05-25-2010 CC RPT 34 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Memorandum TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: May 25, 2010 FROM: MAYOR RONALD O. LOVERIDGE ITEM NO: 34 WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION OF A FORMAL NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL APPROACH ISSUE: The proposal before the City Council is to approve a neighborhood governance approach using existing neighborhood groups, and to recommend formal procedures for recognizing Neighborhood Councils. RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council approve a formal neighborhood governance approach based on the sixteen (16) guidelines below. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: On May 5, 2010, the Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously recommended that the City Council approve a formal neighborhood governance approach. BACKGROUND: Overview The proposed neighborhood governance approach may draw on the current neighborhood groups. There are a number of neighborhood associations whose boundaries are those of one of the City's 26 community neighborhoods. They meet regularly, elect officers, and network with electeds. Examples of these associations include: Downtown Area Neighborhood Alliance (DANA), Grand Neighborhood Alliance, Historic Wood Streets Neighborhood, Magnolia Area Neighborhood Association, Casa Blanca Community Action Group, and Northside Improvement Association, among others. Most if not all have, or had, representation on the Riverside Neighborhood Partnership and have been actively involved in varied City hosted/sponsored neighborhood programs. Using the existing associations for the proposed approach is in line with Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) embraced by the City's Neighborhood Programs. ABCD is a research- based community development model and affirms that social and economic revitalization starts with what is already present in the community--the capacities of a neighborhood's residents, the neighborhood's association, and the neighborhoods institutions. ABCD also asserts that an 34-1