"Less Talk - More Action" -- That's the theme of an innovative program coming this Saturday as a counter to the city-run and organized Congress of Neighborhoods set for the following Saturday, Oct. 10.
The Neighborhood Councils Action Summit grew out of widespread frustration over the pace of change within the decade-old NC movement and was organized by Greg Nelson, the first General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, along with Stephen Box and others
Like the title of the program suggests, NCs too often talk issues to death without ever getting around to doing something about them.
So the Action Summit -- being held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Los Angeles City College,
Faculty/Staff Center, 855 N. Vermont Ave.-- hopes to change that targeting a number of issues, getting participants to vote on what action to take and then using what's decided to develop campaigns for broad community support.
The subjects on the agenda with expertise on the issues are cutting city officials' salaries in half, creating a DWP Ratepayer Advocate office,city budget reform, the cyclists bill of rights, reducing the backlog of sidewalk repairs and the explosion of marijuana dispensaries.
These are all worthy subjects to address and the summit represents an important step in trying to bring NCs around the city together on specific issues that affect every neighborhood.
City Hall has all the money and power, hundreds of media spinners and bureaucrats, the unions and other special interests to control the agenda and get people elected who will serve the political machine, weak and failing as it is.
The only answer is people power, ordinary citizens armed with good information about what's going on at City Hall and around the city.
The Action Summit is a well-organized and structured event that will open with remarks by guest speakers LA Times editorial writer Robert Greene, South Central Farmers Cooperative Coordinator Tezozomoc and David Bell, president of the East Hollywood NC.
Panelists include Wave newspaper columnist Betty Pleasant, former DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras, Street Services Department head Bill Robertson and a number of NC leaders.
"A growing number of neighborhood council board members and stakeholders want to find a new way for the voices of neighborhood councils to be heard.'' organizers of the Action Summit said in their event announcement.
"The Action Summit is being designed to provide neighborhood councils and their stakeholders with opportunities they haven't had at City Hall's Congress of Neighborhoods, which has now been combined with the initial meeting of the Mayor's Community Budget Day process."
Go to their website http://ncactionsummit.wetpaint.com/ to find out more about this important event that I believe will help move a growing city rebellion against City Hall's failure to the next level.
A large turnout will send City Hall a message that the time for change has come and that the community is getting stronger and better organized.
The Neighborhood Councils Action Summit grew out of widespread frustration over the pace of change within the decade-old NC movement and was organized by Greg Nelson, the first General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, along with Stephen Box and others
Like the title of the program suggests, NCs too often talk issues to death without ever getting around to doing something about them.
So the Action Summit -- being held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Los Angeles City College,
Faculty/Staff Center, 855 N. Vermont Ave.-- hopes to change that targeting a number of issues, getting participants to vote on what action to take and then using what's decided to develop campaigns for broad community support.
The subjects on the agenda with expertise on the issues are cutting city officials' salaries in half, creating a DWP Ratepayer Advocate office,city budget reform, the cyclists bill of rights, reducing the backlog of sidewalk repairs and the explosion of marijuana dispensaries.
These are all worthy subjects to address and the summit represents an important step in trying to bring NCs around the city together on specific issues that affect every neighborhood.
City Hall has all the money and power, hundreds of media spinners and bureaucrats, the unions and other special interests to control the agenda and get people elected who will serve the political machine, weak and failing as it is.
The only answer is people power, ordinary citizens armed with good information about what's going on at City Hall and around the city.
The Action Summit is a well-organized and structured event that will open with remarks by guest speakers LA Times editorial writer Robert Greene, South Central Farmers Cooperative Coordinator Tezozomoc and David Bell, president of the East Hollywood NC.
Panelists include Wave newspaper columnist Betty Pleasant, former DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras, Street Services Department head Bill Robertson and a number of NC leaders.
"A growing number of neighborhood council board members and stakeholders want to find a new way for the voices of neighborhood councils to be heard.'' organizers of the Action Summit said in their event announcement.
"The Action Summit is being designed to provide neighborhood councils and their stakeholders with opportunities they haven't had at City Hall's Congress of Neighborhoods, which has now been combined with the initial meeting of the Mayor's Community Budget Day process."
Go to their website http://ncactionsummit.wetpaint.com/ to find out more about this important event that I believe will help move a growing city rebellion against City Hall's failure to the next level.
A large turnout will send City Hall a message that the time for change has come and that the community is getting stronger and better organized.
Ron Kaye