NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS NEED CITY'S FULL SUPPORT.

Byline: Arturo Vargas Local View

After the toughest mayoral race in years, the city of Los Angeles is finally ready to address long-standing issues by empowering local residents through the vision of neighborhood councils.

In preparation for the 2001 general elections, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund launched the Voces del Pueblo (Voices of the People) Campaign, a voter education and targeted get-out-the-vote effort.

Voces del Pueblo participants identified six pressing issues affecting their quality of life: education, government access, housing, public safety/services, secession and transportation.

While most of these issues are ongoing challenges for city government, neighborhood councils present a new opportunity to bring about real and visible change in local communities.

As the new mayor of Los Angeles, Jim Hahn will face the challenge of implementing the new City Charter passed by voters in 1999. Most prominent on the list is the addition of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, which is in charge of developing and implementing a citywide system of neighborhood councils.

The newly developed neighborhood councils, for which certification will begin Oct. 1, will provide the new mayor and City Council with a window of opportunity to reach out to Angelenos and respond to their local needs.

Working in partnership with local residents, neighborhood councils will provide the vehicle to increased civic participation in this city.

However, the true test for Mayor Hahn will be to make neighborhood councils work in communities where there are low rates of civic participation. For too long these communities have been ignored by local government because of their lack of civic participation. As a result, essential city resources are often hard to access by local residents leaving them frustrated and apathetic to civic participation.

The development of neighborhood councils is the key to opening the doors to this portion of the city's population.

In order for these advisory bodies to be successful, the new mayor and City Council must:

--Invest city resources in this project. Provide communities with resources, staffing, and technical training and assistance.

--Give DONE the monetary support it needs to provide neighborhoods with the resources and staffing to make neighborhood councils a reality in communities where there would otherwise be none.

--Provide community-based organizations with continued support for pre- and post-certification outreach, organizing and training through the current Request for Proposal.

The NALEO Educational Fund firmly believes the most meaningful use of neighborhood councils will be for them to function in neighborhoods where there are low rates of civic participation.

We cannot continue to abandon these disenfranchised communities. They consistently have been denied the necessary resources to adequately access government, nor have they been given the support necessary to foster a greater sense of civic participation.

If a neighborhood council is to be the vehicle that will carry city residents to greater civic participation, then we must provide them with the resources necessary to make this happen.

If properly invested in, neighborhood councils will, perhaps, be the next chapter in the great history of Los Angeles.