Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhoods 

Making Government More Responsive to Local Needs is the theme for the 2012 Congress of Neighborhoods to be held at City Hall on Saturday, September 22.

All 95 neighborhood councils from across the City of Los Angeles will meet with City Councilmembers, City Department managers and staff as well as neighborhood council leaders and volunteers from across the City.  Three Workshop Sessions with 9 workshops in each session will be held throughout the day.

Some of the workshop topics include: Creating Community Partnerships, Emergency Preparedness, Ethics and NC finance, Green and Sustainable Living Resources, Postitive Ways to Run an NC, Meet Your City Officials, Working with City Council committees, Roundtable with City Departments, Empowering Communities: How to Find and Encourage People Who Care and at the end of the day, the Congress Action Session and a Mayoral Candidates Forum.

Over 600 attended last year’s Congress and the same is expected on September 22.  Register now so we can plan for enough food.

The Congress is by and for Neighborhood Council leaders.

Please be sure to save the date – Sept. 22, 2012 – all day! 

For more information and updates on Congress Workshop sessions, please go to NCCongressLA.com or call 213-978-1551.

Making the most of your Congress:

(1)  Plan to get to the Congress EARLY.  If you are driving, you will need to park in the garage under City Hall East and then walk to the Congress at City Hall.  If this is your first time at City Hall there will be signs and volunteers along the way to guide you.  Continental breakfast will be served from 7:45 to 8:30 am.  There will be a roll call of all 95 neighborhood councils promptly at 8:30 am.  You want to make sure that someone from YOUR neighborhood council is there!  The roll call and the keynote speaker will take only 45 minutes. 

(2)  There will be three 75-minute sessions, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Nine programs will be offered during each session.  You chose the three programs you want to attend.  Bring more people and plan to attend different programs.  Everyone is welcome.  Parking and lunch are free. 

(3)  Following the afternoon session there will be a "Congress of Neighborhoods" from 2:35 to 3:00 pm.  This is an experimental way to return to the intent of the City Charter Article IX, Section 901(c) provision that neighborhood councils can come together, discuss issues, and possibly take collective action at a Congress.  For example, the city will be conducting a search for a new General Manager for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.  Shouldn't neighborhood councils be part of that process?  And what do neighborhood councils want to see in a new General Manager? 

(4) A Mayoral Candidates Forum will follow 3:00-4:00 p.m.

The Congress Workshops: 

There are 27 different workshops offered at this Congress.  All of them have been designed by neighborhood council people to be practical, how-to types of sessions.  In each you will receive a broad overview of the subject and a hand-out with resources you can use to learn more and to take local action. 

Ten workshops cover basic information that is important for new Board members.  Eleven programs cover more advanced topics that may be of interest to experienced Board members OR specialized subjects that may be attractive to anyone with that specific interest.

Feel free to select any program that interests you during any session.  The only exception is the pair of Ethics and Open Government programs in Session #2 and Session #3.  You MUST take BOTH in order to obtain a certificate for this state-mandated training.