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THIS IS THE OPINION PAGE
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And in our March 1-15 issue
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BRADY WESTWATER
The folks named to a city study commission may hold the fate of the neighborhood-council movement
(Westwater is president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council.)
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Has YOUR Neighborhood Council weighed in on the 912 Commission?
What — you don't even know about the 912 Commission?
Well, on April 11, the City Council's Education and Neighborhoods Committee will recommend how the people who will determine the future of Neighborhood Councils will be appointed — and unless we act now, the Neighborhood Councils may be totally excluded.
To backtrack, the City Charter calls for a commission to evaluate L.A.'s neighborhood council system to convene by June 30 of this year. The first recommendation from the Chief Legislative Analyst's office called for all the commission's members to be selected by either the mayor or the City Council.
There is now, however, a second proposal from the legislative analyst, called "Option B," in which each City Council member selects one person, and each Neighborhood Council selects one candidate. The NC candidates are put into a pool and the Mayor picks seven representatives to the commission from that pool.
There are other options.
The CityWatch Neighborhood Council Action Committee and the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council have each proposed that the NCs themselves select one representative from each planning area for appointment to the commission.
The Downtown Los Angeles NC has recommended that the NCs be allowed to directly select 25% of the commission's members — the selection to be made at DONE's June 17th Congress of Neighborhoods.
Each of these plans will ensure that the Neighborhood Councils have a direct voice on this vital commission. So whichever one your council feels is best — or if you have your own ideas — it is critical that you agendize this issue so your council can be heard BEFORE the April 11 deadline.
And even if your council cannot take a position now, you can still appear before the E & N committee's March meetings and give your personal opinions and ideas on the commission's makeup and on how you think the NC system should be evaluated by the commission.
You are urged to act now. It is safe to say that the future of LA's Neighborhood Councils — at least as we now know them — will depend on it.
[The article is adapted from CityWatch.] |
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