Draft Report for the Neighborhood Council Regional Governance Motion

Here is a rough draft of our report back to City Council on the Neighborhood Council Regional Governance motion.  Please review it and let us know what you think.  Please focus any comments as to the feasibility of the proposals and try to get them to us by November 16, 2011 so we can incorporate them into the final report.

Thank you!!

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Honorable Members:

            As requested by your Honorable Body, this department has prepared and now transmits for your consideration recommendations regarding a Neighborhood Council Regional Governance System.

Background

            With reductions in the staffing to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (Department), the City is unable to support ninety-five (95) individually operating Neighborhood Councils.  Neighborhood Councils in areas of the City with chronically low levels of civic engagement are struggling to maintain Board quorum and meet their responsibilities to their stakeholders and the City as certified entities.  Disenfranchising the very communities that need their voices to be heard the most places the entire system at risk.  Neighborhood Councils in some regions are increasingly turning to each other for support and guidance.  Regional alliances of Neighborhood Councils are already addressing local and citywide issues affecting them.  Neighborhood Councils have formed partnerships to handle elections, outreach and administrative functions, e.g. sharing a minute taker, office assistant, website developer, bookkeeper, etc.  This past year, Neighborhood Council leaders have stepped up to form task forces on bylaws, elections, funding and peer mentoring when the Department lost over half of its staff.

In response to diminishing city resources, the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils took the initiative and proposed the attached regional governance system so Neighborhood Councils in each area of the city could support one another.  While the implementation of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils model is currently cost prohibitive, the idea of building on these already existing networks of Neighborhood Councils is still possible to continue to strengthen the Neighborhood Councils’ independence and to increase self governance through a peer-based support system of neighborhood networks comprised of six (6) to twelve (12) Neighborhood Councils.

           

Collaboration Process for Feedback

            The Department collaborated with the Neighborhood Council regional alliances across the City to solicit feedback from Board members and stakeholders on this motion.  Starting in September and continuing through the beginning of October, the Department cosponsored mini town halls with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Coalition, the Harbor Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, the Northeast Los Angeles Coalition, the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils and the South Los Angeles Alliance of Neighborhood Councils.  Approximately, one hundred and fifty (150) Board members and stakeholders provided their feedback at the town halls.   In addition, the Department created an online survey for feedback on the motion where seventeen (17) Board members and stakeholders provided detailed input.  We invited Board members and stakeholders via our bi-monthly eblast to participate in the town halls, survey, blog and work group meetings.

            In October, the Department held three (3) work group meetings on Regional Governance and Grievances to delve further into the details of both the Regional Governance and Grievances systems.  Between five (5) to six (6) Board members participated in each of these work group meetings.  All of the minutes for the town halls and work groups meetings were uploaded to a blog for further comments though we did not receive any.

            The South Los Angeles Alliance of Neighborhood Councils also responded to this motion in the attached report. 

Proposals

            In most of the town halls across the City, the idea of a regional governance system was not supported because of the belief that Neighborhood Councils should not have another layer of bureaucracy to answer to in the system.  The term “governance” was off putting to many Board members, who quickly dismissed the proposal.

           

            The Board members who attended the town halls in the Valley, East and Harbor areas of the city were open to a type of regional administration system where Neighborhood Councils in a region could support one another by sharing resources to aid in their funding, basic administrative work, such as minutes taking and posting, grievances, elections, training and outreach efforts.  Neighborhood Councils could opt out of services they didn’t need, but there would be regional work, such as elections and grievances, that they would need to participate in at a regional level.  Certain services, such as funding and administrative support, would be fee based so Neighborhood Councils that desired this assistance would pay a basic fee for it.  A figure of $1500 for the year per Neighborhood Council was suggested in the work group, but the Department has not had the time to price the cost out for training and developing the temporary staffing to maintain this system.

            Because of the limited time, the work group did not focus on a Regional Governance system, but worked on Grievances instead.  The Department is considering developing a pilot program for those regions that were interested in such support as it could alleviate the staffing resource shortage for the Department to work with Neighborhood Councils via temporary staffing assistance. 

Implementation Costs

           

            The current staffing of the Department cannot support the set up and maintenance of a regional administrative system that covers all of the areas listed above.  Further research is needed to ascertain a set up cost for a pilot program for certain regions. 

Conclusion

            The Department recognizes the City’s current fiscal crisis and we have responded by initiating several initiatives that taps volunteers who want to help meet the needs of a growing movement.  A regional administration system is intended to maintain critical support services while minimizing the burden to the City’s general fund. Such a system would help Neighborhood Councils with their day to day work load to free them up to build the grass roots participation they are tasked with by the City Charter and the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils.  The Department currently has contracts with temporary staffing agencies to provide as-needed administrative and funding support.  Increasing the effectiveness of an as-needed support system by better managing and coordinating the existing contractual services and adding additional as-needed positions, provides the Department with additional resources and tools while minimizing the need for additional staff positions.  To set up such a system, the Department would need more time to work with Neighborhood Council leaders in coming up with the various support options and costs.