About CivicLA
LA Martin Luther King Day 2007 (CivicLA Archives)
Los Angeles is a great global metropolis with lots of scars. In the last two decades, this unique urban sprawl has experienced
race riots, repeated attempts to break up the city, intense immigration marches, numerous earthquakes, major demographic shifts,
breakdowns of the police force, and frequent failures in its school system. But moving ahead, who are now the Angelenos
and what is their civic engagement at the grassroots level to hold itself together in the 21st Century?
In an election season it is not unusual to see zestful attention focused on the subject of civic engagement.
But we see our city being way ahead of the curve.
In 1999, Los Angeles residents passed a city charter with provisions for the creation of a city-wide network of Neighborhood Councils in residents who live,work, or own property in a given neighborhood could participate and become decision makers.
Additionally, LA has a longstanding tradition of community organizations going beyond standard volunteerism and charity work to mobilizing voter drives and rallying voices for immigration reform.
Despite this rich mosaic, the coverage of civic activities in and around the city has been sporadic and lacking incisive debate.
This is where we see CivicLA stepping in.
Our purpose is to capture ground zero events– local elections, community meetings and such -- while examining issues that are central and critical to the
building of neighborhoods where communities can grow and flourish: what is being done and how successfully to reach out to those segments that are
disengaged from civic affairs: how well does city hall engage its citizens in budget, taxation, education, zoning, and other decisions?
Much is being said in favor of local governance and grassroots decision-making, but has city hall moved out of City Hall and into our
neighborhoods as Angelenos intended in 1999?
We ask our readers to engage with us and add their voices to CivicLA in the journey ahead.
----- Hassina Leelarathna, Senior Editor
race riots, repeated attempts to break up the city, intense immigration marches, numerous earthquakes, major demographic shifts,
breakdowns of the police force, and frequent failures in its school system. But moving ahead, who are now the Angelenos
and what is their civic engagement at the grassroots level to hold itself together in the 21st Century?
In an election season it is not unusual to see zestful attention focused on the subject of civic engagement.
But we see our city being way ahead of the curve.
In 1999, Los Angeles residents passed a city charter with provisions for the creation of a city-wide network of Neighborhood Councils in residents who live,work, or own property in a given neighborhood could participate and become decision makers.
Additionally, LA has a longstanding tradition of community organizations going beyond standard volunteerism and charity work to mobilizing voter drives and rallying voices for immigration reform.
Despite this rich mosaic, the coverage of civic activities in and around the city has been sporadic and lacking incisive debate.
This is where we see CivicLA stepping in.
Our purpose is to capture ground zero events– local elections, community meetings and such -- while examining issues that are central and critical to the
building of neighborhoods where communities can grow and flourish: what is being done and how successfully to reach out to those segments that are
disengaged from civic affairs: how well does city hall engage its citizens in budget, taxation, education, zoning, and other decisions?
Much is being said in favor of local governance and grassroots decision-making, but has city hall moved out of City Hall and into our
neighborhoods as Angelenos intended in 1999?
We ask our readers to engage with us and add their voices to CivicLA in the journey ahead.
----- Hassina Leelarathna, Senior Editor
