North Hills West Neighborhood Council

North Hills West Neighborhood Council

Certification Success!

The North Hills Neighbhorhood Council was certified on Feb. 25, 2003. Our Interim Board began actively recruiting for leadership to fill the expanded 13-member board, and elections were to be held as soon as candidates had been nominated.

Certification Press Release - Year 2003

NORTH HILLS WEST NEIGHBORHOOD
COUNCIL CERTIFIED IN RECORD TIME

North Hills – The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners certified the new The North Hills West Neighborhood Council (NHWNC) at their meeting on February 25 at the Los Angeles Baptist Junior/Senior High School. A capacity crowd arrived at the library to hear the presentation by the interim board to the Commissioners.

Interim Chair Darren Hubert of the new neighborhood council introduced the eight neighborhood speakers who each presented their case for certification. An impressive Power Point presentation covering all the bases and requirements for certification was also given. Areas covered in the special presentation by residents included Boundaries, Area Profile, and Neighborhood Outreach, which covered such demographics as population, gender, the percentages of homeowners and renters, ethnicity, and age structure. All of this information will be posted on the North Hills West Neighborhood Council’s Web site at www.NorthHillsWest.org.

The demographic profile of the bounded area provided by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment indicated several outstanding profile elements with regard to major stakeholder groups: white residents, 51%; homeowners, 82%; residents ages 17 and under, 20%; and residents aged 50-64,19%. The North Hills West Neighborhood Council grew out of a local grass-roots effort by neighborhood organizers. The NHWNC Steering Committee conducted an assessment of the community and worked together for over eight months to organize and conduct outreach on behalf of the neighborhood council. The committee held public meetings to solicit input from the community on the organization of the neighborhood council and the creation of bylaws. The lead organizers are homeowners, church leaders, business owners, and employees in the proposed area.

The NHWNC has presented a detailed description of its outreach process and has demonstrated to the commission that a good-faith effort was made to reach out to the broadest array of stakeholders.

In summary, from the commission, “The NHWNC has knowledge of the community and a strong network of leadership. The applicant should be encouraged to continue to expand their outreach efforts outside of the familiar network of leadership that they have already cultivated. A strategic outreach plan should be developed to increase the interests represented in the neighborhood council, so that all the stakeholders within the NHWNC area will be informed and able to participate in their neighborhood council.
There is an indication that stakeholders throughout the bounded area were contacted, and that a good-faith outreach effort was made to the broadest array of stakeholders. It is the department’s determination that the applicant meets all the outreach requirements under the plan.”

With that said, the commission then certified the new North Hills West Neighborhood Council.




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SUCCESSFUL ELECTION OF OFFICERS HELD JUST 6 MONTHS LATER!

With the certifying stage completed, it was time to put our new council "in gear." The Interim Elections Committee went right to work establishing election guidelines to follow for the election of the first official "Board of Governors," enabling our council to function as a fully autonimous agency within the structure of Los Angeles City government. Fliers were sent out to all stakeholders, within the next six months, announcing our meeting agendas and locations, committee meetings and any other activities promoting citizen involvement in preparing for our upcoming public elections. Included were biographies of all those seeking board positions.

On July 29, 2003, polls opened at 7 AM and voting was under way, operations being overseen by representatives of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, and by 8 PM, all Board seats were officially filled and the results finalized, with no one contesting the results. It is now official - the North Hills West Neighborhood Council is an independent, self-governed group of concerned citizens who will now have an official say in city goverment. A heartfelt "thanks" goes out to all those individuals who worked so hard in making our dream become a reality!

NHWNC HOTLINKS

NHWNC.org
NHWNC AGENDA

About our association

These Are Six Goals of the Council System

The purpose of our neighborhood council can best be summarized by the implementing of the six goals laid out by the Los Angeles City “Plan” for neighborhood councils. Excerpts from these goals and objectives are:

1) To promote public participation in city governance and decision making processes

2) To promote better interaction and communication between all local councils regarding common or separate concerns

3) To facilitate delivery of city services to help solve the neighborhood councils local concerns

4) To ensure equal opportunity to all certified councils to participate in the government’s decision making process

5) To create an environment in which all people can direct their own councils in accordance with standards set by themselves

6) To encourage people within the community to express their own ideas and opinions about their neighborhoods and their government


Just during the past year, in our “forming process,” we’re proud to say that we’ve taken the points expressed above directly to those in our community, and the response has been overwhelming. Our meetings have higher attendance per capita by population than most other councils in the San Fernando Valley, of which, we are very proud.

Our Distinguished Meeting Location

North Hills West is proud to include the Veteran's Administration Sepulveda Campus within our geographical boundaries. For that matter, it's right in the middle, and there couldn't be a better location to hold our meetings. We are most fortunate to have them as our hosts each and every month and they have never asked us for even a penny to use their facilities. They figure it's their way to give back to the community.

We meet the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the VA's Recreation Hall, 16111 Plummer St., Building 22, in North Hills, at 7 PM. The public is invited to attend and a special invitation is extended to all that live, work, own a business or own property in North Hills, West of the 405 Freeway to participate in the discussions and resolutions that make up our living style, right here in North Hills West.

Be Aware and Up-To-Date

Our latest news and agenda for he next meeting can be found on our home page in the left-hand column. Please visit for more information.

Email us
board@nhwnc.org

NHWNC HOTLINKS

NHWNC.org
NHWNC AGENDA