ABOUT THE PRNC

The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council is an organization that is officially certified by the City of Los Angeles to increase our influence with City lawmakers and departments to improve our community. The PRNC came about as a result of Los Angeles City Charter Reform and interested stakeholders in our community.

The Board is elected by stakeholders and holds monthly meetings, usually on the first Tuesday of the month. The Board is comprised of volunteers who want to help you make Porter Ranch a better place to live, work and grow. We can't do it for you, but we can do it with you.

The Board is allocated a budget of $50,000 by the City from your tax dollars.

PRNC Approach to Meetings
The PRNC conducts meetings to attract stakeholders by inviting speakers to present on current topics of interest. This strategy has been very successful, bringing out large crowds, creating a local forum to share and discuss valuable information and involving the community. Topics have included:

• Addressing Traffic Flow in Los Angeles, Councilwoman Wendy Grueul

• Street Resurfacing, William Robertson, Bureau of Street Services Director

• 50/50 Sidewalk Repair Program, Ming Gong, Los Angeles Program Manager for the 50/50 Sidewalk Reconstruction Project

• The Role of DONE in supporting NCs, BongHwan Kim, DONE General Manager

• Coyote Summit

• Telephone Tax Discussion, Ray Ciranna, Assistant City Administrative Officer

• Pros and Cons of Measure B, Joe Avila, Executive Assistant to the DWP General Manager

• Porter Ranch Education Town Hall, LAUSD Superintendent of Schools Roy Romer

• Proposed Porter Ranch School Design, Architect Rikki Bender

• Proposed North Valley YMCA Expansion

• Proposed Shepherd of the Hills Church Expansion

• Proposed Hidden Creeks Housing Development

• Proposed Las Lomas Development

We continue to update our focus by conducting an annual retreat open to stakeholders where we brainstorm and plan future projects, focus points and board member roles.

Community Involvement
We have hosted and sponsored several community events including our annual holiday party, a park opening celebration and emergency preparedness fair, fire station commander retirement celebration, and community clean ups.

Our board members were involved in the emergency response to the Chatsworth Train Accident and the Sesnon Fire Evacuation Center. The PRNC received an award from BONC for partnering with the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council in responding to the train accident. PRNC Vice President Paula Cracium was named Woman of the Year by Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, for her role in responding to these events.

The PRNC supports the environment with a Go Green Committee and has provided stakeholders with reusable shopping bags.

Our board is small, compared to some, with 11 members. This allows us to be nimble in decision making. The tone of the meetings is congenial, inviting and respecting all views. Board Members play significant roles in the community. We have two City employees, one firefighter, members of local Home Owners Associations, business people, retirees, a youth representative, and an employee of our largest stakeholder, Shepherd of the Hills Church. Our strong relationship with our Councilman is one of our greatest assets in serving our community.

We conduct outreach through many medium to reach stakeholders where they are, including an updated informative website, email blasts, voice message blasts through OneCallNow.com, articles and ads in local papers and communications with HOAs in the area.

Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Success Story: PRNC Critical Component of New School Development

PRNC Board members decided back in 2005 to take action to advance the cause of a new school for our community. Porter Ranch currently has only one elementary school built for 400 students, but serving 800, with all the traffic congestion one might imagine on a small residential street. The Porter Ranch Specific Plan calls for an additional elementary school to be built to serve new and future residences.

In November 2005, the PRNC organized a Town Hall meeting with LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer to discuss how to get an additional elementary school. Mr. Romer promised the crowd of 200 people that if Measure Y passed, we would get a new school. Measure Y passed. In early 2006, members of the PRNC began meeting periodically with the local developer, Councilman Greig Smith’s office, and LAUSD to discuss school requirements and the development process.

Through these meetings we have provided important community input affecting the size, location, amenities and design of the school. We have heavily publicized the LAUSD community meetings drawing interested crowds and surprising LAUSD meeting organizers with the community interest. We also have spoken several times at LAUSD Board meetings to advance our cause. The school received final funding and EIR approval on January 27, 2009 and is due to open fall 2012.

About the City's Budget Process

For the definitive work about how the City of Los Angeles is structured and works, please see Raphael Sonenshein's Los Angeles: Structure of a City Government. It is available at the Porter Ranch Library. Details provided below are from this book.

Los Angeles Budget milestones are identified in the city's charter.

• August, prior to the fiscal year, the Mayor sends his priorities in a budget policy letter to city departments.

• Departments must submit their budget requests by January 1.

• February 1, the Mayor publishes his priorities for public comment.

• March 1, the controller submits estimates of required funding.

• April 20, May must deliver a proposed budget to the city council.

• The Budget and Finance Committee holds public hearings and sends recommendations to the full city council. The council must act on the budget by June 1, otherwise the Mayor's budget will take effect.

• The Mayor has 5 business days to use line item veto to change the budget as approved by the city council. The council may override the Mayor with a two-thirds vote within 5 working days.

View budget information on the Mayor's site