SLNC Gives Up Pricey Digs

By Ian Lovett, Ledger Contributing Writer

SILVER LAKE—In response to a citywide 10 percent cut to neighborhood council budgets, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council governing board last month vacated the Rowena Avenue office space it has paid $16,000 annually to rent since 2004. 

The Roger Building in Silver Lake. Photo copyright: Tracy Rose

As a result, most of the neighborhood council’s business will now be conducted in the Citibank community room on Glendale Boulevard, which is available free of charge. 

“I work in the real estate business, and I know there are a lot of spaces available basically for free,” said board member Clint Lukens who introduced the motion to move. “As a resident, when I looked at the amount of money we were paying for this lease, I wondered why 40 percent of our budget should go towards something that’s not going into the community. It didn’t make sense to keep paying rent.” 

The city’s Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) exercises little authority over the city’s 89 neighborhood council budgets.

“The majority of neighborhood councils don’t spend much on administrative costs, and as a general guideline, we suggest 10 percent or so,” said DONE General Manager BongHwan Kim. “We think the neighborhood councils should be able to determine how best to use the public funds. Short of using the money illegally, they can use the funds for whatever fits the needs of their particular community.” 

Kim’s reference is to the recent acknowledgement that six other neighborhood councils have had treasurers who allegedly have embezzled funds. As a result, Kim said, DONE is considering several policy changes to prevent illegal use of neighborhood council funds in the future, like requiring governing boards to approve their financial statements and fingerprinting treasurers to check for criminal records. But the overall financial independence of the neighborhood councils will remain unchanged, he said.

Last year, the Silver Lake council came within one vote of moving to cheaper grounds. This year, however, the vote—taken Oct. 29th—was unanimous, with one abstention.

“In the past, there was a sense that the office space seemed like a big financial hit, but also affordable,” said governing board co-chair Paul Neuman. “Now with the budget crisis, we don’t know how much money we’re going to have. There’s been a drop in real estate prices in many areas, and there was a sense that we shouldn’t be paying this much, given the economy.” 

Rusty Millar, who has served on the council’s board since it formed in 2003, defended the council’s decision to retain the office the past five years. One reason was that the office was compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) that requires handicap access for public spaces. 

“There have always been concerns about the cost and the location of the office,” Millar said. “I think that this opportunity to use the Citibank space is good. The office was a big expense, and we want to use the money for something else.”

All neighborhood council’s budgets were cut this year from $50,000 to $45,000.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Front Page and tagged with Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), Ian Lovett, Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.