Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

Mayor Hahn's 7 Points regarding Neighborhood Councils
Hollywood United Neighborhood Council
History

Information Release February 18, 2003
Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

The grass-root experiment in changing the way the people of Hollywood work with the City of Los Angeles took another step forward on Wednesday, February 12, 2003. The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council (certified council # 52) elected its first Board of Directors as almost 800 stakeholders braved bad weather to complete what has been a three year journey. "Tonight shows that with enthusiastic determination, the nearly impossible can be accomplished. We just never gave up, despite grave obstacles, nor did we lose the will to create a unified community," stated Interim Board Co-Chair Russell Brown.
In order to ensure impartiality, the election was conducted by the League of Women Voters and coordinated by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Well represented in the turnout of voters were all member areas including Hollywood Dell, Lake Hollywood, the Oaks, Bronson Canyon and Beachwood Canyon, and the residential communities below Franklin to Hollywood Blvd. Business participation included the Franklin Strip, Vine and Gower Street establishments and new participation by Hollywood Blvd. merchants. Community-based organizations were well-represented by The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, Church of Scientology International, Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC) and Hollywood Community Action Network (H-CAN).
"When many felt that a merged group was not achievable, we did, and never relinquished that goal. We are indeed proud that we will now, finally, move on to begin our work for the community to build a better Hollywood," stated Interim Board Co-Chair Joel Fisher.
The new Board of Directors includes 17 seats. Those seats are divided among 5 geographical districts, 3 business districts, 2 homeowner seats, 2 renter seats, 2 unclassified seats, 1 faith-based representative, 1 social service/non-profit representative and 1 education representative. The board was specifically structured to be diverse, democratic and representative of the community, and to prevent undue control by any particular stakeholder classification, geographical district or organization. Board members were elected to terms of either 1 or 2 years.
Election of officers and adoption of official bylaws will be completed by the new Board of Directors at the initial board meeting in early March of 2003. The first priorities of the board include starting up committees, continuing outreach, street and neighborhood beautification projects, safety and traffic issues and increasing involvement of interested new members.
The new Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board of Directors will include the following 17 elected candidates: Charles Suhayda, Susan Polifronio, Joel Fisher, Christopher Stehr, Andrew Ettinger, Viktoria Gaw, Ann DeBello, Norma Foster, Paul Godfrey, Susan Swan, Russell Brown, Andrew Glazier, Hillary Royce, John Balasz, Robert Abrahamian, Maurece Chesse and Scott Larsen.
From Co-Chairs Joel Fisher and Russell Brown: "Tonight marks the end of our beginning, and the beginning of a new partnership for the future of Hollywood."

DATE: 08/03/01

Dear Councilmembers:

As you may be aware, I am concerned that the current Department of Neighborhood Empowerment ("DONE") plan does not provide the neighborhood councils with the necessary tools to impact the delivery of city services and to have their voice heard in any meaningful way. It will be my goal in future budgets to include funding to provide direct financial resources to neighborhood councils. In the meantime, there are a number of steps that can be taken to enhance the impact of the councils once they are certified later this fall. I am urging the Council to consider and to take steps to implement these recommendations so we can improve the proposed neighborhood council system and provide our neighborhoods with a strong voice at City Hall. My recommendations are the following:

1. Designate Neighborhood Commissioners to Have Regional as well as Citywide Oversight of Neighborhood Council Policy

To supplement DONE staff and provide leadership to neighborhood councils, each member of the Commission on Neighborhoods should have oversight of the neighborhood councils within specified geographic areas. In this way, neighborhood councils would have an advocate dedicated to their specific concerns. Additionally, each Neighborhood Commissioner would be able to develop a regional perspective on the variety of issues affecting neighborhood councils.

2. Require Community Impact Statements for City Council Actions Affecting Neighborhoods

The current neighborhood council plan establishes a mechanism known as the Early Notification System by which neighborhood councils will receive information about pending City issues and have the ability to provide input. However, the City Council and Mayor remain free to disregard this input.

One way to assure that neighborhood councils' concerns are taken in to account is to require that Council agendas and city reports upon which the City Council and the Mayor rely in their decision making, indicate the position taken by the neighborhood councils impacted by the decision at issue.

Currently, every item in the City Council Agenda with a financial component includes a "Financial Impact Statement" which sets forth the cost of the item. The City should also include a "Community Impact Statement" which indicates the Neighborhood Council's position and briefly describes the basis for this decision. Only then can a neighborhood council have confidence that its viewpoint achieves the visibility it deserves. Moreover, while the Councilmember of the Council District in which the neighborhood council is located may be aware of its position, this procedure would present a community's concerns to the City Council as a whole.

3. Create Neighborhood Action Plans to Assure Two Way Communication Between Neighborhood Councils and the City

The flow of information under the current plan's Early Notification System is from the City to neighborhood councils and back. However, equally important is for neighborhood councils to provide elected officials with early notification of a community's own emerging issues.

One way to make sure that communities have direct input to elected officials is to establish a system by which neighborhood councils, with the assistance of staff from various City departments, would have the option to submit to the Mayor and City Council, Neighborhood Action Plans in which the neighborhood council sets forth a community's key goals and concerns. The City Council would in turn be required to review and adopt each action plan. As a result, elected officials could not later disavow knowledge of a community problem when it eventually surfaces. This approach is followed in such cities as Seattle and Vancouver where community members and city staff work together to develop the steps to accomplish their goals. Communities then report on their progress on a monthly basis to make sure that their goals become a reality.

Los Angeles should go one step further and create a process in which neighborhood councils inform the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment when the council is alerted to a new community issue. It should then be the responsibility of the Department to disseminate this information to the appropriate City agencies.

Take, for example, the situation in which a neighborhood council informs the Department of new graffiti proliferation. The Department would in turn share this information with the Police Department to address the criminal aspect of this issue, the Board of Public Works to address clean up as well as the Council office. In this way, communities will get the integrated problem solving envisioned in the City Charter.

4. Mandate that Neighborhood Councils Have Input in the City Budget and in Service Delivery Priorities

Neighborhood councils must have a voice in the most important areas impacting communities the City's Budget and service delivery.

With respect to the Budget, neighborhood councils must play a role in each step of the budget process City Departments' preparation of their Budget proposals for consideration by the Mayor, the Mayor's preparation of the Mayor's annual proposed Budget, and the City Council's review and adoption of the Budget subject to the Mayor's veto.

Before submitting their budgets to the Mayor, City Departments must receive input from neighborhood councils on community priorities and develop a budget proposal which reflects this input. The Mayor must in turn present the annual City Budget to neighborhood councils for their review and comment. Neighborhood Councils must also be able to submit motions for the City Council's consideration prior to the City Council's approval of the Budget.

It is also essential that neighborhood councils have a voice in the allocation of City services to a given community whether its which trees get trimmed or which street gets paved. Accordingly, City departments must receive input from neighborhood councils and develop annual work plans which reflect this input.

5. Provide a Role for Neighborhood Councils in General Manager Performance Reviews

Neighborhood Councils must play a meaningful role in evaluating the General Managers of City Departments. Community members are best positioned to evaluate whether a City Department has delivered an appropriate level of services and the manner in which those services are delivered. Yet, right now, community members have no voice in the evaluation of General Managers and their salary levels.

To correct this omission, neighborhood councils should provide General Manager evaluations to the Mayor and form a basis of the Mayor's General Manager performance review.

6. Require City Departments to Meet with Neighborhood Councils Quarterly on a Regional Basis

It is not enough for information to be conveyed by the City over the Internet to City residents. This practice in no way brings government closer to residents as was promised to voters in the City Charter. In order to put a face to government and develop a dialogue with residents about how and why services are delivered, City Departments must meet with neighborhood councils quarterly on a regional basis, organized around each of the City's Area Planning Commissions, both to present their upcoming plans and explain the status of current issues. Additionally, those departments most directly involved in service delivery to communities such as Public Works, the Department of Building & Safety, and LAPD, should meet with neighborhood councils more frequently as needed.

7. Provide Neighborhood Councils with a Means to Alert the City to Important Issues

The proposed neighborhood council plan's emphasis on an information flow from the City to residents ignores the fact that Los Angeles residents are already well informed about a broad array of issues and are often more informed than their government representatives. In many cases, a community's problem has not been the lack of information but rather not having the ability to have its concerns acknowledged and responded to by City government.

Neighborhood Councils must therefore have the ability to pass resolutions expressing positions on Citywide issues. These Resolutions must in turn be placed on the Council Agenda for adoption. In this way, neighborhood councils will have a direct voice in City government and government will serve as an Early Notification System to government of citywide issues impacting communities.

Very truly yours,

JAMES K. HAHN
Mayor

Hollywood United Neighborhood Council
History

Information Release February 18, 2003
Hollywood United Neighborhood Council

The grass-root experiment in changing the way the people of Hollywood work with the City of Los Angeles took another step forward on Wednesday, February 12, 2003. The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council (certified council # 52) elected its first Board of Directors as almost 800 stakeholders braved bad weather to complete what has been a three year journey. "Tonight shows that with enthusiastic determination, the nearly impossible can be accomplished. We just never gave up, despite grave obstacles, nor did we lose the will to create a unified community," stated Interim Board Co-Chair Russell Brown.
In order to ensure impartiality, the election was conducted by the League of Women Voters and coordinated by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Well represented in the turnout of voters were all member areas including Hollywood Dell, Lake Hollywood, the Oaks, Bronson Canyon and Beachwood Canyon, and the residential communities below Franklin to Hollywood Blvd. Business participation included the Franklin Strip, Vine and Gower Street establishments and new participation by Hollywood Blvd. merchants. Community-based organizations were well-represented by The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, Church of Scientology International, Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC) and Hollywood Community Action Network (H-CAN).
"When many felt that a merged group was not achievable, we did, and never relinquished that goal. We are indeed proud that we will now, finally, move on to begin our work for the community to build a better Hollywood," stated Interim Board Co-Chair Joel Fisher.
The new Board of Directors includes 17 seats. Those seats are divided among 5 geographical districts, 3 business districts, 2 homeowner seats, 2 renter seats, 2 unclassified seats, 1 faith-based representative, 1 social service/non-profit representative and 1 education representative. The board was specifically structured to be diverse, democratic and representative of the community, and to prevent undue control by any particular stakeholder classification, geographical district or organization. Board members were elected to terms of either 1 or 2 years.
Election of officers and adoption of official bylaws will be completed by the new Board of Directors at the initial board meeting in early March of 2003. The first priorities of the board include starting up committees, continuing outreach, street and neighborhood beautification projects, safety and traffic issues and increasing involvement of interested new members.
The new Hollywood United Neighborhood Council Board of Directors will include the following 17 elected candidates: Charles Suhayda, Susan Polifronio, Joel Fisher, Christopher Stehr, Andrew Ettinger, Viktoria Gaw, Ann DeBello, Norma Foster, Paul Godfrey, Susan Swan, Russell Brown, Andrew Glazier, Hillary Royce, John Balasz, Robert Abrahamian, Maurece Chesse and Scott Larsen.
From Co-Chairs Joel Fisher and Russell Brown: "Tonight marks the end of our beginning, and the beginning of a new partnership for the future of Hollywood."

Supplemental Information

Voting Groups
Significant participation was observed by many stakeholder groups.

A final analysis of the voter data will not be possible until the return of Registration Forms by the League of Women Voters. Stakeholder registration forms are presently available, for observation only, through the League of Women's Voters.

Vote totals are available and can be analyzed to some degree. The total number of ballots cast was 773. Absentee ballots were not permitted. Homebound ballots were delivered to the Monastery of the Angels (Cloistered Nuns), Hollywood Royale Retirement Home, and a few individual stakeholders. There were 42 requests and ballots distributed and 33 ballots were returned. By observation, those candidates that received the most votes were either unopposed or had nominal opposition (9 of 17). The hillside geographic districts (GD#1 GD#2 and GD#3) have consistently been more involved and had a greater number of stakeholders who voted. The business district candidates were either unopposed or had nominal opposition.

The vote through community-based organizations was substantial. The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, Church of Scientology International, Hollywood Community Action Network (H-CAN) and Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC) had a significant number of votes. First Presbyterian won the Faith-based seat (#1 by votes) and 2 other church members are on the board through other stakeholder status (# 5 and # 8 by votes). The Church of Scientology won the Social Service seat (# 13 by vote) and 1 other church member is on the board through another stakeholder status (# 9 by votes). All interim board members who chose to run for the board won (11 of 17). Board members are relatively evenly located throughout the council boundaries.

District # # of Board Category
Members
Geographical District # 1 3 GD#1,UC,HO,
Geographical District # 2 3 EB, GD#2, R
Geographical District # 3 5 B#C,R,UC,GD#3,HO
Geographical District # 4 2 B#B,GD#4
Geographical District # 5 4 B#A,GD#5,FB,SS/NP
Total # Board Members 17

There was significant cooperation among most candidates in supporting other candidates. Most voters seemed to have voted in most categories.

Final analysis of the votes will be available upon return of stakeholder registration forms. Residential location, stakeholder status and community-based organization affiliation will be analyzed. Analyzed data will not be available until the end of February. In order to gain a better understanding, a follow-up comment form will be useful for future outreach and elections. This information will also be helpful to other councils.

Attached is reference material outlining the history of Hollywood United Neighborhood Council, outreach, stakeholder definitions and statistics concerning Hollywood area and adjacent neighborhood councils.

History
Members of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council have been active in the neighborhood council formation since its inception in 1999. Starting as Hollywood Neighborhood Council (HNC), which represented all of Hollywood, HNC later divided into 5 different council areas. The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council was formed by members of two competing councils within our boundaries, after neither group was certified on its own. A unified application of members from both groups was submitted in August 2002, and certification was achieved October 15, 2002. Hollywood United is the only certified council within the boundaries. Elections were completed on February 12, 2003

Outreach.
Since work began on a unified application in March 2002, the council has conducted almost weekly meetings to continue organizing and to conduct outreach to its 20,000 plus stakeholders. Outreach has included multiple mailings and Voter Guides to more than 12,000 addresses within the boundaries. There are 2,100 stakeholders listed in the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council database. A monthly email alert is distributed to over 1,000 addresses. Since December, a drop-in center has been open each weekend at Harmony Gallery to give neighbors an opportunity to find out about the council. Other ongoing efforts include weekend outreach teams at Mayfair Market and Beachwood Market, house-to-house delivery of literature and extensive personal outreach. A web site and email alert system are in place. The outreach program will continue as an integral effort of the council, and will soon be expanded when new city resources and funding are available.

Stakeholders
The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council includes all who live, work, own a business, are employees or who actively participate in a community-based organization within the boundaries of the neighborhood council. City regulations encourage maximum participation of all groups within the council area, and limit the exclusion of stakeholders.

Neighborhood Councils
In 1999, voters approved a new city charter for Los Angeles. This was initiated in order to facilitate a more effective form of government and to improve communication with its citizens. As part of that charter, neighborhood councils were to be implemented so as to facilitate that better communication and responsiveness. The first neighborhood council was approved in December. 2002.
As of February 12, there are 63 certified councils with a total covered population of 2,478,365. This is 67.1% of the total LA population of 3,694,820. The Hollywood area neighborhood councils include:

Neighborhood Council Population Application Elections
Name Status

Central Hollywood NC 20,974 Certified April 4, 2002 .July 8, 2002
Hollywood Hills West NC 37,374 Certified May 7, 2002 .Sept. 19, 2002
Greater Griffith Park NC 37,236 Certified June 11, 2002 .Oct 24, 2002
Hollywood United NC 19,944 Certified Oct. 15, 2002 .Feb.12, 2003
Hollywood Together NC 26,866 Hold Pending Further Outreach
East Hollywood NC 42,017 None Filed

Adjacent Areas
Mid City WEST NC 54,619 Certified June 25, 2002 .Jan 23, 2003
Silver Lake NC 34,675 Certified Feb. 11, 2003 pending
Studio City 60,921 Certified Feb. 11, 2003 pending

Welcome
As most of you already know, we are now official! On Oct 15, at a Board of Neighborhood Commissioners public hearing, our neighborhood council was unanimously certified, after almost three years of work.

In an official proclamation, Mayor James Hahn announced that the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council had completed the certification process after a vote by BONC at LeConte Middle School in Hollywood.

"I am pleased to see that the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council has become the 52nd certified neighborhood council" said Mayor Hahn. "It is great to see the residents of Hollywood coming together in a united effort to have an active voice in local government".

The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners' Tony Lucente expressed similar sentiments. "The Hollywood United Neighborhood Council has stayed the course and truly perservered in creating a diverse, united, and representative council, and has impressive plans to reach out and involve all stakeholders in a way that will form a stronger sense of community and inclusion" said Lucente.

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) guidelines.

The name of our council was carefully created to reflect our founding principles of the organization:

Of, by, and for all stakeholders and citizens of Hollywood.

United in our sincere appreciation of diversity and inclusiveness.

Working for a fair, friendly, and always open Neighborhood.

Operating with integrity through a democratically elected Council leadership.

Our mission is stated in our founding motto:
"committed to fostering unity among the neighborhoods in our community."

We recognize and fully appreciate the challenge of not only creating a truly
representative neighborhood council in a community as diverse and problem-laden as
Hollywood, but also the continuing effort that is required to improve upon the
neighborhood concept with a dynamic, positive, fair-minded and forward-thinking
leadership.

HUNC Certification Application Letter

We know that the keystone of our organizational operations must be the ongoing
implementation of outreach programs. to be certain that no constituency, nor any
citizen or stakeholder, is overlooked or ignored.

We endeavor to help create a new spirit of community involvement and pride into the
homes, businesses and streets of Hollywood.

We believe in a shared leadership. One that reaches into all of our neighborhoods. To
give all who are interested an opportunity to not only be heard, but to actively and
meaningfully participate.
We also make a special commitment to the seniors, youth, the disabled, and diverse ethnicities of our neighborhoods. We will include their needs and interests in our planning and activities.

Our vision for leadership's role after the elections, include the creation of a more livable community. We will do this by establishing an open line of communication between Hollywood United Neighborhood Council, the city government, other neighborhood councils, and community groups.

Our boundaries are delineated in this document . but we believe that they are but lines upon the human landscape, rather than walls of separation. We intend to create a boundless enthusiasm that crosses lines between neighborhoods.

We endeavor to reach out to the diverse communities to provide an open forum for discussion and information-sharing through which all may involve themselves in the affairs of the community.

With this preamble, we respectfully submit our application, with the hope that it will merit your approval, and lead toward certification of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council.

Sincerely,

Joel M. Fisher: Presiding Chair Russell Brown: Co-Chair

Andrew Glazier

Norma Foster

Andrew Ettinger

David Schlesinger

On behalf of all the other Directors of our Interim Governing Board.

cc: Claudia Dunn, Assistant General Manager, DONE
Romeral Malveaux, Director of Field Division, DONE
Michelle Cuevas, Senior Project Coordinator, DONE
Christine Jerian, Project Coordinator, DONE.

Pages from HUNC Certification