Community Engagement in Planning and Development: Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles

This paper presents preliminary evidence of the manner in which neighborhood councilsin Los Angeles are engaging in land use and planning. Charter reform in 1999 in LosAngeles authorized creation of a system of neighborhood councils charged withincreasing participation in city governance and making local government moreresponsive to community concerns. Neighborhood councils were intended to placecommunity members in a position to act rather than merely react to policies anddecisions handed down from City Hall – what scholars of political engagement describeas doing politics, rather than merely being attentive to politics. While NCs wereendowed with advisory capacity only, the charter created several channels to facilitatetheir provision of input on city policy formation and administration:• Provision that neighborhood councils would have an opportunity to providebudget input to the Mayor to be considered in development of the annual budget;• Development of an early notification system to inform community members ofmatters before the city council and its boards and commissions; and• Requirement that neighborhood councils monitor service delivery and meetregularly with departmental officials.