The Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates have created a Service Report Card for citizens of Los Angeles to rate their local City Services.  Every community is different and every community has their own set of problem areas.  Here is your chance to let the Mayor’s office, Los Angeles City Council and the City Hall Departments know exactly what matters to you the most! The due date to complete this service report card is on Friday, January 15.

English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/servicereportcard2015

Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/reportedeservicio2015

With over 1300 responses to the survey so far, the Budget Advocates have collected more than a thousand more responses than the Mayor’s own Department of Budget and Innovation this year.  As elected officials to the City of Los Angeles, the NC Budget Advocates represent each and every stakeholder in the City of Los Angeles.  This survey is designed to help pinpoint the problem areas in our city as well as highlight the areas that are successful.

The City’s Implementation Plan for the Clean Streets Citywide Program (Council File: 15-0600-S78) aims to provide a comprehensive program to improve Angelenos’ quality of life by cleaning up our streets. This plan includes the effort to promote the City of Los Angeles’ free service to pick up discarded bulky items such as mattresses, furniture, and appliances. Please help the city discourage the abandoning of trash on the street by dialing 3-1-1  or going online to request free bulky item pick up.

Earlier this year Mayor Eric Garcetti launched several Executive Directives, one of which was the first ever Sustainable City pLAn. Sustainability is about more than combating climate change and reducing pollution: it encompasses economic development, social development, and environmental protection. The pLAn looks at ways the whole city of Los Angeles: citizens, communities, and businesses, can be more cognizant about responsible waste, clean energy, water conservation, efficient transportation, improved air quality, and the creation of green jobs. Sustainability is about making sure that the natural resources we have today are available for future generations tomorrow.

Mayor Garcetti has taken a proactive approach in Los Angeles becoming a leader in sustainability. On Monday, Mayor Garcetti joined Vice President Joe Biden and leaders in the clean-technology industry for a roundtable discussion on ways to develop clean technology. Vice President Biden sees Los Angeles as leading the country in innovation and sustainability as Mayor Garcetti has pledged an aggressive goal for the City to cut emissions 80% by 2050, stop using coal by 2025, and embedding sustainability into everything that City Hall does. In addition, last week Mayor Garcetti announced a campaign called the Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) or ‘Drop 100’ where commercial buildings will take the necessary steps to save 100 million gallons of water every year. This campaign helps by conserving water for the drought, as commercial buildings account for 19% of the city’s water supply. Learn more about the Mayor’s Sustainable City pLAn.

With the Mayor taking a proactive stance on sustainability, Neighborhood Councils can also engage with this important campaign by exploring new areas and ways in which they can help the city reach sustainability goals, specifically by submitting a Community Impact Statement on reducing greenhouse gas in the city as proposed in Council File #14-0907. A CIS is an opportunity for NCs to influence legislation. To learn more about Community Impact Statements, attend an upcoming EmpowerLA CIS training workshop!

Community empowerment starts with you, so thank you for your continued interest to stay connected, engaged, and empowered.

This week, a public hyperlink was established on the City’s website directing users to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services’ website to provide information on adoption opportunities.

Every child needs a loving, supportive and nurturing family. Sadly, in the United States, there are 400,540 children in the foster care system with 104,236 children ready and waiting to be adopted. In California, there are 55,851 children in the foster care system with over 13,178 children ready and waiting to be adopted. In Los Angeles County, there are over 18,000 children in the foster care system with over 500 of them ready and waiting to be adopted.

The City of Los Angeles’s website: www.lacity.org is the main portal in which residents can access public services and receive vital information. The City’s website is also an important tool to facilitate instant and direct access to public resources for residents, and can be utilized to encourage people to consider adopting a child.

This link brings greater awareness about the need for permanent and loving homes for children in foster care and assists those interested in the adopting process, making it smoother and easier to navigate.

Click here to view the new link.

Looking for affordable housing? There is a new resource available from the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCIDLA).

Los Angeles County Housing Resource center, together with HCIDLA launched this new web-based ADA accessible application tool to match qualified tenants with affordable housing.

This application is 100% free and features searchable vacancies based on household amenities and location criteria. It can be accessed online or via toll-free phone and provides a platform for owners to list and update rentals.

The website updates regularly to reflect available units and can be found at https://housing.lacity.org/.