CITY HALL PROPOSAL FOR VALLEY.Byline: - Harrison Sheppard Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. city officials have identified 15 facilities that are now being used as neighborhood city halls - or could be used in the future - as part of a plan to decentralize de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. local government, officials said Wednesday. Councilman Tom LaBonge Tom LaBonge (b. Los Angeles 1953), member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 4th district. He has served since 2001, taking over the position upon the death of John Ferraro. has proposed a neighborhood city hall system as one of several responses to the recent San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. secession effort and the area's demand for more localized government. Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California has a plan to decentralize city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. as well. In the first status report on LaBonge's plan, officials told a City Council committee they have identified facilities that could provide more constituent services so residents would not have to drive downtown to conduct business with the city. The Van Nuys City Hall and several other facilities already are being used this way, but officials hope to increase the number of services provided in those buildings. ``Some parts of the city have an opportunity now to blossom more because of the existing locations and facilities,'' LaBonge said. Under the current plan, the city is divided into seven service sectors, including two in the Valley, divided into north and south. But LaBonge said he envisions the Valley eventually divided into four sectors to increase service. Councilman Dennis Zine also noted that it appears the Northwest Valley has no local government service facilities, and said he would like officials to work on identifying facilities there that could be used. ``Somehow we need to plug in to that North Valley,'' Zine said. ``(We should have) four or five in the San Fernando Valley to serve the diverse topography topography (təpŏg`rəfē), description or representation of the features and configuration of land surfaces. Topographic maps use symbols and coloring, with particular attention given to the shape and elevations of terrain. we have there.'' As one of their next steps, city officials plan to compile a master list of all the services provided at those current facilities and will look at the amount of vacant space in those buildings. The city administrative officer will report in 30 days on plans for a task force to spearhead the effort. David Paschal, an official with the city's property management division, said he is trying to avoid a cookie-cutter approach to the services. For example, he said, some areas may have a higher senior citizen population, but less need for building permits, so it would make sense to customize the departments located in the neighborhood facility. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion