COUNCILS LET INTO HUNT FOR DONE HEAD.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has promised to consult neighborhood councils during the search for the next Department of Neighborhood Empowerment general manager.

Speaking Saturday at a biannual gathering for the activists and residents involved in Los Angeles' municipal system of grass-roots democracy, the mayor said consulting the councils had worked well during the hiring of planning, transportation and harbor managers.

``As you know, the neighborhood councils played a critical role in the selection of those general managers. And from what I've heard, people are very excited about those GMs and they probably are because you've had something to do with their selection,'' Villaraigosa said.

Saturday's Congress of Neighborhoods, which drew an estimated 1,200 people to the Los Angeles Convention Center, comes as the neighborhood council system finishes its seventh year and faces two major changes.

One change is the selection of a commission that will review the councils' rules and efficacy. The other is the hiring of the new DONE manager, who will oversee the 78 neighborhood councils.

Villaraigosa said he wants a nationwide search, and then four neighborhood council representatives will participate in interviews with candidates.

Two of those representatives will be chosen from the commission that will review the councils' operation and two will be chosen by the Mayor's Office.

Neighborhood leaders were happy to hear the mayor promise to include community voices in the selection of the new DONE manager.

``We have a lot to offer. I think it's real important that neighborhood council people sit at the table when the next general manager is chosen,'' said Jill Banks Barad, president of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and chairwoman of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils.

In the past, some neighborhood councils have chafed under what officers considered arbitrary and inflexible DONE rules.

``They need someone who will come forth and guide, support, cajole, encourage and sometimes discipline neighborhood councils,'' said Daniel Wiseman with the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council. ``Now they focus on discipline.''

Other neighborhood leaders fear the mayor will not really listen to community concerns.

``A lot of times he's not asking neighborhood councils what they think. There's really no communication from the Mayor's Office other than, `This is what I'm doing and I want you to support this,''' said Edwin Ramirez, president of the Pacoima Neighborhood Council.

Nevertheless, Villaraigosa told the councils Saturday that he has heard their concerns. He cited the reduction in the proposed Department of Water and Power rate hike after neighborhood councils complained about the utility's spending.

The mayor pledged to ``include you as much as possible to make this city government more responsive.''

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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