Representative-At-Large: hey, that's me!

A year ago I don’t think I even knew what a neighborhood council (NC) was.  Never one to leap into an unknown topic (Voices From Chornobyl, anyone), I set about educating myself.

But not until two members of the East Hollywood NC approached me to become Project Director for Imagine East Hollywood. The combination of writing/directing for the arts and community outreach intrigued me. The first two months were just spent trying to find the right wording to explain the project to people. I think we had a total of ten different flyers during that period.

The more interviews I conducted with stakeholders, and the more I interacted with neighborhood councils in general, the goals became clear: Connection. Most people were like me; their everyday obligations and concerns overwhelmed their involvement in the community. Yet many of their everyday concerns could be alleviated if they knew how to get things done. I had residents thrust letters to the LA City Council into my hands, copies of letters they carried with them just in case there was somebody who could get it to the right people.

No one knew that as a community stakeholder, they are the right people.

So when I found myself looking around my own neighborhood of Atwater Village with questions and concerns, I looked the NC up online. I didn’t let the outdated website hinder my view (if you’ve ever been involved with the local government, you’ll learn that web-savvy isn’t exactly a requirement. That is, however, quickly changing, as you can tell by the next statement.) I connected with a Co-Chair over Twitter and got myself to the next meeting.

I learned they had empty seats after the March election. I sat on my hands so I couldn’t leap up to a self-appointment right then and there. I did take a copy of the by-laws home with me, though.

I read and I read. I researched and thought about everything I wanted to change. I told my husband I was thinking about it. He laughed and said “You’re going into politics.”

La Gran Limpieza - Atwater Village / Sunnynook Bridge Site

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. He knows me very well and if he knows one thing above all, it is that I am full of surprises.

At the next meeting, I was self-appointed a Representative-at-large and Chair of Outreach. Our Centennial Celebration is on June 13th and there’s a lot to do before that time. I already had my first Outreach meeting and there’s a lot of ground to cover, a lot of people who still don’t know what an NC does, and it’s my job to connect them all. Five NC members were at that meeting and to my surprise, they supported everything. Some ideas still need the support of the entire Board, of course, but it’s a great start.

I guess now I have to follow through on all of my ideas!

Here we go! I’ll try to keep you updated.