Is City Council Trying to Destroy LA’s Neighborhood Councils?

I have been mild in comparison to the brickbats being thrown at the formerly called  Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE now euphemistically known as EmpowerLA) by its clients ... the ninety-five Neighborhood Councils. 

And ... therein lies the problem.  Which comes first ---the fact that that the department is so underfunded that they are down to four field staff to service all ninety-five NC’s or that forty-three NC’s are in jeopardy of having their funding frozen for various reasons? The NC’s can’t operate without money and they can’t get the money until they satisfy all the requirements. 

As an aside, several of the field staff filed a grievance with their union a year ago because they felt that the volunteers in the NC Counsel for Councils (C4C) were taking away their jobs.  The volunteers were trying to help the NC’s with problems which the field staff was incapable of handling.  It was recently settled--- almost a year later. 

The NC’s can’t satisfy all the requirements, including a brand new funding system, because they need guidance and there is no guidance since four staff people cannot cover the territory. 

It’s a Catch 22 and a great example of the bureaucracy that gives government such low approval ratings.  DONE or as Budget Advocate Co-Chair Jay Handel calls it “The Department Of NO Employees”, needs to fill seven positions urgently.  Getting funding is not a problem because there is over $1,300.000, to fund the positions. 

The Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, who represent all of the NC’s City-wide, has done some interesting analysis as to what the Neighborhood Councils bring to the table. 

The Neighborhood Council System encompasses more than 1,700 elected Board members plus countless volunteers who represent the more than 4,000,000 constituents- as prescribed by the City Charter.     

The benefits of Neighborhood Councils are many.   Here is a monetary sampling of how they have added to--- rather than subtracted from the City’s coffers.     

In 2010, the City Clerk was allocated more than $1,900,000.00 to fully run the NC elections.  In order to have the NC system participate in the reduction of the budget gap, it is proposed that each neighborhood council would administer its own election, with the help of the City Clerks office. 

The City Clerk would appoint one person as the independent election administrator at each election site. It is anticipated that the cost per election would not exceed $1,500.00 per neighborhood council.  The individual NC’s would allocate their other election expenses from the $37,500 they receive from the annual budget. 

Each Neighborhood Council would be responsible to hold its own elections. A citywide system of ballots would be put into place, and a committee set up to formulate how the elections are to run and be administered. 

In the 2012-13 budget, it was anticipated that the election costs would not exceed $670,000. The balance of the requested funds would be used to fund the charter mandated annual congress ($20,000). This represents a net savings to the City of $1,230,000; a significant contribution that also empowers the NC system to take back and administer its own elections and to fully fund the charter mandated NC Congress. 

I don’t know of another City Department that has that number of volunteers, not just advising, but also doing the actual work to make their neighborhoods better. 

City Council President, Herb Wesson told me, “I have the highest respect for the Neighborhood Councils and their work.   I could talk on and on about the great things the NC’s in my area are doing for the community and helping me.  I make a promise that I will do whatever I can to make sure the NC’s continue to function even better.  I have talked with both Jay Handel and Terrence Gomes, the Budget Advocates Co-Chairs and will follow up on our conversation.” 

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In order to help the Council President and the other members of the City Council see the fiscal impact of the NC’s, the Budget Advocates prepared an estimate of volunteer hours invested in civic and social business. 

It includes number of volunteers and the hours estimated overall, along with a “Living Wage” calculation to show how many hours and how much labor is expended on behalf of the city, all at little or no cost to the city: 

• Number of Board Member Volunteers: 1,800
• Number of Regular Volunteers: 1,200
• Estimated volunteer hours per month (10 hours per volunteer): 3,000
• Total estimated hours per year: 360,000
• Hours times Living Wage (360,000 X $11.55): $4,158,000
• Total donated dollars per year: $4,158,000
• Total donated dollars per year compared to median wage of a city worker Hours times Median wage (360,000 X $24.00): $8,640,000.00**

 ** Does not include benefits and pension. 

This does not consider all the grunt work expended by Board members and their committees.  For example, when the Mayor wanted to fix the potholes in the “City Pothole Blitz”, he went to the individual NC’s for help.  They mapped the streets; sought information from their neighbors; worked with Street Services in determining the most efficient plan; and donated their personal time to be on hand when the Street Services trucks arrived. 

What would it have cost the City to have either the Street Services or a private consulting firm do the same job? 

So what could possibly be the problem?  Here’s where it becomes tedious but necessary to explain.  The City has two different kinds of employees: civil service and “exempt” meaning they are not under City Hall civil service regulations.  Right now,  according to the also underfunded City Hall Human Resources Department, there are fifty “exempt “ positions open for all the departments.   Even with the funds allocated to fill an exempt position, it is taking a year to do the vetting.    

During all the budget cuts which took place EmpowerLA was not the only department to suffer personnel losses.  The HR department is understaffed. 

To compound the problem “exempt” positions have to be applied for annually.  So if it takes a year to confirm someone. Before they have worked six months, they have to give up the position and reapply. 

When I asked, Grayce Liu, Department Manager why she can’t hire replacements without going through all the red tape she said,  

“I am very appreciative of every position we have been allocated given the difficult budget situation. What we have found though, is that “exempt” positions fit the Department better, because we are a small department with few opportunities for promotions.  

“Because of this and the fact that we are in a highly political environment with heavy stakeholder interaction, we aren't an attractive option for Civil Service candidates. It's been difficult to fill our positions through the civil service.  

What the diplomatic Ms. Liu didn’t say was...the hours are irregular since NC’s meet mostly in the evening and on weekends; interactions with the NC Board and stakeholders needs a certain type of outgoing personality; They have to be able to guide and teach the myriad rules and regulations without pontificating; have to know the rules and regulations so the information is correct; have almost a “Doctorate” in handing difficult people; have broad shoulders because they will be blamed for most everything; and there is really no place to climb the ladder unless one transfer’s out of the department..  

Can you now understand why Civil Service employees aren’t lining up to transfer to this Department.  This is why EmpowerLA needs to have “exempt” hires.  There are enough current or former NC volunteers that would jump at the chance to join the department as a Neighborhood Empowerment Associate (NEA) and they know the pitfalls and the benefits.   They wouldn’t need the normal learning curve.  

So we know where the funding is...we know where to get qualified people...so why does it take a year to fill an exempt position? 

Politics is not a pretty business and the NC community is well aware that there are certain City Council and Department Managers who would like to see the NC’s go away.  Hopefully, there are enough officials who do realize the tremendous amount of work NC’s do for the City and will help to speed up the staffing process. 

Meanwhile a suggested letter asking for the City Council to approve “immediate staffing” was sent by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Coalition (LANCC) to the 95 NC’s and so far over fifty different NC’s have responded with their affirmation.  

The adage “everyone greases a squeaky wheel” has been a useful tool.   So NC’s squeak away!  

As always comments welcome.

(Denyse Selesnick is a featured CityWatch contributor.  She is a former Publisher/journalist/international event organizer.) 

-cw