock Park Garden Club, Slow Food LA, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and Friends of Memorial LA High Library. Held at one of our community’s beloved libraries, Describe the project, attendees were treated to food preservation demonstrations, the LADWP water truck, free initiative or meeting books on drought tolerant gardening, and were able to take free trees home courtesy of operations. KYCC. The topics covered at the Green Fair included drought tolerant gardening, water conservation, energy conservation, food waste, climate change, solar energy, and much more! Kids also enjoyed free posters of the LA River and eco‐friendly crafts. The Green Fair was a quintessential community and educational event to show residents how to adopt a more green and sustainable lifestyle.
The GWNC also held othee community events last year that brought together the City and County with its residents. For example, both Olympic and Wilshire LAPD divisions for a crime Provide any additional town hall attended by over 100 people. We also held a Town Hall on the Aedes Mosquito with LA Vector Control. In addition, we organized a town hall on soft story retrofitting for our comments that you feel multi‐family households. Last, we highlighted our beautiful community and its sustainable would be helpful in practices with our second Drought Tolerant Garden Tour. selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Hollywood United
These programs helps hundreds of homeless feel more secure and clean, to pursue jobs, and social services. Their appreciation has been immense.
Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
HUNC has worked to promote our services to the community through speaker series, email newsletters, banners, transit bench ads . We are always looking to our constituents for Describe how the leaders who will help us meet the needs of the community. We have updated our website to Neighborhood Council be more transparent and easier to locate important information. Our finances and actions upholds the ideals of are clearly described at every Board meeting. Committee meetings are open to the public inclusiveness, non‐ and advertised throughout the neighborhoods we serve and digitally on our web site and discrimination, through our email updates. We regularly can be found at the Hollywood Farmer's Market transparency and and at events at Cheremoya Elementary and at block parties throughout our area. independence in their operations.
Laundry Vouchers for the Homeless ‐ Sheila Irani, Co‐Chair of Homeless Committee for HUNC negotiated with a local laundromat, Wash on Western, to accept $5 vouchers good for one wash and dry at their facility during non peak periods of Tu‐Thu 7a to 7p. She also negotiated with a local non profit serving the homeless, A Mllion Drops to manage the vouchers by accepting HUNC funds, and then reimbursing the laundromat and create reports to show Describe the project, HUNC how many vouchers were being redeemed monthly. initiative or meeting The vouchers were customized with logos of the non profit, laundromat and HUNC logos with operations. all details and printed locally. The Board distributed to homeless on the streets and through the local non profits who serve the homeless. To date HUNC has issued and redeemed $1250 worth of vouchers, providing 250 people experiencing homelessness clean clothes and sleeping bags. HUNC also provides portable showers through funding A Million Drops at the Hollywood Adventist Church for hundreds of homeless every year. These programs help the HUNC has grown in popularity by adopting solutions that the community seeks out from their leadership. We listen to the needs of the homeless, the homeowners, renters, parents, and businesses and attempt to construct win‐win scenarios where even with compromise our Provide any additional constituents see improvements in their quality of life. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Mid City West
Mid City West is a dense urban neighborhood with an urgent need for more public space. We have some wonderful larger parks, including Pan Pacific Park, Poinsettia Park, and Hancock Park (the La Brea Tar Pits campus), but many of our stakeholders nevertheless do not live within walking distance of these destinations. Our stakeholders often tell us we need more Describe how this small parks in the community that are easy to access. This project is an innovative way to nomination promoted address that local need. The project also responds to the Melrose Business Improvement District's need to create a sense of place on Melrose that will add vibrancy to the corridor more civic engagement in and attract customers. More broadly, our annual celebration of Park(ing) Day offers a government and/or made continuous opportunity for Mid City West to have conversations about public space with our government more stakeholders. In 2018, Mid City West created pop‐up parks in front of Sal's Restaurant on responsive to local needs. Melrose and Gelateria Uli on West Third Street, both of which were well received by community members.
Mid City West is proud of its record on transparency. We make an effort to reach our broad stakeholder base via multiple platforms including public meetings and events, an active social media presence, a vibrant website, a monthly newsletter, and more. We are continually messaging to our community that our job is to represent our stakeholders and that we want their engagement and participation. We also take inclusiveness and non‐discrimination very Describe how the seriously. One indicator of our inclusiveness is our adoption of the Welcome Neighbor Neighborhood Council Resolution stating that Mid City West welcomes individuals of all backgrounds, races, sexual upholds the ideals of orientations, and national origins. We are proud to be working with Miry's List as one of the inclusiveness, non‐ original 10 NCs in the Welcome Neighbor program. With respect to independence, Mid City discrimination, West has charted its own course. We have pursued innovative programs such as Park(ing) transparency and Day and have not always agreed with our elected officials on important issues. For example, independence in their Mid City West recently voted in opposition to a tax incentive package for the Marriott Hotel operations. expansion adjacent to LA Live, and we have fought hard for road safety improvements on 6th Street that Councilmember Ryu did not agree with and did not adopt.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Mid City West
2018 marked a pivotal moment in Mid City West's work to re‐imagine how we use our most abundance public space: streets. Since 2014, Mid City West has participated annually in Park(ing) Day, an international event where parking spots are transformed into pop‐up parks for one day. Over the 5 years, Mid City West has worked with local businesses to create installations on La Brea Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue, Melrose Avenue, and West Third Street. In 2017, Mid City West in partnership with the Melrose Business Improvement District expanded this experiment by creating a full plaza by closing off the end of Stanley Avenue adjacent to Melrose Avenue. The pop‐up plaza aligned with the Melrose Describe the project, BID's vision plan for streetscape improvements, and Mid City West's goal to provide more initiative or meeting open space for our community. The pilot project set the stage for the Melrose BID and Mid City West to collaborate in 2018 and 2019 on an application to LADOT People Street to make operations. Stanley Plaza a permanent public space in the neighborhood. Mid City West recently voted unanimously to co‐write the application with the Melrose BID, which has since been submitted to LADOT. The project demonstrates how pilot projects by neighborhood councils can lead to more permanent changes. The project also serves as a model for collaboration between neighborhood councils and business improvement districts.
This is just one of many exciting projects that Mid City West is working on. Around homelessness, Mid City West was proud to host the Homeless Count for the 5th year in a row, endorse the Everyone In campaign, and vote to host an Advocacy Training with Provide any additional Everyone In. Mid City West's public space work in 2018 also included planting trees in comments that you feel collaboration with the Koreatown Youth & Community Center, holding town hall meetings on would be helpful in a future community garden at Poinsettia Park, and continuing our cleanups of the Rosewood selecting the Garden pocket park. Mid City West also hired a UCLA planning student to conduct a study on Neighborhood Council for Fairfax Village, hosted an event with the City Attorney's Office on school safety, and an EmpowerLA Award. provided bicycle skills classes free to the community in collaboration with Metro.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Pico Union
It is no myth that 18‐24 year old's underperform in elections. The decision of the Pico‐Union Neighborhood Council to officially start the Youth Committee promoted civic engagement in government because it allowed an underrepresented population to become visible and vocal. The Youth Committee is instilling hope and trust within its members to change the cycle of Describe how this inactivity, and to confront systematic issues affecting their communities. An unexpected nomination promoted consequence of the Youth Committee is the spread of knowledge that is occurring. For more civic engagement in example, at the end of the day kids return to their home and inform their parents of government and/or made resources that were shared with them. Overall, the Youth initiative of the neighborhood government more council is promoting civic engagement because it is allowing the youth to understand the responsive to local needs. inner workings of the city to efficiently, and effectively develop, and implement future projects.
The Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness by listening to all board members and constituents. For example, the board allows everyone to voice their opinion Describe how the and works to connect individuals with appropriate departments to solve issues. Additionally, Neighborhood Council when possible the council funds a plethora of events that enhance the social and cultural upholds the ideals of aspects of the community. Regarding transparency, the council has taken steps to update inclusiveness, non‐ their website and when possible have at least a board member or community member discrimination, interpret the proceedings. transparency and independence in their operations.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area Central
Neighborhood Council Pico Union
On September 2018, the Pico‐Union Neighborhood Council selected Edgar Hernandez as Chair of the Youth Committee. A move, that marked the neighborhood council’s initiative to promote and attract youth to not only get involved in their community, but to become civic leaders. This initiative is led by Edgar Hernandez, who solidified a partnership with Loyola High School. To the generosity of Dr. Rodriguez, the Director of Community Service at Loyola High School, the Youth Committee has used their space as headquarters. Although the committee is in its infancy, it has a membership of 20 individuals who are either in high school or college. The Youth Committee encourages its participants to take on projects they Describe the project, are passionate about. Because of this initiative, the Neighborhood Council was able to initiative or meeting support the youth. For example, Philippe Wu (Loyola High School student and committee operations. member) organized a beautification project that entailed canvassing the Pico‐Union community and planting over 20 trees with the assistance of the Koreatown Youth & Community Center. Sharon and George Varela (CSULA and Santa Monica Community College students) created and run the Youth Committee Facebook page. In addition, because of the initiative, Edgar Hernandez has been able to grant the youth recognition by working with Luis Gonzalez from Gil Cedillos office and Angie Aramayo from the Los Angeles Mayor’s office.
As mentioned before the Youth Committee is in its infancy. Currently, the committee is working with Loyola High School to establish a summer program composed of high school students from Pico – Union to provide them with a leadership course over the summer and Provide any additional no‐cost college tours throughout California. Additionally, Edgar Hernandez is working with comments that you feel Loyola High School and the PUNC board to create an official kickoff event to announce the would be helpful in opening of the committee. Lastly, we are working on logos and shirts to become more visible selecting the to the community. Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
East Arroyo Seco Drew Paonessa 7
East Arroyo Seco Rider Strong 8
East Atwater Village Mary Kim 9
East Boyle Heights Veronica Polanco 10
East Boyle Heights Veronica Polanco 11
East Boyle Heights Vivian Escalante 12
East Greater Cypress Park Julien ANTELIN 13
East Historic Highland Park Jamie Tijerina 14
East Los Feliz Jon Deutsch 15
9 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Arroyo Seco
In coordinating the program the ASNC made valuable inroads with a neighborhood school including with teachers, parents, administrators and students. This created awareness of the council and its mission of serving the stakeholders in the community. Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council in working with the school set up a program in which all 5th graders (the grade level of the program) at Latona are able to participate by having Describe how the both a fall and spring program. Updates on the program were made at both committee and Neighborhood Council board level and posted to social media. Representatives from CD1 were also invited and upholds the ideals of documented the program. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The Young Storytellers Program is a non profit that teaches children screen writing. Students work one on one with a mentor for 8 weeks culminating with a performance of their screenplays. The ASNC acted as liaison between the school and non‐profit and supplied all volunteers. The ASNC felt this program would not only be valuable for the students at Latona Ave. Elementary but would help create an equally valuable connection between the school Describe the project, and the neighborhood council. initiative or meeting operations.
The success of this initial program at Latona has encouraged the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council to work to expand the program to our other area schools.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Arroyo Seco
Cleland Park was a designated pocket park in Mt Washington that had become an "unofficial dog park." There was a lot of upset locals ‐‐ dog owners wanted the park to be off‐leash, while parents wanted a clear demarcation between a "dog area" and a "children's area." Describe how this After a year of contentious meetings, an incredible amount of planning, and civic nomination promoted engagement, the park has been redesigned to great success. more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The Mt Washington Local Issues Committee of the Arroyo Seco NC, led by Jessica Craven, spearheaded an effort to listen to the community and ensure that both dog owners and Describe how the parents would be happy with the new park. The committee meetings were attended by Neighborhood Council upwards of 70 locals, some very outspoken and determined to fight for their vision of the upholds the ideals of park. In the end, a committed group of parents and dog owners came together, worked with inclusiveness, non‐ the city to add fencing, new signs and design a brand new playground ‐‐ achieving a solution discrimination, that has truly succeeded in making Cleland Park something every local can be proud of. transparency and independence in their operations.
Cleland Park Re‐design
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
Issues revolving around dogs and children can bring out the best and worst in folks, and ASNC Board Member Jessica Craven did such an admirable job of ensuring no one felt unheard or unappreciated. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Atwater Village
By bringing out a large crowd in the community, it allows neighbors to meet each other and community organizations and businesses to collaborate. It brings light to the Neighborhood Council and their great work that they do for the community. The Tree Lighting festival is an Describe how this annual tradition of the AVNC. nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
This annual event is open to all stakeholders welcoming individuals regardless of their backgrounds. It provides the opportunity to start a tradition of the community that includes Describe how the all the schools to participate/perform at the Tree Lighting Festival Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council have been hosting the annual Tree Lighting festival in the community for the past several years. The community eagerly anticipates this annual event and in 2018, the AVNC brought out nearly more than 1500 people to the event.
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
The AVNC has been doing great work outside of this annual event. They are highly recognized and appreciated by the Council office as well as their community. It would be an honor to see them be recognized for their hard work and efforts in the community. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Boyle Heights
Sweeping Saturdays has provided the council to partner up with a range of organizations. We have partnered with U.S. Rep Jimmy Gomez, LAPD, faith based organizations and non‐ profits. The cleanups have also created a regular presence for the council and it has brought Describe how this us more creditability, especially because we continue to return to problem areas. We have nomination promoted families who consistently show up and see it as an opportunity to teach their children the more civic engagement in importance of serving ones community. government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
This project is lead fully by the community from nominations to official selection. The only limitation is that our Transportation and Environment Committee requires that the projects Describe how the be evenly dispersed in the four areas in Boyle Heights. This is to ensure inclusion from Neighborhood Council stakeholders throughout all of Boyle Heights. The independence in our operations is that we upholds the ideals of challenge our representatives to stop ignoring areas that are deemed "too difficult". We are inclusiveness, non‐ there to do the hard work not get a one time picture. discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Sweeping Saturdays‐ The BHNC has been hosting monthly beautification/ clean up projects on a monthly in some of our most neglected areas. The areas are chosen to highlight ways various city departments could provide better services for the area. For example a beautification project was held at Malabar Library, which has had no outdoor signage for over a decade. In addition to cleaning and planting flowers we are also requesting LAPL to Describe the project, provide signage on the building and LADOT to add a street sign indicating where the library is initiative or meeting located. operations.
This project shown our stakeholders that we will show up consistently. We know longer have to seek out partnerships, groups reach out to us looking to collaborate.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Boyle Heights
Creating greater access to our meetings is a first step to creating true civic engagement. By spreading loca ons around we increase the visibility of the council.
Describe how this We also noticed that many stakeholders were still unaware of the council and others were nomination promoted intimidated to speak in public. So make an effort to break down those barriers by providing more civic engagement in the opportunity for an alternative space where stakeholders can ask any questions they like government and/or made or issues they need clarified. government more responsive to local needs.
The independence is highlighted in the approach because we are adopting practices that are reflective to our stakeholders and community. We are a working class immigrant Describe how the neighborhood where the idea of voting is not one that is always possible. We take non‐ Neighborhood Council traditional approaches because we need to make it clear that we are here to be an authentic upholds the ideals of voice of the community. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The council recognized that our general and committee meetings were limited to one area in Boyle Heights. The council strategically sought out meeting locations in each area. Once those were established the committee were split up in all areas. Now there is a BHNC meeting (committee or otherwise) held on a monthly basis in each of our designated areas. We also started having informal office hours called "pop ups" in Boyle Heights. Area reps Describe the project, would set a time to just be present a popular coffee shop or by their favorite street vendor . initiative or meeting operations.
We are not afraid to take risk and try different approaches if it means empowering our stakeholders. We embrace the uniqueness of Boyle Heights and are stronger for it. We also now have ceramic mugs in our meetings to be more environmental friendly. A side effect is Provide any additional that it creates a more welcoming home like atmosphere at the meetings. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Boyle Heights
The Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council ‐ Ad Hoc Historic Preservation Committee is working with business owners, property owners on Landmarking, and will soon engage more owners to finally create Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, PLUC, CD 14, Los Angeles City Describe how this Planning‐DRAFT Community Plan, and attending all meetings, as well as inviting the City nomination promoted Planning team to attend our meetings for an update. more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
Boyle Heights has always been known for it's diversity, and we engage everyone to learn, share and get involved to secure our Historic Cultured and Treasured Community, from the Describe how the continued demolition of the places that make us strong as a community, and our Neighborhood Council stakeholders support our efforts for Historic Preservation. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The first ever Ad Hoc for Historic Preservation in Boyle Heights. We meet monthly, and have been encouraged by the City of Los Angeles Historic Resources Department to stake our HPOS, Landmarks and Historic Districts.
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
We are just getting started, and attending the community meetings with developers that are listening to our concerns, as we are open to share the historic building designs, style and history that bring warmth to our community. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Greater Cypress Park
This process is more fair, and avoid to say no to great requests at the end of the year because NPG budget is already spent. The In/out from public is important. This is close to a performance/program based budget practices. Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
This process is really transparent. All the previous organizations which previously received a grant were informed of the new process. Also, announcements are made during board Describe how the meeting. Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
GCPNC has decided to innovate in the process to select organizations that receive a NPG from the NC. In order to avoid a first come first served process, the board, after decided the budget for NPG for the whole fiscal year, announced that NPG will be granted quarterly. For example, in 2019, the NPG budget is $16,000. During the general board meetings of August, October, January and April, $4,000 were/will be granted. All the organizations interested Describe the project, have to apply by filling the NPG form and be agendized. Each organization has the same time initiative or meeting to present their request during the meeting. Public is invited through public comment to operations. share their views and preferences. Board members ask questions to petitioners and then approve the grants.
The feedback from the board members and the stakeholders are really positive. We can see more people participating to these meeting.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Historic Highland Park
This nomination has increased access to resources and information in the community. For example, many people did not know that the CA Department of Business Oversight is now responsible for providing oversight in the state of Student Loan practices and could provide local borrowers with additional support. Workshop attendees also learned that they could save over $100 a month just by utilizing library services. The Neighborhood Councils 101 Describe how this installment was held in collaboration with DONE in order to provide a final opportunity for nomination promoted NELA residents to get information about how the neighborhood council system works, and more civic engagement in how they could run for a seat on their neighborhood council ahead of the deadline to file as a government and/or made candidate. Attendees came from all over LA, as far as Central Hollywood, to learn how to get government more involved. At least 4 of the attendees are running for seats on NCs this election cycle. responsive to local needs.
This neighborhood council maintains active social media accounts and makes posts regularly in both english and spanish, and produces a newsletter weekly to go out to stakeholders. This is made possible through an appointed digital comms liaison from the board (Jamie Tijerina) Describe how the and through hiring a vendor Kristina Smith for assistance with managing content. Meetings Neighborhood Council have been vibrant and full, and when the community requests interpretation services, the upholds the ideals of board is able to meet the request. Special meetings have been held when the community has inclusiveness, non‐ requested, including one on liquor licenses in December 2018, and even live‐streamed to discrimination, maximize access for the community. The board has held numerous events for the community including Power to the Youth Wellness Fair, Community Cleanups, Arts and Cultural events transparency and featuring Latinx artists from the community, and more. independence in their operations.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019 Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Historic Highland Park
The #NELearn community learning series is a series of workshops meant to give people free access to information and resources that the community really needs in NELA. The series was created by Jamie Tijerina of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council, a native of NELA and the Eastside as an effort to bridge information gaps and connect people with resources. From financial empowerment to immigrant rights, tenant rights, Neighborhood Councils 101, Health and Wellness, the NELearn workshops are meant to empower the community by giving them access to information that will help them survive and thrive in the neighborhood. These workshops have been held in collaboration with numerous community partners including local NCs in Region 8 (Hermon, Cypress Park, Glassell Park), elected officials (CD1, CD14, AD51), and community organizations like Ferias Legales, Arroyo Vista Family Health Center, LA Tenants Union and more. Describe the project, The workshops have been successful: so much so that an encore presentation of the initiative or meeting Financial Empowerment workshop was held in December of 2018 and featured in the operations. Boulevard Sentinel. The Financial Empowerment installments in the series focused heavily on navigating the student loan crisis and how millennials and Gen z in NELA, Latino youth are suffering in silence in NELA (http://www.boulevardsentinel.com/borrowers‐in‐nela‐seek‐ advice‐on‐student‐debt/). The creation of this series followed a unique forum organized by Jamie in April 2018 titled "Gentrification and Community Healing" which provided a day of programming that included a community discussion, Immigrant Rights workshop, Tenants rights workshop, and financial empowerment workshop to discuss community sentiments around the rapid changes and displacement occurring in Highland Park and Northeast Los Angeles.
This is a board that is very collaborative and responsive to the needs of the community.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Los Feliz
Although several NCs chose to extend the terms of their boardmembers who would otherwise have stood for election in 2018, the LFNC decided that our neighborhood was better served by giving stakeholders the opportunity to make their voices heard.
Not only did this decision reaffirm the LFNC’s commitment to the democratic will of our neighbors, but the 2018 LFNC Describe how this (s)election served as a tremendous outreach effort, raising the visibility of the LFNC in the neighborhood and around nomination promoted the city. more civic engagement in Several stakeholders joined standing committees – including several candidates who did not win a seat on the government and/or made Governing Board. The LFNC’s social media accounts are now among the most followed of any NC, and since the government more elec on, the LFNC has been featured in LA Weekly, MSNBC, and KCET. responsive to local needs. The Governing Board is increasingly diverse, with members of the now majority‐female board ranging in age from 30 to 70, while our commi ees have ac ve members as young as 14.
Simply put, the LFNC is more visible, more engaged, more active, and more representative of the neighborhood we represent. The LFNC is committed to being the most effective and transparent NC in the entire city. Not only do we manage to hold regular Governing Board and Committee meetings (an average of 10 a month) but we are also amongst the highest generators of Community Impact Statements – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by our local city councilmembers nor the local press.
The LFNC has a robust social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and nextdoor. Stakeholders regularly attend meetings or events as the result of a single Instagram post. Other NC’s look to the LFNC for guidance and advice when it comes to outreach and engaging the community.
The LFNC operates two websites. The first: www.losfeliznc.org contains information about the council and the neighborhood, as well as serving as a posting place for agendas and event information. The second – Describe how the www.losfelizvotes.org serves as an “evergreen” site to promote LFNC elections. Also, the council maintains an Neighborhood Council extensive Google Drive database of all past agendas, minutes, ac on items and more. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ In 2018, the LFNC fulfilled several CPRA requests, including the release of over 2,200 documents related to the 2018 discrimination, (s)election. The LFNC prides itself on being open and transparent and strives to make sure that every document transparency and created as a result of the NC’s work is available to the public. independence in their operations. We also pride ourselves on maintaining a line between NC business and electoral politics. We do not allow incumbents to use their position to gain an unfair advantage while campaigning. This vigilance is ingrained in the LFNC’s culture and is on full display in the run‐up to our 2019 elec on.
Finally, the LFNC believes that neighbors can disagree without being disagreeable. We expect all members to abide by DONE’s code of conduct and encourage boardmembers to not only be respectful, but collegial and kind as well. As a result, our meetings are shorter, and the amount of work we are able to accomplish has increased exponentially. We will not tolerate bullying—whether by a member of the Governing Board or a committee—and seek to defuse any conflict or controversy.
As a result, the LFNC is a council for all neighbors regardless of their beliefs, opinions, or backgrounds.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area East
Neighborhood Council Los Feliz
On May 12th, 2018, the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council held a special selection to fill 9 vacancies on its Governing Board. The selection – designed to function nearly identically to a regular NC election – was a tremendous success, resulting in a record 31 registered candidates and an incredible 56% increase in voter turnout from the LFNC’s previous (2016) elec on.
In 2017 NCs were given the options of extending current boardmember terms by one year. The LFNC decided to give their stakeholders an extra opportunity to get involved, and chose to hold a selection in 2018, in a form as similar to a regular NC elec on as possible.
To execute this project, the LFNC created an Ad Hoc Election Committee and set about organizing a full‐scale NC election without the financial or logistical support of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment or The City Describe the project, Clerk’s office. initiative or meeting operations. The LFNC partnered with the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles (LWV) to serve as an independent election administrator and secured a convenient, ADA‐accessible loca on to serve as a polling place.
‐ Please Read Addi onal Comments For Details on Voter/Candidate Outreach‐
Election day was paired with an “Adopt‐A‐Tree” event organized by the LFNC’s Public Works and Beautification Committee and featured several local food trucks. Balloting was smooth and efficient and praised as the best LFNC vo ng experience in recent memory.
The results were a resounding success. Turnout increased 56% over the LFNC’s previous election and 9 new Governing Board members were selected to serve three‐year terms. Unable to rely on DONE or City Clerk resources, the LFNC created www.losfelizvotes.org— a fully functional election website that served as the central source of information for the 2018 election. The Election Committee created an election manual – based on DONE’s 2016 manual – tailored to the unique needs of the Los Feliz Neighborhood. Prospective candidates submited their candidacy and supporting documents online using an encrypted, secure server. Sensitive and identifying information was then removed from these documents before being reviewed by a neutral third party (student volunteers from Immaculate Heart High School). Provide any additional The Election Committee held several outreach events, including a well‐attended information session for prospective comments that you feel candidates at the Greek Theatre and orchestrated a multi‐media outreach effort, including targeted Facebook ads, would be helpful in Instagram posts, Nextdoor posts, newspaper ads, and flyers. As a result, 31 stakeholders signed up to run for 9 seats – selecting the a new LFNC record. Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award. Similar outreach was conducted for the actual election, including an orientation for certified candidates and a candidate forum, which was attended by over 100 stakeholders and viewed by thousands more on Facebook (where it was also streamed live).
After stakeholders raised concerns over their inability to vote on Saturday for religious reasons, the LFNC was able to organize an additional day of voting – Friday, May 11th– affording every stakeholder the right to have their voices heard.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
Harbor Coastal San Pedro Amber Ginsberg 16
Harbor Coastal San Pedro Kathleen Martin 17
Harbor Harbor City Karen Ceaser 18
Harbor Harbor Gateway North Pamela Thornton 19
4 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Harbor
Neighborhood Council Coastal San Pedro
This group was initiated by local NCs and through that collective power has been able to bring all elected offices to the table. This has resulted in a more direct relationship between the group (stakeholders) and the elected officials that serve them with regards to homeless Describe how this initiatives and issues. This group held regular meetings 2x month throughout the council nomination promoted district. more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
Coastal San Pedro NC, in order to ensure that all voices were included in this work, reached out to all NC's in the Council District. The group quickly grew to include homeless service Describe how the providers, stakeholders of differing opinions, people with lived experience, and elected Neighborhood Council offices/public departments. In order to ensure access, the group's meetings traveled around upholds the ideals of the CD. Later in the year, the group brought in an outside expert (Tommy Newman of United inclusiveness, non‐ Way) to do a mini‐strategic planning session. discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
In May of 2018, Coastal San Pedro NC initiated ‐ along with several other NC's in the Council District ‐ the first district‐wide Working Group on Homelessness to empower stakeholders to engage in this work directly and share information and resources to other stakeholders in a more timely and informed manner ‐‐ seeking to advance the City's homeless initiatives in a hyper‐local setting. Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
This group has been recognized by the Mayor's office personally as the first group of this type in the city. Without hyper‐local, grassroots leadership and education, implementing solutions to alleviate and solve our homeless crisis has been near‐impossible. This group is a model of Provide any additional effective collaboration. By leveraging the structures that already exist, it is seeking to help comments that you feel solve one of our City's most complex issues ‐‐ starting in our community. would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Harbor
Neighborhood Council Coastal San Pedro
This group was instrumental in bringing the facts directly from the councilmans office and City on the issues surrounding homelessness efforts to all of the neighborhood council, in one place, so that we could then provide information to our stakeholders and then bring the Describe how this stakeholder feedback back to the City. nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
We have reached out to our stakeholders through 12 Homelessness Committee Meetings, Repeating that information at each Board Meeting, in addition to meeting twice a month for Describe how the the Working Group. We have held both daytime and evening meetings to reach Seniors, Neighborhood Council Moms, students and working folks. We invited everyone to participate, regardless of how upholds the ideals of they felt about the issues and what their concerns were. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Formation of the CD15 Working Group for Homelessness. Amber Sheikh Ginsberg, Doug Epperhart, and Kathleen Martin of the Coastal San Pedro Homelessness Committee to leverage the voices of all the neighborhood councils in support of Mayor Garcetti A Bridge Home Project. Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
Incredible group.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Harbor
Neighborhood Council Harbor City
Civic engagement & public awareness of Harbor City Neighborhood Council made through this event.
Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
Harbor City NC has a very diverse board & a significant part of this is 3 board members are under the age of 25. The Executive board members, et al are very professional, transparent, Describe how the compassionate about their service to the community & present a variety of experience in Neighborhood Council many fields. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Winter Wonderland event held in December as an outreach to the community. Huge attendance & positive feedback of the family‐friendly event!C
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
Harbor City NC deserves recognition for their tireless commitment to the community of Harbor City & beyond.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area Harbor
Neighborhood Council Harbor Gateway North
We held townhall style Board Meetings from June 2018 and ended in December 2018. The mee ngs were held first in the very southern por on of our boundary and headed north. We hosted a meet and great hosted by the Outreach Committee 30minutes before each Describe how this Board Meeting. On average we had 35‐40 attendees per meeting. We provided resource nomination promoted information and included on our agenda topics that would attract interested stakeholders to more civic engagement in attend our Board meetings.. In an effort to focus on civic engagement, HGNNC was successful government and/or made and met our goal. government more responsive to local needs.
HGNNC ensures that everyone is welcomed in our Committees and Board meetings. We emphasize that we are the safe space for their voices to be heard. Describe how the We hire a mail delivery service to provide door to door notification to our stakeholders, Neighborhood Council outreaching to 10,000 households for upcoming meetings or events. We continue to strive upholds the ideals of for our Board to be reflective of the diversity of Harbor Gateway North. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
HGNNC conducted traveling Board meetings to meet our stakeholders in their neighborhood. HGNNC has 8 internal districts within our neighborhood council boundary. In an effort to achieve diversity and inclusion on our Board, we embarked on an outreach plan that jump started the conversation about the need for fresh and new ideas to achieve the community in which we want to see. Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
The HGNNC was.a site and facility coordinator for the Harbor Gateway 2019 Homeless. Count. This was a first year opt‐in for HGNNC to participate to highlight the needs for more services to prevent and/or support homeless population. We had 30 volunteers that covered Provide any additional Harbor Gateway North, Harbor Gateway South and a portion of Torrance. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
North Valley North Hills East Dave Brown 20
North Valley North Hills West Kreshell Ramey 21
North Valley Northridge West Peter Lasky 22
North Valley Pacoima Moslem Khan 23
North Valley Sylmar John M Pacheco 24
5 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council North Hills East
This most recent CERT 1 class was the first Spanish CERT class in recent memory, and was fully a ended with 100 % perfect a endance, with a wai ng list equal to a next full class. Given that some geographic areas are stereotypically underprepared for emergencies for Describe how this many reasons, the significant positive Stakeholder response to this project demonstrates nomination promoted both the need and the opportunity for additional engagement. more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The four Neighborhood Councils (NC's) worked together across their respective borders to engage all Stakeholders equally to great success. That each NC had various strengths and Describe how the constraints was leveraged to result in a positive learning environment for the attending Neighborhood Council students. As a result, new ties were forged leading to more ongoing collaborative efforts. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
A collabora ve mul ‐Neighborhood Council effort supporting the first CERT 1 Spanish language class in memory in the Valley, was held June 10th and las ng 7 weeks, ending June 22, 2018. The Neighborhood Councils: Panorama City, Mission Hills, North Hills West and North Hills East, worked together Describe the project, to bring this CERT program to the community. The collaborative NC’s also reached out to initiative or meeting Southern California Preparedness Founda on, (SoCalPrep.us) operations. to partner and assist with providing CERT class comple on backpacks containing essen al and valuable response supplies to each course par cipant that completed (a ends all 7 sessions or make‐ups within 60 days) for the CERT classes, held at Sepulveda United Methodist Church on Rayen St, North Hills. Three of these NC’s had previously collaborated, to support an English language CERT class series. These projects are an extremely affordable means to engage Stakeholders with long term knock on benefits. Additional CERT 1 classes, English and Spanish are being planned, as Provide any additional well as other Emergency Preparedness Stakeholder learning opportunities. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council North Hills West
He attends civic meetings and sets up tables, equipment, in all our community involvement.
Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
He works with a variety committees and volunteers each year to help and work with the Congress of NC. He is very technology driven and shares information with the Board and Describe how the stakeholders. His service should be exemplified and recognized. Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Dave Brown sets up our meetings with his own sound system for our board to use and of course for stakeholders. He manages and maintains our storage unit that has emergency preparedness items, marketing items, and material that board uses for community events. Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
Dave is a world wide traveler and he brings a wealth of information into our NC. His ideas keep us abreast in today's technology and advancements. He is now work on an Emergency Preparedness for the community. Last year there were bi‐lingual classes held for Certain Provide any additional Training. We had volunteers of other NC. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Northridge West
The quest to beautify the medians started in December of 2013 when one of our stakeholders during public comments asked if we couldn't do something to beautify the medians. "they were once nice but now they look ratty when summer comes and weeds are growing 5' tall and the grass is all dead and the trees are doing so poorly.
Describe how this Through numerous meetings and suggestions from stakeholders the Californio Ranchero idea nomination promoted of having animals representa ve of a 1800's Mexican Land Grant Rancho emerged. more civic engagement in government and/or made Civic engagement and the boards responsiveness was shown by numerous public meetings, the creation of a Tampa Median Committee, with stakeholder participation in the above with government more trips to engineers, architectural firms and visits and meeting with the Bureau of Public responsive to local needs. Works. The visits and mee ngs were with stakeholders in a endance.
The board showed inclusiveness and transparency by listening to public comments. The first idea proposed was putting out topiary of Chinese Zodiac Animals. This idea did not resonate well with the community. The committee listened to those public comments and and came up with a new theme, and animals of a typical 1800's Rancho was accepted and approved. Describe how the While I thought Dinosaurs of the of the ancient San Fernando Valley ( Saber Tooth Tigers, Neighborhood Council Giant Sloths, Woolly Mammoths , would be really cool it was deemed less appropriate with upholds the ideals of the theme selected. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, Had the board and committee been less committed to inclusiveness, and transparency and transparency and non‐discrimination we would have gone ahead with our own initial ideas and not listened to independence in their our stakeholders. Listening to our stakeholders proved to be extremely important as operations. acceptance of this project has been high and it isn't uncommon for those familiar with the board and me to ask when will the topiary be placed on the median.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Northridge West
Northridge West has been striving for years to improve an eyesore within our community.
The 6 Tampa Medians run for approximately 1 mile between Devonshire St. and the 118 Freeway. Thirty years ago they were beautiful with towering pine trees, and majestic oak trees and covered with beau ful green lawns.
Time took its toll on the sprinkler system and it became non‐operable, the drought killed off the lawns and weakened and killed a number of trees, and bark beetles ravaged others. NWNC has spent thousands of dollars removing dead trees so that others might live. Describe the project, initiative or meeting 2 years ago we put in a drip system to water the trees and we have not lost a tree since. operations. Now we have taken the beau fica on to the next level.
In keeping with the historical roots of of the Mexican Land Grant History of the Valley we have placed 3 topiary figures of Horses on one of the medians.
The horses are magnificent standing 8 tall and are approximately 7 feet long.
This phase of the boards ongoing efforts and commitment to transform the Tampa Medians is very important to our area. Tampa Avenue is the gateway to not only Northridge West but also Porter Ranch NC, and the main through fare to our commercial district and the Norhridge Mall. As the main through fare more than 50,000 cars a day enter and exit at Tampa Avenue.
As you know NC's have a low recognition factor in the community. Over my 5 year tenure on the board I have several times gone door to door to promote NWNC events such as our town halls and other events. The first year I did this after knocking on over 200+ doors only 3 people were familiar with NWNC and they were former board members who no longer Provide any additional involved. comments that you feel would be helpful in Last year while knocking on doors to promote our Effects of the SoCal Gas Leak when I selecting the explained who I was, what NWNC had done for the community like our drip system to save Neighborhood Council for the trees many more people were familiar with us, and most thanked me for the boards an EmpowerLA Award. efforts in saving the trees.
A project like ours is not only good for our area, and NWNC it is good for all NC's in the example that it sets of showing what can be done. The work we've done has been covered by our local paper "The Community Connec on" and The Daily News has occasionally called me for updates on its progress.
For all of the above reasons I think this project is deserving of recognition and an award. (Of course I might have some biais)
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Pacoima
Very ac ve Neighborhood CounculLand Use commi ee projects the California High Speed Rail Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Describe how this Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on nomination promoted Very ac ve Neighborhood Councul more civic engagement in Land Use commi ee projects government and/or made the California High Speed Rail government more Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. responsive to local needs. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Very active Neighborhood Councul
Land Use commi ee projects the California High Speed Rail Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Describe how the Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Neighborhood Council Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on upholds the ideals of Very ac ve Neighborhood Councul inclusiveness, non‐ Land Use commi ee projects discrimination, the California High Speed Rail transparency and Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. independence in their Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ operations. profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Very active Neighborhood Councul
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Pacoima
Land Use commi ee projects the California High Speed Rail Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Very ac ve Neighborhood Councul Describe the project, Land Use commi ee projects initiative or meeting the California High Speed Rail operations. Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Very active Neighborhood Councul
Land Use commi ee projects the California High Speed Rail Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Provide any additional Very ac ve Neighborhood Councul comments that you feel Land Use commi ee projects would be helpful in the California High Speed Rail selecting the Center for Health Equity Ac on Plan. Pacoima Neighborhood Council on cleanup! Collaborating with LAPD, local schools, non‐ Neighborhood Council for profits, and ac ve residents in helping cleanup the streets near Ralston and Filmore. an EmpowerLA Award. Economic Development are bringing Small Business Resources and Contracting Oppportuni es to the San Fernando Valley! Acapulco Mexican Restaurant: Support LAPD Foothill Sta on Very active Neighborhood Councul
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Sylmar
Sylmar residents have unfortunately come to realize that the natural beauty of our mountains and hills also means that we run the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The Sand fire in 2014 and the Creek fire in December of last year are the most recent examples of that disaster potential. Add to that, the ever present danger of earthquakes, wind storms and overflowing debris basins, Sylmar was clearly in need of a Focused effort to promote ci zen preparedness.
The Sylmar neighborhood council, in recognition of these threats to our community created the Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) two years ago with the mission of helping to ensure that the stake holders in our community are ready when the next disaster strikes.
Since its’ creation, the EPC has focused on four distinct areas to increase our residents’ ability to respond and recover from whatever disaster may affect our neighborhoods. These efforts have allowed our council to engage hundreds of Describe how this residents. Those areas of focus are: nomination promoted more civic engagement in 1)Provide preparedness educa on programs for general public and to support programs offered by other city or government and/or made nonprofit agencies such as the Red Cross, that build disaster preparedness capabilities for our residents with a special government more emphasis on our equestrian community. responsive to local needs. 2)Development of a community based response/recovery cadre to s upport local disaster recovery efforts with the crea on of a Sylmar CERT Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). 3)Increase neighborhood preparedness by teaching neighbors how they can assist each other un l government assistance is available, u lizing the MAP Your Neighborhood preparedness program. 4)Help ensure that our local bus inesses and non-profits have taken the necessary steps to ensure that they will s ll be in business after a disaster by offering basic disaster planning information to those locally owned businesses that are the backbone of our communi es’ economy. 5)Create a Safety program to address ongoing safety issues from all stakeholders
Sylmar certainly represents one of our most diverse areas in the city, from both an ethnic, language and socio economic Describe how the perspective our diversity is an important part of our community resilience. Given this fact, the council makes very effort to encourage participation of all segments of our community. From bi-lingual Preparedness Educator training this past Neighborhood Council year to the development of the recently completed a bi-lingual "Equestrian Version" of the MAP Your Neighborhood upholds the ideals of program for the many Hispanic equestrian owners here in Sylmar to recruitment of bi-lingual CERT responders the inclusiveness, non‐ council wants all community members to get prepared. Commitment to diversity was also demonstrated by our discrimination, collaboration with the Red Cross that installed over 200 smoke alarms in largely Hispanic areas of our community. Our transparency and commitment continues as we explore new programs that connect with our diverse population including the LA City independence in their Spanish language version of Map Your Neighborhood that we have been told will be released this year. operations.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area North Valley
Neighborhood Council Sylmar
Sylmar residents have unfortunately come to realize that the natural beauty of our mountains and hills also means that we run the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The Sand, Sayre and more recent Creek fire are the most recent examples of that disaster potential. Sylmar was clearly in need of a focused effort to promote citizen preparedness. Those efforts included: Education programs. Over the last two year the EPC Committee has implemented a Sylmar Preparedness Education program by offering disaster preparedness education at each monthly EPC committee meetings. Working in partnerships created with LA Fire CERT Program, American Red Cross, LA City EMD Office and other Neighborhood Councils have included programs that offered First Aid Earthquake Preparedness, Wildfire Preparedness, and Ham Radio. Over the last two years this program alone has reached well over 500 residents. Working in partnership with the Red Cross, the council was co-sponsor of a Smoke Alarm Installation project, over 200 homes were serviced. The council has also reached out to 100 local businesses in a door to door campaign to increase awareness The committee held its first Disaster Preparedness Seminar for Businesses this past February. Creation of Sylmar CERT Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) teams. In July 2017 and again in November 2018, the council hosted its two CERT trainings for Sylmar and over 100 (many from Oakridge Mobile Home Park) residents were certified as fully trained Sylmar CERT Describe the project, team members. 50 members were then cross trained as presenters for the MAP Your Neighborhood preparedness initiative or meeting programs. In recognition of the achievements in creating an active Sylmar CERT program, The LA City Fire Department operations. recently appointed committee members, Janet Gibson, as Coordinator of the Battalion 12 CERT program. Janet has been engaged in increasing CERT response levels by offering trainings to the members at Foothills and Sunland Council areas. These include the upcoming Search and Rescue Training at Oakridge Mobile Home Park. Creation of a Sylmar Map Your Neighborhood program. The MAP Your Neighborhood program was adopted by the council last year with the training of all of the Committee members as presenters by the Red Cross. Since then, an additional 50 CERT members have also been trained. The program has been offered to residents, especially those who were impacted by the Sand and Creek fires. Over 400 have already been reached including the residents of Oakridge Mobile Home The committee recently completed a bi-lingual "Equestrian Version" of the MAP Your Neighborhood program. Safety Program. Our Safety Committee has been very active in engaging our community through town halls as well as monthly safety program. Hundreds of residents have participated in programs that address everything from increasing fire protection to police and fire services.
The Sylmar neighborhood council, in recognition of the disaster related exposure that Sylmar faces created the Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) and Safety Committees two years ago with the mission of helping to ensure that the stake holders in our community are ready when the next disaster strikes. Since that time over 100 residents have been CERT Trained, hundreds have been reached through town halls and preparedness programs offered here. In Provide any additional addition, our efforts have been recognized as a leadership council with the by LA City Fire with the appointment of one comments that you feel of our members as Battalion 12 CERT coordinator. I believe these efforts demonstrate the commitment we have made would be helpful in to ensure the safety of all our residents and are in keeping with the current LA City Resilience and Preparedness efforts selecting the championed by our mayor. Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
South LA Empowerment Congress Central Raul Salazar 25
South LA Empowerment Congress North Steve Pepdjonovic 26
South LA Empowerment Congress North Julianne Burg 27
South LA Watts Timothy Mcdaniel 28
South LA Watts Jacquelyn Badejo 29
5 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Empowerment Congress Central
All of these actions she has taken was done without any financial support of the city. She had been calling 311 making service requests to get things cleaned up in our community, but after seeing that there was no response from various city departments, she took it upon Describe how this herself to get these issues resolved by initiating the various projects above. I admire her and I nomination promoted suggested she attend a Neugjborhood Council meeting to help coordinate efforts and expand more civic engagement in her efforts to reach a larger area of our neugjborhood. If more people are invited and government and/or made encouraged to partake in these types of activities, our conmunity will be much more government more improved and Im sure homeowners in the area like myself would be open amd willing to take responsive to local needs. similar actions to make our neighborhood more beautiful and more peaceful!
Our Neighbirhood Council is very supportive of community projects and encourages residents to submit proposal that will help improve the neighborhood. There are many Describe how the people who are doing and continue to do whatever they can to improve our neighborhood. Neighborhood Council They also encourage residents to participate in Neigjborhood Council meetings and other city upholds the ideals of activities. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
I would like to nominate my girlfriend Yolanda Rangel who moved in with me last year and began making recommendations and projects in our neighborhood among our neighbors to make it better. She initiated a series of mexican tile laying workshops to give neighbors ideas about how to improve their front yards. She also passed out pointsettas to the neighbors in December as a gesture of friendship and unity. Shes also asking neighbors to help clean our Describe the project, neighborhood streets and took it upon herself to clean the neighboring streets by picking up initiative or meeting trash and piling it for garbage trucks to take. She also had our neighbors help clean an alley operations. that had debris, overgrown brush, graffiti and illegally dumped matresses and other furniture.
The Neigjborhood Council was instrumental in inspiring Yolanda do the work she began doing to improve our neighborhood. They hace also supportef other projects whose projects proposals were submitted. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Empowerment Congress North
SunFest 2018 was a free event in South LA that helped bring together the community to kick off the start of summer.
In order to put on the event, NANDC partnered with Councilman Marqueece Harris‐Dawson, Describe how this Park Proud LA, the West Adams Neighborhood Association (WANA) and Volunteers of nomination promoted America. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event. The event brought people in the more civic engagement in community together with food, dancing and rides. government and/or made The more than two dozen vendors who participated in SunFest included the Los Angeles government more Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, City Plants, LA Sanitation, EmpowerLA, LA responsive to local needs. Metro, Sunlife Organics, Everytable, and many more. These vendors helped educate attendees about city services, neighborhood councils, healthy food, and more.
NANDC always operates with inclusiveness, non‐discrimination, transparency, and independence. We welcome all stakeholders to be a part of the board and to participate in all conversations and meetings. NANDC board members currently span those who have lived in the NANDC district their entire lives, to those who have lived here for only a few years and Describe how the even to those who own businesses in the area. NANDC also includes board members who Neighborhood Council both live in the area and are a part of groups and institutions located within the district’s upholds the ideals of borders, such as USC and West Adams Heritage Associa on. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, Board member bios can be found here: h p://www.nandc.org/board.php transparency and NANDC operates with open procedures for the conduct of all business. This includes open independence in their discussions at all board and committee meetings as well as the regular posting of all board operations. and commi ee mee ngs on the NANDC website, social media accounts and regular eblasts.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Empowerment Congress North
On Saturday, June 30, 2018, NANDC put on SunFest 2018, a large free community event in South LA that included an appearance by popular entertainer and inventor of "clowning" Tommy the Clown, and a performance by LA‐based multilingual urban Latin dance theater company CONTRA‐TIEMPO. Complimentary food and drinks were provided by Sunlife Organics, Everytable, Trader Joe’s, La Barca and many other local restaurants. Approximately 1,000 people a ended the event.
A ferris wheel, free of charge for a endees, was brought in for the event.
Describe the project, The more than two dozen vendors who participated in SunFest included the Los Angeles initiative or meeting Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, City Plants, LA Sanitation, EmpowerLA, LA operations. Metro and many more.
Giveaways for SunFest attendees included tickets to an upcoming home game for the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), as well several of the team’s shirts and hats. Giveaways also include donated gi s from Trader Joe’s, Cava, Atom Tickets and Ralphs.
https://www.nandc.org/docs/SunFest‐2018.pdf
NANDC always works hard to build a stronger community ‐ and a much cleaner community.
In October 2018, NANDC, together with our partners Redeemer Community Partnership, Provide any additional Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) and Councilmember Marqueece Harris‐ comments that you feel Dawson's office and a more than 50 volunteers, cleaned up an entire one‐mile stretch of would be helpful in Jefferson Blvd. ‐ all the way from from Western to Vermont. selecting the Neighborhood Council for https://nandc.org/readpost.php?news_id=596 an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Empowerment Congress North
The way we increased civic engagement was getting the community involved in such planning of the event; before, during, and after. Neighbors of the area came out to support by performing during the event, tabling different arts and cra s booths, and much more. Describe how this Since the Council District 8 Office was our partner, they were also there during the event. nomination promoted This made it easier for them to connect with the community face to face in a more fun more civic engagement in setting. Through our registration efforts, both the Council District and our Neighborhood government and/or made Council were able to connect and stay connect with our community that attended. People government more that attended were people that had not known about such resources that the Council District responsive to local needs. Officer provided and other resources that they and our neighborhood council could help connect them with. The community was also able to meet their elected Councilman as well as neighborhood council for the very first time. This event was a community event that was planned in partnership with the community and for the community. This also encouraged them to want to continue this event annually Describe how the and want to make it bigger as the years come forming a life long neighborhood partnership Neighborhood Council with them and our neighborhood council. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The project that ECNANDC hosted was the SunFest event. During the SunFest we were able to partner with Council District 8, a local block club which was the West Adams Normandie Association, the recreational park which was Lorren Miller Park as well as with the non‐profit Volunteers of America (VOA). Through such partnerships we were able to bring the community together. Not only were we able to bring the community but we were Describe the project, able to have a 50' Ferris wheel that attracted others alike. It was like bringing the party to our initiative or meeting Community's backyard and for free. operations. Our goal was to have more civic engagement within our boundaries and beyond. Some of the attendees were from our neighboring council. So this also opened the door for them to know about neighborhood councils in general and the one they did not know existed to begin with. At the event we also had different non‐profit groups, promoted the Local Target Hire We like many other councils are deserving for an EmpowerLA Award, but through our event we were also able to pave the way for other councils to do similar events like ours. During this event were worked closely with the City Clerks office to get things approved such Provide any additional as having a Ferris wheel enter our community, getting our health and environment permits comments that you feel approved from the County. We were able to help another council during the time expedite would be helpful in their process for getting their health permits for their vendors for their large scale event. selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Watts
We hosted over 70 local meetings across the district ranging from homeless outreach workshops, Bridge housing discussions with our local communitie, to ways and best practices on how to help individuals or families that are experiencing a housing crisis. Furthermore, Describe how this we’ve surveyed our community and hosted town halls and heard the stories from those nomination promoted impacted directly and indirectly by our housing crisis. more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
Our commitment to empowering stakeholders to get involved in creating solutions to some of the community’s greatest challenges has been the Watts Neighborhood council’s priority Describe how the in its efforts. A problem as vast and complex as homelessness, requires an approach that can Neighborhood Council connect resources to ideas that may had never been tested or tried. In this effort to attempt upholds the ideals of with only the shared hopes and dreams of a better community is how we uphold inclusiveness, non‐ inclusiveness and an independent Watts community. discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Watts Committee to End Homelessness initiative (WC2eH) worked to advocate for a 100 Bed Bridge Housing site in the Watts community for those chronic homelessness living in a place not meant for human habitation. Becoming an early adopter of the Mayors Bridge Housing iniative WC2eH also sparked the first City district coalition “CD15 Homeless Working Group” that was created to address homelessness and lack of coordination amongst the district. Describe the project, working together to support solu ons. initiative or meeting In the CD15 working group we connect the entire city district to the homeless issue in a way operations. that helps gathers community feedback and advances city policies.
We would like to thank each and everyone for playing a role to our council’s ability to make a greater impact in the city and perhaps the world. We honor each and every other neighborhood council for their inspiring works and the City for providing an abundance of Provide any additional support on every level of our Watts Committee 2 End Homelessness initiative. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South LA
Neighborhood Council Watts
The Watts Renaissance Initiative is the epic of civic engagement and outreach in Watts. Under this directive, a master collaboration of all persons, groups and activities will be calculated and coordinated dedicating its goals to organizing resources properly to improve Describe how this the quality of life, functionality, and model of urban sustainability via accomplishing the nomination promoted following: more civic engagement in government and/or made ‐Project We Know Our Census! government more ‐Wa s Gardening Collabora ve responsive to local needs. ‐Opera on SMARTS: Youth Educa on and Diversion ‐ Transforma ve Community Climate Grant Leadership Council. ‐Wa s Tel‐A‐Communica on
Watts NC is very diverse and inclusive of all interested in civic and community engagement. New bylaw amendments ensure inclusivity by adding more at‐large seats, translation and any Describe how the special needs such as ADA compliancy, full transparency and as we come out of exhaustive Neighborhood Council efforts (which new bylaws helped remedy) forwarding independence in all operations. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
A collaboration with SenseLA and WattsUp Promotions, Watts NC initiated the Watts Renaissance Initiative to galvanize community and civic engagement in a series of artistic team‐building interactive workshops. Each workshop focuses on community issues in a unique fashion while implementing a technique designed by MIT educators to connect the community to the government utilizing fast paced approaches similarly used in robotics. Take Describe the project, aways are a loop of issues and solutions, art that participants built together while analyzing initiative or meeting and engaging, and an experience that exhibits party with purpose and organic data to further operations. build upon community and civic engagement in Watts.
Watts NC has come a long way in the past seven years of operations. The last two years has proven that the underdogs are worth it. Efforts to buckle down and become functional led to a bylaw amendments that positioned Watts NC to divorce disfunction and grow capacity and Provide any additional leadership. There are many milestones ahead and receiving this honor will boost the visibility, comments that you feel support and activities of this NC. This motivational opportunity gives Watts NC the would be helpful in momentum to con nue to build and increase vo ng, especially for upcoming elec ons. selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
South Valley Sherman Oaks Jolie Salter 30
South Valley Sherman Oaks Jolie Salter 31
South Valley Sherman Oaks Jolie Salter 32
South Valley Sherman Oaks Ron Ziff 33
South Valley Studio City Craig Radow 34
South Valley Studio City Eric Preven 35 George South Valley Van Nuys Thomas 36 Christopher
South Valley West Hills Daniel Brin 37
8 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Sherman Oaks
The NC passed a motion for temporary bridge housing projects in Sherman Oaks to try and rectify the problem. It’s also passed by Councilman Ryu, District 4.
Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The president of the NC, Ron Ziff, is extremely transparent. He and all the board members listen to every speaker whole heartedly. They ask questions and I’ve never seen any of them Describe how the be bias. They really do listen to what members of the community have to say. And some of Neighborhood Council them have been board members a VERY long time. Even when people are rude and out of upholds the ideals of hand, the president handles it very maturely, (well he is in his 80’s:)and is very calm. inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Homeless Problem The Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council is continually coming up with plans and solutions to help end the homeless problem in the city of Sherman oaks. It is extremely bad and needs prompt addressing. Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
I find every member on this board to really truly care about the community. Over the past 2 years of being at meetings, before that I had never been to one, it really makes me hopeful that if people work together, anything is possible. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Sherman Oaks
This issue has many of the residents and businesses owners in the neighborhood working together and listening to each other to better the community.
Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The Sherman oaks council is always clear about what the issues are and opened to hearing everyone’s concerns and suggestions. Describe how the Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Homeless issue‐ temporary bridge housing‐ the Sherman oaks council has been working endlessly to help with the large amount of homeless in the neighborhood. Temporary bridge housing is underway and ongoing.
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
I am always amazed at the work the NC puts into every meeting they have. Each individual on the board really cares about Sherman Oaks.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks NC has been endlessly trying to deal with the homeless problem in the neighborhood. Working on Temporary bridge housing to help get the homeless off the streets and make the neighborhood safer. Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
The council is always listening to the ideas the community brings and takes those ideas into consideration when making tough decisions. Describe how the Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Temporary bridge housing
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
Many of the board members have been on the board for years. They give their all to their positions and are always trying to improve Sherman Oaks.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Sherman Oaks
The purpose was for outreach and gaining recognition for the council. We have accomplished that. Over the pastpast 2 years we have added an average of 350 subscribers monthly. Our Describe how this current subscription list has reached 22,000. It is reaching a majority of the households in our nomination promoted community. Our stakeholders look to us first to solve their city problems. We get emails about more civic engagement in potholes, crosswalks, traffic problems, and questions about which city agency to contact for government and/or made various issues. government more responsive to local needs.
The monthly newsletter adds to the transparency of our actions by notifying stakeholders of the issues we are working on and encouraging them to attend meetings and express their Describe how the feelings. The newsletter aims to include everyone. There are things of interest to seniors, Neighborhood Council parents of young children, homeowners, renters, and business people. We have increased upholds the ideals of attendance at our meetings and what we hear from our stakeholders helps us respond to their inclusiveness, non‐ needs. discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
We have published a monthly newsletter that has been published on the first of each month for the past 25 months. The purpose was for outreach and gaining recognition for the council. We have accomplished that. The newsletter contains information on our Board and Committee meetings, events and activities taking place in & around our community, and news about city actions that affect the community. There are more than 50 articles a month listing about 100 local activities. Over the past 2 years we have added an average of 350 subscribers monthly. Our current subscription list has reached 22,000. The side effects have been Describe the project, surprising and substantial: attendance at our meetings has increased, participation in initiative or meeting community events has increased, we have added to the transparency of our actions, a feeling operations. of community has developed, neighborhood watch bock captains forward it to their groups, readers look to us first to solve city problems, and many of our readers look to the monthly newsletter as their primary source of local news. We think it's important for you to see the newsletter to know what we are sending our stakeholders every month, so we have sent a copy of the February 2019 issue to Kyle Stone. Please open it and enjoy!
The most effective thing we can do is show you the results. We have sent a copy of the latest issue, February 2019, to Kyle Stone. We will be glad to send it to anyone else at EmpowerLA. Read it and enjoy! Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Studio City
Over the course of the year, the Public Safety Committee of the Studio City Neighborhood Council actively engaged with local residents and business leaders. This was accomplished by hosting multiple well‐attended meetings held for the community of Studio City and beyond. Additionally, to foster greater relations between our local police officers and residents, events were held at the North Hollywood division ‐‐ featuring a tour of the Describe how this facility, an apprecia on BBQ, and guest speakers. nomination promoted more civic engagement in As stated above, we had par cipa on from hundreds of stakeholders in the form of surveys. government and/or made government more The SCNC received positive feedback and appreciation from the community as we took an active role in a key issue responsive to local needs. for many local East Valley stakeholders.
The SCNC Public Safety Committee is proud of our work with the community. We pride ourselves on listening and making sure a endees to each of our mee ngs have me to voice their concerns.
Keep in mind, this was a group effort as putting together the final 22‐page proposal required the advice, work, Describe how the transparency of mul ple stakeholders, neighborhood leaders and organiza ons. Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of Additionally, the SCNC Public Safety committee ‐‐ through advice early on in the process ‐‐ realized to make strides inclusiveness, non‐ in this area we have to think beyond the scope of just Studio City. Studio City shares officer resources under the discrimination, North Hollywood & Van Nuys division. So form the very beginning, this policy work had to showcase inclusiveness transparency and beyond simply Studio City. And ultimately, all neighborhoods across the city benefited from the seeds set in the Easy Valley. independence in their operations.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Studio City
In 2018, the Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) Public Safety Committee focused our efforts on garnering a greater police presence, specifically in the form of additional officer patrol, within the Studio City neighborhood. To counter the increase in smaller‐scale crimes, a detailed proposal was created to bring a perceived lack of adequate support in the East Valley to the a en on of the Councilman, Mayor, key LAPD leaders and Police Chief.
As Studio City is represented by the North Hollywood and Van Nuys police division, the committee worked closely with additional East Valley communities, comprised of Toluca Lake, North Hollywood, NoHo, Van Nuys, Valley Glen, Valley Village and Sherman Oaks; as well as working closely with key organizations including the local Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB).
Describe the project, To garner the attention of LAPD leaders and key elected officials the SCNC began researching and drafting a initiative or meeting proposal named, “Proposal for Greater Resources for the East Valley Police Divisions of North Hollywood and Van operations. Nuys”. After 12‐months of work, the final 22‐page report included population statistics, local crime figures, details on emergency calls for service, key articles relating to local crime and most importantly, highly detailed stakeholder surveys and specific feedback. This feedback was conducted through an online survey generating participation of hundreds of stakeholders ‐‐ executed by SCNC Public Safety Committee in conjunction with the NoHo and Valley Village Neighborhood Councils.
The final report, as well as additional motions supporting officer resources, was shared by the SCNC with the Mayor and local Councilmen. In fact, we received positive feedback personally from Councilman Ryu. In addition, this fall highlights of the report were presented and copies were personally distributed to to LAPD Chief Michel Moore for review.
The Studio City Neighborhood Council believes this continued advocacy has contributed, at least in a small part, to Chief Michel Moore's recent announcement that 300 officers will be sent to local divisions to patrol our streets. Starting in Jan 2019, the approx 300 officers will be deployed and split evenly across police divisions city wide.
In fact, Chief Michel Moore publicly announced this plan on social media by responding to an inquiry from SCNC Public Safety Chair, Craig Radow.
Again, the work we accomplished is part of the larger city public safety ecosystem ‐‐ but we do believe raising the concerns, and bringing in additional neighborhoods for support, did play a role in the positive results attained for not only for Studio City, the East Valley, and all neighborhoods across the city.
One thing is certain, we strongly believe no Neighborhood Council committee or board has fought harder in this area of public safety.
Thank you for the consideration
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Studio City
By inviting members of the public to participate in our library forums during election time as well as in non‐election times, we've found a formula for bringing constituents into the ongoing conversation. Describe how this nomination promoted more civic engagement in government and/or made government more responsive to local needs.
We make and post videos of the Open Forums on our Studio City Neighborhood Council Youtube site. This has resulted in literally hundreds of views which means engagement. Describe how the Neighborhood Council upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
Open Forums:
The Studio City Neighborhood Council held two candidate open forums before the Statewide Elec on in November at our Branch library in Studio City. Describe the project, The forums were a chance to meet candidates and weigh in via an open mic to tell them what initiative or meeting you think and ask ques ons ahead of Tuesday’s elec on. operations. Several local races were up for grabs.
Confirmed candidate attendees included: Bob Hertzberg (State Senate incumbent) along with challenger Rudy Melendez for Senate District 18; Judge Steven Bailey (Calif. Attorney General Open Forums are a great way to stimulate engagement and hear from our constituents. We look forward to doing more and have five upcoming forums scheduled for the near future.
Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Van Nuys
The very nature of the VNNC project is promoting more civic engagement in government. This CIS & CTA, and now Federal Legislation started as an idea that came from our Executive Commi ee. This is civic engagement and local government at it’s very root and core. After passing the Executive Committee this CIS & CTA was hotly debated and contested at the full council level. At one point it was almost tabled, but the leadership of the VNNC continued the discussion and how this is what we as elected officials are supposed to be doing. If solving Describe how this government problems and saving lives isn’t the point of public service, then what is the point? nomination promoted Titles and the illusion of power? more civic engagement in So the VNNC did what it always does, fight and yell and debate the agenda item. There were government and/or made those opposed to our city government getting involved with a federal issue. There were those government more that spoke against it, and there were some that did not want to table it, postpone it and responsive to local needs. wanted to vote on the CIS & CTA. So we had it out, everyone spoke and we had the vote. We voted to reform the United States Postal Service (USPS), and save mail carrier lives throughout America. We voted to make a difference and effect our community in a positive way. We voted to pass this CIS & CTA, and not let what happened to Valley resident Peggy Frank ever happen again.
The VNNC exudes the qualities of inclusiveness, non‐discrimination, transparency and independence by always working with all the other levels of government that represent Van Nuys. The leadership of the VNNC has collectively decided to always have formal normal working Describe how the relationships with these offices. (Assembly, State Senate, Congress, Los Angeles City, County Neighborhood Council Supervisors, etc.) The leadership made a vow that the job of representing the people in our upholds the ideals of elected capacity far outweighs any petty politics that can come up in the government world. inclusiveness, non‐ You can attract more bees with honey than vinegar, and by constantly having normal formal discrimination, relationships with the other governments that represent Van Nuys makes us as transparency and Councilmembers more responsive to local needs. Case in point is that the VNNC passed a much needed CIS & CTA that saves lives in Van Nuys independence in their and throughout Los Angeles, and the Congressman that represents Van Nuys has made it a top operations. legislative priority. If that is not government in action, then I don’t know what is, and we are thankful for all our working relationships with the other elected officials that represent Van Nuys.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council Van Nuys
The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council (VNNC) decided that the preventable and unfortunate death of United States Postal Carrier & San Fernando Valley native Peggy Frank should not happen again. So using the power of a Community Impact Statement (C.I.S.) and a Call To Action (C.T.A.), the VNNC passed the following language through its Executive Committee and the following week at the September 2018 General Board Mee ng. “Discussion and possible action to submit a Community Impact Statement on Council File 13‐ 0002‐S145 calling for reform within the United States Postal Service (USPS). The VNNC to take additional steps by creating a "Call To Action" and request all postal vehicles come equipped with air conditioning, as to prevent dangerous health conditions for the employees delivering the mail. The CIS and CTA to be submitted to the Los Angeles City Council and Congressman Tony Cardenas.” And the reason the VNNC should get an award is because the Congressman took the CIS & Describe the project, CTA language and turned it into Federal Legislation. This bill before Congress is not only going initiative or meeting to save lives in the San Fernando Valley and throughout Los Angeles, this CIS & CTA, and now operations. Federal Legisla on is going to save lives throughout the United States of America. And to think it all started with the neighborhood council system. That is a testament to why we all volunteer, why we all serve in elected office, and why we spend hours, days and years in government service. To actually make a difference and change our communities, and to have our ac ons in city government make the world a be er place. The VNNC stands as a beacon of hope for democracy, and our republican form of government. In this one instance, the local government did the work of the people, and turned over the CIS & CTA to our Congressman to run with it. This CIS & CTA doesn’t just save lives in Van Nuys, it saves lives in Iowa and South Carolina, it saves lives in Nevada and Florida as well.
This is making national news, what the VNNC and Congressman Cardenas are doing. In Congress, the bill is known as the "Peggy Frank Memorial Act" and action is being taken. This CIS & CTA makes the neighborhood council system look great. It makes what we do have Provide any additional meaning, as our government service is saving future lives. Please consider us for this award. comments that you feel Thank you. would be helpful in selecting the https://www.ocregister.com/2019/02/15/l‐a‐mail‐carriers‐heat‐related‐death‐prompts‐bill‐to‐ Neighborhood Council for require‐air‐condi oning‐in‐u‐s‐postal‐service‐mail‐trucks/ an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council West Hills
West Hills is a key reason why the LAPD's Topanga Division enjoys such a strong level of support. Our forums have introduced many to the Neighborhood Watch system and have Describe how this helped make our senior lead officers local celebri es. nomination promoted more civic engagement in Through these events, our stakeholders are also made aware of the city attorney's Victim government and/or made Assistance Program, LAHSA and other government agencies. government more responsive to local needs.
We are told that West Hills leads the city in the number of posted agendas for board and committee meetings, and in fact no other Neighborhood Council comes close. Credit goes to an extraordinarily engaged board of directors who are driven to engage the public in an ever‐ expanding variety of projects.
Our board is highly collaborative. Most committees have at least two co‐chairs and two have three co‐chairs. Many committees "double up" with back‐to‐back meetings on the same night. So many board members regularly attend these meetings that we require all of them to be Describe how the joint committee/board meetings to comply with the Brown Act. Each committee is expected Neighborhood Council to compile its own opera ng rules and abide by them. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ Our board also has a mid‐month Operations meeting (fully‐noticed) in which we review discrimination, together how our NC works and recommend ways to make our Neighborhood Council more transparency and inclusive, transparent and non‐discriminatory. independence in their operations. While we are proud of our unique accomplishments, we are always happy to exchange ideas with other Neighborhood Councils. For example, we routinely have one of the largest delegations at the Neighborhood Congress, and I recently spoke at a retreat of the Van Nuys NC to describe how we set the bar for community engagement.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area South Valley
Neighborhood Council West Hills
Over the past year we have continued our popular and well‐attended series of public safety forums, bringing in the LAPD, the criminology department at CSUN, the city attorney's office, the U.S. Postal Service, Haven Hills, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, local churches, mental health professionals and many other agencies and organiza ons.
Topics included how to protect yourself in an "active shooter" event, avoiding ID theft and scams and addressing domestic violence. On deck are a program on emergency preparedness and another program on "active shooters" (we're hoping to feature a survivor of the Borderline Grill shoo ng). Describe the project, initiative or meeting These programs supplement several street‐level projects to enhance the safety of our operations. stakeholders, from filling and loading sandbags to providing signs for Neighborhood Watch groups. They also help generate support for our West Hills Homeless Count and our work with other Neighborhood Councils in the West Valley Neighborhood Alliance on Homelessness.
West Hills restaurants and shops are generous contributors to these events, which means our stakeholders are well fed when they attend!
As our former City Councilmember Mitchell Englander said during a meeting of Neighborhood Council presidents and at last year's spring mixer of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, West Hills is the "gold standard." He said that while other NCs do some of the things we do, we do everything with excellence. For example, our monthly Community Cleanups attract scores of volunteers. Our weekly Community Calendar, which goes out to thousands, is exhaustively thorough. We engage the public actively via Facebook, NextDoor and Twitter, as Provide any additional well as a well‐maintained web site. The schools appreciate our annual grants and Educator comments that you feel Awards. Our annual Spring Fest, with its car show, entertainment, food trucks, bike rodeo, would be helpful in Vision Zero school poster contest, is one of the most exci ng events in the Valley. selecting the Neighborhood Council for West Hills may be way off on the edge of the Valley, but we are immensely proud of our an EmpowerLA Award. community and what we, as a Neighborhood Council, are doing to make our neighborhood even more beautiful, safe and responsive to our stakeholders' needs than it already is.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Empowerla Awards 2019 Nominations by Commission Area
Name of the Neighborhood Council nominated for an Your First Your Last EmpowerLA Award Commission Area Name Name
West LA North Westwood Katja May 38
West LA North Westwood Andrew Lewis 39
West LA Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Robin Greenberg 40
West LA Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Robin Greenberg 41
4 Total Nominations
Depeartment of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council North Westwood
All of the NWWNC members stepped up to form a brandnew neighborhood council in 2018. The very existence of this brandnew council is proof of exalted civic engagement and attempt to Describe how this create a government body that is more responsive to local needs. Many hurdles had to be nomination promoted overcome to get this new council off the ground in face of stiff opposition. Students more civic engagement in (undergraduate and graduate, domestic and international), immigrants, business owners, men government and/or made and women of all ages, renters, and persons that are relatively new to L.A. in this transitory university environment — they all are finally equipped to get government attention and government more advocate effectively for the community. This council may very well constitute the most diverse in responsive to local needs. L.A. This civic engagement deserves recognition.
This is a brandnew neighborhood council that willed itself into existence a few months ago against tremendous resistance. The new council consists of and represents people of all ages and ethnicities, undergraduate and graduate students, English as a second language speakers, native speakers, first generation college students, immigrants, business owners, men and women, and Describe how the many who can check more than one of these boxes. The NWWNC is probably the most diverse in L.A. The resistance to the formation of this new council came from the „old“ (also still existing) Neighborhood Council neighborhood council, from which this new NWWNC „broke away“, but instead of dwelling on upholds the ideals of begativity it is remarkable and a sign of inclusiveness of the new NWWNC that one of the inclusiveness, non‐ neighborhood councillors on the board of the original neighborhood council opted to run for the discrimination, new one, NWWNC. By switching from the old to the new NWWNC her example proves how transparency and inclusive the new NWWNC is! Admittedly the newly formed NWWNC has had a steep learning independence in their curve, but is working hard to abide by all the rules in an exemplary fashion — especially given operations. the fact that certain persons are keeping hostile tabs and constantly file complaints about the operation of NWWNC to the extent that these „complaints“ might be seen as harrassment. Fortunately EmpowerLA is helping to toe the line.
This NWWNC is brandnew and formed in order to address student interests and more inclusive representation. The lack of suitable entertainment near UCLA’s formerly un‐represented 40,000 Describe the project, students is only one of many issues affecting this most unique and most diverse community. initiative or meeting Availability of affordable housing, public transportation, and food security are additional topics. operations. The history, composition, and very existence of NWWNC itself are lauditory factors that will be explained in the next rubrics.
This is an unusual nomination of a brandnew neighborhood council which may be the most diverse of all of L.A. The will to work together and to rally the hitherto unrepresented UCLA community in all its diversity and to overcome bureaucratic obstacles as well as hostility — it is Provide any additional all quite unusual and praiseworthy. comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council North Westwood
The creation and initiation of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council has for the first time, given a voice to UCLA Students, Young Alumni, and renters in the area at the local neighborhood government level. We have Council Members on our Neighborhood Council Describe how this that are undergraduate students as well as Grad Students, and many historically overlooked nomination promoted renters in the area. The North Westwood Neighborhood Council has spurred civic more civic engagement in engagement at UCLA, for the first time placing a Voting Booth on‐campus as well as holding government and/or made Monthly Council meetings at UCLA. government more responsive to local needs.
As mentioned the North Westwood Neighborhood Council has an incredibly diverse Council of age, race, socio‐Economic, renter, business‐owner, and home‐owner. The North Describe how the Westwood Neighborhood Council has several undergraduate Council Members, including the Neighborhood Council Council's Vice President. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ discrimination, transparency and independence in their operations.
The Successful Creation and Implementation of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council, the City's 98th Neighborhood Council in 2018.
Describe the project, initiative or meeting operations.
The North Westwood Neighborhood Council was recently featured as a Cover Story by Los Angeles Magazine for its successful creation, as well as several instances by the UCLA Daily Bruin. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
The following members of the community participated in the town hall, providing stakeholders opportuni es to ask ques ons and interact:
•CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz •CD4 Councilmember David Ryu Gregory Martayan, CD5 Deputy of Public Safety •Armando Hogan, Deputy Chief and Commander of Opera ons, LAFD W est Bureau •Chris Ragsdale, LAPD Senior Lea d Officer, West Los Angeles Police Sta on •Veronica de la Cruz, Deputy City A orney, Neighborhood Prosecu tor Program •Walt Young, Deputy Execu ve Officer, Mountains Recrea on & Conse rva on Authority Describe how this •Pascal Challita, GE, Inspec on B ureau Chief, LA Department of Building & Safety nomination promoted •Chris Ipsen, LA Emergen cy Management Department more civic engagement in •Michael Schlenker Chair Bel Air Crest EP Cmte./Chair BABCNC EP Communica ons Cmte. government and/or made •Tom Waldman Director Communica ons, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority government more •VaLecia Adams Kellum, Ph.D., Pres ident & CEO, St. Joseph Center responsive to local needs. •Sco Sale, MD – Safe Parking LA •Albert (Bert) Mu o, formerly homeless man, Pacific Palisades •Captain Valencia Thomas, West L.A. Police Sta on •Officer Brian Wendling, West L.A. Police Sta on •Ben Park, Contracted with the E mergency Management Department to teach “RYLAN” •Moderator: André Stojka, BABCNC Board Member
The Skirball Fire occurred December 6, 2017. The Town Hall occurred January 31, 2018. It is commendable and a feat of strength and selflessness that all of these community leaders and stakeholders gathered together in Franklin Canyon to integrate thoughts on the causes and solutions to preventing and addressing fires in the hillsides, as well as any caused by homeless encampments.
In January 2018, the BABCNC submitted a CIS supporting Paul Koretz’s motion to have LAHSA, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, CalTrans and departments look at the issue of this fire’s origin being that of a homeless encampment. [See Council File #17‐1386‐S1, Special Motion 1 regarding Skirball Fire/Homeless Encampment/Illegal Fires and Campsites.]
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2017/17‐1386‐s1_cis_1‐3‐18.pdf
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
BABCNC holds many committee meetings in which all stakeholders are encouraged to come and participate. Notices are posted on the board’s website and at five locations in our territory; and email blasts frequent the stakeholders’ emails from our database. The City of Los Describe how the Angeles also sends out email blasts to the stakeholders who have subscribed with them. Neighborhood Council Facebook shares our goings on, and Nextdoor communicates with our stakeholders. upholds the ideals of inclusiveness, non‐ The members of our board are diverse and representative of all walks of life. Many members discrimination, represent the LGBTQ community as well as the world’s cultures. transparency and Committee meetings are held throughout our communities, such as at American Jewish independence in their University, Stephen Wise Temple, Franklin Canyon, Beverly Glen Deli, Bel Air Restaurant operations. (formerly known as Bel Air Bar and Grill), Chateau Marmont Hotel, Bel Air Ridge Community Center, the offices of Councilmembers Koretz and Ryu, and at our BABCNC office.
Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Skirball Fire Town Hall
The Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council held a Skirball Fire Town Hall on January 31, 2018, to provide information to their stakeholders about the City’s emergency response and recovery process to the Skirball Fire. Attendees engaged in dialogue with Councilmember Paul Koretz, Councilmember David Ryu, Los Angeles Fire Department, Emergency Management Department, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and public agencies to discuss how the Describe the project, community can assist in fire mi ga on, emergency prepara on and allevia ng homelessness. initiative or meeting operations. The Skirball Fire erupted during the pre‐dawn hours of Wednesday December 6, 2017 on the east side of the 405 Freeway at the South end of the Bel Air Crest Community. Extremely dry weather and strong Santa Ana winds drove the fire into Bel Air, burning 422 acres, damaging 12 structures and destroying 6 homes. Thankfully, no loss of life or serious injuries occurred. The firefighters fought bravely against a difficult fire that could have been disastrous for our community.
BABCNC functions like a well‐oiled wheel. We meet regularly. We post minutes and agendas to our website, and agendas of all meetings regularly. We are fiscally sound and dedicated to the needs of our stakeholders. We practice fairness and openness. Provide any additional comments that you feel would be helpful in selecting the Neighborhood Council for an EmpowerLA Award.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
As the Planning and Land Use Committee has heard arguments for variances from builders and homeowners, it became apparent that more legislation was needed on a number of citywide issues. Therefore, the PLUC has initiated and/or supported legislation including but not limited to:
The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance and Baseline Hillside Ordinance https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=14‐ 0656 h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14‐0656_CIS_7‐7‐16.pdf h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14‐0656_cis_1‐17‐17.pdf
Describe how this The Bel Air‐Beverly Crest / Follow Up / Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) 183497 / Code nomination promoted Amendment / Establishment of Hillside Construc on Regula on District (HCR) more civic engagement in https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=16‐ government and/or made 1472‐S1 government more h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2016/16‐1472‐s1_cis_2‐7‐17.pdf responsive to local needs. The Laurel Canyon Neighborhood / Bird Streets Neighborhood / Hillside Construction Regula on (HCR) Supplemental Use District (approved 04/18/2018): https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=16‐ 1472‐S2 h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2016/16‐1472‐s2_cis_1‐25‐18.pdf
Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Hillside Construction / Supplemental Use District / Regulate Construction of Single Family Homes and Rooftop Decks
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=16‐ 1472‐S3
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2016/16‐1472‐S3_CIS_10172018024613_10‐17‐2018.pdf
Bel Air‐Beverly Crest / Follow Up / Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) 183497 / Code Amendment / Establishment of Hillside Construction Regulation District (HCR) / Additional Amendments
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=16‐ 1472‐S4
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2016/16‐1472‐S4_CIS_10172018025257_10‐17‐2018.pdf
Ridgeline Ordinance – which this neighborhood council has been raising the need for years prior to a council file being opened on this.
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=11‐ 1441‐S1
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2011/11‐1441‐s1_cis_11‐16‐16.pdf
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2011/11‐1441‐s1_cis_3‐1‐18.pdf
The above are a few of the citywide issues that BABCNC works on. Members appear at City Hall to speak on behalf of individual and Board positions.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
The Planning and Land Use Committee, under the chairmanship of Robert Schlesinger, notifies all interested stakeholders via email blasts, physical postings and on our website of Describe how the our upcoming meetings and hearings. In addition to the presenters, homeowners, and their Neighborhood Council ancillary support staff, as described above, people from diverse backgrounds attend our upholds the ideals of meetings. They are treated with dignity and respect and made to feel valued. So many inclusiveness, non‐ people who didn’t know about our neighborhood council before come to our meetings and discrimination, leave with a very good understanding of what we do and how we work to protect and transparency and preserve the neighborhood. independence in their operations.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
Bel Air‐Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Planning & Land Use Committee (PLUC) under the chairmanship of Robert Schlesinger, meets on the second Tuesday of the month at American Jewish University from 7‐9pm.
Stakeholders who are remodeling or rebuilding their homes come to the meetings with their representatives, builders, architects, landscapers, draftsmen, geological engineers, etc., with plans.
Contiguous neighbors are supposed to be notified of the meetings between the developer and the PLU Committee. The developers sometimes invite the neighbors and sometimes the Describe the project, neighbors come because the project is not to their liking. The PLUC meetings attract a lot of people and are very lively and educational. Plans are put on easels and are passed around initiative or meeting and discussed in minute detail. operations. Following being heard at the neighborhood council’s PLU Committee meeting, properties/projects are heard by the Zoning Administrator or Mulholland Scenic Design Review Board, among other departments, and include review of variances. Some of the items that are discussed are the locations of fire hydrants, nonconforming conditions, substandard hillside limited street requirements, first responder access setbacks, roof slop, FAR, retaining walls, haul routes, protected tree removals, sloped or stepped down space, soils reports, grading approval, foundations spoils, envelope height, vehicular driveway apron, setbacks, basements, concrete piles, caissons, paper streets, ar cula on.
Some examples of requests of projects brought before the Planning and Land Use Committee:
Appian Way: To dedicate 5’ along the property line for street purpose and widen the existing roadway in front of the property frontage to meet current Substandard Hillside Limited Street requirements.
Franklin Avenue: To use 3 slope bands, to build over the existing garage with a nonconforming condition where the footprint hits the property line.
Grand View: To allow a 33’ maximum building height with a roof slope less than 25% in lieu of 28’ in order to eliminate the requirement for a roof greater than 25% at the house front.
Bellgave: A request as to the continuous paved roadway, not in front of their property but down Crescent Heights, which is less than 20 feet wide.
Blue Heights: To permit 8 retaining walls from 1‐12 feet and soil nail wall to a maximum heights of 35 feet as well as a front yard setback.
Beverly Estates Drive: A preliminary parcel map subdivision of one parcel into two parcels.
Yoakum: To allow the street improvement to be less than 20 feet on a substandard hillside street in front of the subject property.
Tower Grove: To allow for the addition of 5287 square feet on a lot which does not have access to continuous paved roadway improved to a minimum of 20 feet to the edge of the hillside area.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment 2019 Empowerla Neighborhood Counicil Nominations 2/21/2019
Commissio Area West LA
Neighborhood Council Bel Air‐Beverly Crest
Due to lack of space above, we would like to add a few more items that the NC follows and supports on behalf of quality of life issues for the BABCNC Community:
The BABCNC continues to monitor Wildlife Corridor / Santa Monica Mountains (Hillside Ordinance Zone) https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=14‐ 0518 h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14‐0518_cis_7‐28‐14.pdf
The PLUC and Board have written letters in support of the Protected Tree Code Amendment, CPC‐2016‐4520‐CA.
Provide any additional Repair of Hillside Streets / Requiring Design and Engineering Intervention / Detailed Analysis / comments that you feel Work Plan would be helpful in https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=18‐ selecting the 1114 Neighborhood Council for h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2018/18‐1114_CIS_12202018043428_12‐20‐2018.pdf an EmpowerLA Award. Party House Regula ons Ordinance (effec ve 04‐15‐2018) https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=12‐ 1824 https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=12‐ 1824‐S1 h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2012/12‐1824‐s1_cis_12‐8‐17.pdf h p://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2012/12‐1824‐s1_cis_3‐1‐18.pdf
The BABCNC works cohesively and succinctly to provide opportunities for stakeholders to participate in city government with a positive outcome.
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment