Effectiveness of Neighborhood Councils?- Are You Satisfied?

The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council election is in two days, and for 6 hours, people will be making their choices among the candidates, many people among them that are new to the system, bidding for a position on this board. The other NCs in Region 8, the east and northeast parts of the city, will also be holding elections on the same day.

There was an interesting article that was posted on July 3, 2012 in the Highland Park-Mt. Washington Patch by David Fonseca, the then-editor of that Patch, with the question posed in the title very simply, "Neighborhood Councils: How Effective Are They?- 13 years after their establishment, Neighborhood Councils are still finding their footing." http://highlandpark-ca.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/neighborhood-councils-how-effective-are-they

I have made note of the ERNC in many areas continuing to operate in ways that are the same as what was done in the last election period. Now, if you will look at this story that's from that time, you will see that much of the concerns remain present with neighborhood councils, not every one, that's certain, but in general enough situations that improvement is needed. Neighborhood Councils, like the neighborhoods they represent, vary in what they do, based on need of their communities. With those differences, you have differing choices of action among NC, as it's often a wide-range of choices of actions that are allowed, importantly including how the money is spent from the allotted funding decided upon each year by the City Council.

I read Fonseca's article when it was first published and for the most part, agreed on what he saw happening. it was not altogether describing conditions of near-disaster, nor was it reflecting a view of the fine execution of a plan to achieve better representation. What there is then and, what I still see often, is a still a need to have some better attention to have residents understandings on how our city works, what they can do to change it, and how to get it done, among other things.

One condition that still happens often with many NCs, is what is described by Fonseca very clearly:

"However, neighborhood councils are poorly attended, with council members often outweighing attendees. The majority of those who do attend are usually there to seek funding for local projects."

Going to a meeting of neighborhood councils is an experience that varies among those in the system. The described condition above is still what I see too often, interrupted when there is a "hot-button issue" that has intense attention of any particular group of resident, business interests or both. But the usual case is something different, further described by Fonseca.

"As it stands, the primary business of Neighborhood Councils seems to be measuring out their limited funds to support community projects on a first come, first serve basis. Often, they work outside the supervision of constituencies that cannot be bothered to attend meetings. Participation in Neighborhood Councils has been historically abysmal, even when measured ."

The article concludes that the participation of the community is what will make things better. That is where the changes will happen. When an NC becomes more representative of community and engages people in the operations, then stakeholders can become better served and the NC arrive at a successful condition.

We should look to provide information to arrive at that elusive condition of "empowerment," as opposed to allowing the city government to be a body operating in a shroud of mystery that shields it from outsiders' interference.. That may be what it has been, but it does not have to be what continues.

Some NCs have achieved levels of performance that their constituencies can be happy with, but there are still levels of mystery within the NC level itself, from a stakeholders perspective. And that's a condition that NCs have a duty to address, with that funding, currently set at $37,000 per year, provided to accomplish the task through the outreach process. The "outreach" that is pursued often is not producing "empowerment" for the people, and too often looks like the functions of the city council office have been followed as a role model.

We have moved away from is the empowerment goal, and it's not the idea of empowering the board members, either. Acting as a mini-coucil member's office will not get the progress needed and is just something of a feel-good, stop-gap measure. The answer has to be found by the constituents making choices for changes they want to see where the processes of city operations are made more clear.

Fonseca's article concludes with the reminder of the 2012 NC elections that will be coming in the October as an opportunity to make choices and take actions for betterment. We have to wait only until Saturday for opportunities.

 I am the "At Large Director" candidate, Robert Guevara, and ask for your vote.