Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council

The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood council (CSPNC) has a Governing Board of 17 stakeholders, elected every two years. Much of CSPNC's work is done in its various committees. Any interested stakeholder can join committees (committee members do not have to be members of the Governing Board).

Actions of the CSPNC must be voted on by the Governing Board. The Governing Board meets monthly. Committees may have monthly standing meeting times, or may meet as need arises.

What can CSPNC do?

Action by CSPNC starts with concerns brought to us by you, our stakeholders (anyone who lives, works, or owns property within the CSPNC area).

Most of what CSPNC does falls into two categories: motions that express stakeholder wishes to Los Angeles City government or agencies, and motions that allocate funding to local needs.

Advisory motions are usually developed within a committee, then brought to the monthly Board meeting. At the Board meeting, the public can comment on any motion, the Board may debate and amend the motion, then will usually vote to either adopt or reject the motion. Many motions, once adopted, are then forwarded to the appropriate City governing body or agency to express CSPNC's stakeholder wishes.

CSPNC also receives an annual budget of $45,000 of City taxpayer money. These funds are used to support CSPNC operations, perform outreach to publicize CSPNC, and to support local community improvements. Stakeholder organizations can apply to CSPNC for sponsorship from these funds (see below).

How do we function?

Because CSPNC is an elected body of public officials, its actions are governed by the California State Brown Act, which is designed to ensure that discussion and action by public officials happens in public. The Brown Act affects CSPNC in many ways, but the two most obvious ways are: first, all Board and committee meetings must be publicly noticed at least 72 hours in advance, with an agenda, so that interested public can attend; and second, all discussions (including email) of CSPNC issues that include a majority or more of the Board or of a committee must be done in a publicly posted meeting.

The idea is that if we are going to consider something that concerns you, you have the right to know about it in advance, attend the meeting, and make your opinion heard. The Board and committees of CSPNC are prohibited from developing a consensus of action out of sight of the public, then presenting that in a public meeting. Instead, we must develop our positions in a public forum.

Actions of CSPNC (including disbursal of money) usually follow the following path:

• A potential issue is brought to (or referred to) the relevant committee.
• The committee meets, listens to stakeholder input, deliberates in public, then writes a motion.
• The motion is brought to the monthly Agenda Meeting, where it is considered for the agenda of the monthly Board Meeting (and may be amended).
• The Governing Board, at the monthly Board Meeting, listens to stakeholder input, debates and may amend the motion, then votes to adopt or reject it.
• If the motion passes, the appropriate action is taken (CSPNC's resolution is forwarded to City or agency officials, or the CSPNC treasurer may disburse funds).

How can I participate?

First and perhaps most important: all stakeholders are invited to make public comment at any Board or committee meeting. Let us know what concerns you and we'll see what can be done.

If you have a particular community concern that you think we should address, contact the chairperson of the most appropriate committee and see if the concern is appropriately covered by that committee. If so, bring your concern directly to the committee's chairperson (so it can be put on the agenda of the next committee meeting). Your concern will be taken up and discussed, and action on it will potentially be forwarded as a motion for the Board's consideration.

If no committee seems appropriate (or there are time concerns), you can bring a motion directly to the Agenda Meeting. That monthly meeting considers all potential motions for inclusion in the monthly Board Meeting (whether they come from a committee or directly from a stakeholder). See the Agenda Meeting guidelines for more information.

If you are a local organization interested in requesting funds, see our information on sponsorship and contact the Budget & Finance committee. See the Budget & Finance committee's guidelines for more information.

Any stakeholder is welcome to join committees (you need not be a Board member). If you are interested in influencing how CSPNC addresses community issues, this is the most direct way. Contact committee chairs to learn more about committees, what they cover, and when they meet.

Interested stakeholders should consider running for Governing Board membership. Elections are every two years, but vacancies also occur in mid-term when Board members resign. Those vacancies are posted in the regular montly Board Meeting agendas and are filled by a vote of the sitting Board members.