Hello fellow Mission Hills Stakeholders, please join the Mission Hills Neighborhood Council at the Mission Community Police Station on Tuesday, February 9 at 6:30 pm, as we welcome Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel.  Controller Greuel will brief the MHNC Board and all in attendance of the financial situation of the City, the current audits being performed by her office, and the recent audit of the Neighborhood Council funding system. There will be a brief question and answer session with the Controller as well.

Click HERE for the Meeting Agenda.

Dear Angelenos,

Yesterday, I made the announcement that City Hall must layoff or transfer 1,000 employees. This is not a decision that I take lightly, however the gravity of the situation we face requires swift action and decisive leadership.

I want to share with you this budget calculator that we created to help people understand the tough choices we face as we try to balance our budget, get our fiscal house in order, and create a sustainable financial future for the City of Los Angeles.

In my mind, when the option is between fully funding our Police and Fire departments or operating golf courses and managing parking structures, there is really no choice to be made – public safety comes first. Most of these decisions are not as straightforward and easy to make, but I refuse to defer them simply because they are difficult. Funding cuts, layoffs and transfers may be unpopular, but we cannot afford to pass on these decisions just because it would be safer politically to do so.

Every day we that put off making a decision, the city loses another $300,000. With a $212 million budget gap to close by the end of this fiscal year, we cannot afford to be driven further into the hole.

I am confident that we can work together to restore fiscal health to our system. It won’t be easy, but it is the right thing to do.

[Take the LA Budget Challenge]

Yours,
Antonio Villariagosa

Nine and a half hours into a marathon session the City’s financial chief told the Budget and Finance panel that he was pulling “Recommendation ‘J’” … and Neighborhood Councils were finally allowed to exhale. At least temporarily.

Recommendation “J” … in the Mid Year Financial Status Report … proposed elimination of the NC rollover policy and the suspension or elimination of NC funding.

Recommendation “J”—“The 2009-10 Budget provides $45,000 to each certified Neighborhood Council (NC) for operating expenses and neighborhood improvement projects. Six positions administer the program at a total salary cost of $431,000. The City’s rollover policy allows NCs to accumulate up to $145,000 of prior year unspent allocation. Total NC funding for 89 NCs in 2009-10 is $5.61 million, $1.61 million for the rollover amount and $4 million in new allocation. Based on December 2009 expenditure data, elimination or suspension of the program may result in projected savings of $4.04 million this fiscal year.

However, current year savings may not be predictable, as funds have already been allocated and the rate of expenditure vary among NCs.

This Office recommends elimination of the rollover policy, and suspension and/or elimination of the NC Funding Program.” (Complete report)

Hours earlier, 70-plus Neighborhood Council leaders had sardined themselves into a fire-code-jammed Council Chamber to fight the proposed cuts. Their principal argument was: NCs are mandated by the City Charter and they have a right to sufficient funds to operate and to serve their stakeholders.

Any victory on this day is of course momentary, however. Think of more as a reprieve. The Committee left intact the CAO’s recommendation that rollover funds would be swept and returned to the City’s reserve fund and that  NC funding would be cut by 50% in the 2010-2011City Budget. A battle for another day.

http://www.vimeo.com/9135792

NC leaders made their case to media at a busy press conference in the City Hall rotunda minutes before the 1p.m. mid-year review of the City’s financial status launched.

As of 11p.m. Monday, the B & F Committee had yet to review the CAO’s recommendation that the Board of Neighborhood Empowerment’s staff be cut by 50% and perhaps merged with another department.

Budget Committee Chief Bernard Parks got everyone’s attention by telling the CAO that he wanted recommendations that included the options of making cuts to the LAPD and LAFD.

MHNC President, David Guzman, attended the meeting personally to advocate for this result.

Woohoo !

The East San Fernando Valley Nature Parkway along with 44 other proposed projects were awarded approximately $350,000. A total of 126 applications were received in 2009.  MHNC made the largest financial commitment/pledge to ensure that this Grant had the best opportunity of being approved.

Within the next couple of months we will be working on the logistics to carry out the planting along Devonshire St., between the Pacoima Spreading Grounds. Thank you very much for all of your support with this beautification venture.

We want to first apologize for the inconvenience you might have experienced for last month’s meeting cancellation due to the rainstorms. Rain or shine, please attend our upcoming committee meeting where we will discuss the following steps to take.

WHEN:  Tuesday, February 16, 2010
TIME:  7:00pm
WHERE:  Mission Area Police Station on 11121 Sepulveda Blvd, The Falco Room

MHNC would like to give a big “thank you” to Beautification Committee Chair, Yolanda Anguiano, for spearheading this project and maintaining patience throughout the tedious process.

Click the image below for a larger, easy-to-read document.

The 2010 Census is coming. Click here to see what you need to know about the upcoming 2010 Census.

Census information in English.

Información de censo en español.