HAHN FOR MAYOR
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Hahn: Councils Need Cash

JANUARY 20, 2001
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

VAN NUYS - City Attorney James Hahn on Friday blasted plans to set up advisory neighborhood councils throughout Los Angeles as inadequate and announced his own 10-point proposal.

Surrounded by backers of his mayoral campaign, Hahn said an effective network of councils being set up under the revised City Charter must be built on more financial independence than the plan submitted to the City Council by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment last month.

"To be effective, neighborhood councils need money," Hahn said, speaking from the steps of the Van Nuys City Hall. "Neighborhood councils need to get enough funding to have some control of their destiny."

His plan does not include specific budget amounts, however, nor a detailed mechanism outlining how neighborhood councils would handle funds.

Hahn said the existing plan, which has been submitted to the City Council for up to a six-month review, focuses too much on a neighborhood department helping the panels after they are formed, rather than on stimulating the new councils.

"It needs to be more proactive," Hahn said.

Hahn submitted his plan for the City Council's consideration in adopting a final plan. He said he's also urged Mayor Richard Riordan to adequately support the neighborhood department in the coming budget. Other comparable cities with neighborhood councils spend up to $10 million a year on the effort, he said.

Bobbi Fiedler, a former U.S. congresswoman and San Fernando Valley activist, joined Hahn supporters in praising the plan as a workable structure that allows each community to come up with it's own operating method.

"This is the first proposal I've seen that's worthy of serious consideration," Fiedler said.

Bill Weinberger, president of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, said the department's plan is a dynamic document for neighborhood council development, particularly in underorganized areas that lack economic resources.

"The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is very committed to proactively assist in the organization of neighborhood councils, "Weinberger said. "If the city attorney is saying there isn't that commitment, there absolutely is."

The department's proposed plan makes funding of the councils largely the discretion of department staff members, so areas that require the most financial support will get it, he said.

"The department needs to be able to focus its resources where they are most needed," Weinberger said. "Otherwise, the dollars would have to go to all of them" under a more equal division.

Among his other proposals, Hahn proposed a new Office of the Neighborhood Advocate within the Mayor's Office, creation of additional neighborhood plans and other documents detailing community concerns, and greater input by the councils into the city's budget.

"The government belongs to the people," Hahn said. "Not City Hall.