LA CAO Miguel Santana will propose the total elimination of neighborhood council budget allocations (plus the sweeping of all rollover funds in council budgets) tomorrow, February 1st at 1pm at the City Council Budget and Finance Committee Council Chamber. Room 340, City Hall. If you can't make the meeting, email the members of this committee to share your opinion:
Neighborhood Council Representatives Deliver Statement to City Hall "Honor the City Charter!"
LOS ANGELES – Neighborhood Council representatives from throughout the city are headed to City Hall to call on the Mayor and the City Council to honor the City Charter which established the neighborhood council system and which mandates appropriate funding. They take with them a BudgetLA Statement that says "At this time of financial crisis for the City, the solutions require a partnership between the elected officials at City Hall and the elected representatives of our 90 neighborhood councils." Neighborhood Councils exist to advise the Mayor and the City Council on City Budget priorities, to monitor the delivery of services, and to involve the community in the governance of the City of Los Angeles. The Charter goes so far as to call for periodic meetings with responsible officials of City departments. As the CAO's "City Restructuring Proposals" are considered by the Budget and Finance Committee on Monday afternoon, Neighborhood Council leaders will stand in defense of the neighborhood council system and will position the NC system as a Funding Solution, a Communication Solution, and as a Community Building Solution. Ultimately, the NC system is an ASSET, not a LIABILITY, and it is protected by the City Charter. To that end, neighborhood councils stand as partners with the Mayor, the City Council, and the City Staff in working together for "An LA that Works!" BudgetLA has hosted two emergency workshops which have drawn 110 different members from 47 different neighborhood councils, all focused on working together to take on bankruptcy, pensions, the delivery of city services and the reorganization of the city system. The BudgetLA position starts with two basic premises, that "everything is on the table and must be considered as we work together to solve the budget crisis, and that neighborhood councils must be at that table as partners in the process. The NC reps have taken a full-spectrum approach to the budget crisis and believe that it is essential that the community engage with our elected officials as well as city staff to pursue Revenue innovations along with Pension reform while maintaining prioritized delivery of City Services and the implementation of Organizational improvements, all of which work together to guarantee that Los Angeles take its place as a Great City. This past Saturday, BudgetLA opened with Alex Rubalcava who addressed LA's future on "The Road to Bankruptcy." It also featured Department of Neighborhood Empowerment's GM, BongHwan Kim and his "Vision for Neighborhood Councils" presentation. Visit CityWatchLA for a details on Saturday's BudgetLA workshop. BudgetLA will meet again on Saturday, February 13 and on Saturday, February 27 at Hollywood City Hall. Both BudgetLA sessions will start at 10:00 am.
Press Conference Monday, February 1, 2010 12:30 pm City Hall Rotunda 200 Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
Budget & Finance Committee Monday, February 1, 2010 1:00 pm City Council Chambers 200 Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
Designer Oliver Munday, looks at traffic in a few major U.S. metropolitan areas, and what the municipalities are doing to combat the congestion. See it here: http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1001/ibm-traffic/flash.html
Wild Rose Tract Historic District, City of Monrovia; Photo by Lisa Moses, Libelletage on Flickr
Conservancy Launches New Historic Districts Website Section
We've created a new section of our website devoted to the historic districts of Los Angeles County. Use our Google map to explore nearly 100 locally designated districts, and learn the basics of how they're created and managed, why they're important, and how you can look into creating one in your neighborhood.
UCLA Urban Planning(blue): the official Department Calendar maintained by department staff.
Events of Interest to Planners(green): All Urban Planning MA students are welcome and encouraged to post to this calendar; please contact bruinplanners@gmail.com for calendar editing access.