Just after 9 am on Wednesday, March 19, Los Angeles city staff methodically sorted through hundreds of ballots in a downtown conference room, each paper representing a voice from L.A. neighborhoods such as Venice, Mar Vista and North Westwood. Only a handful of observers watched as the moment transpired at the Piper Technical Center, but to most of Los Angeles, it passed unnoticed.
The Region 11 Neighborhood Council election—one of many taking place this season—is part of a citywide cycle involving 88 of L.A.’s 99 Neighborhood Councils. Voting is spread across 12 regional dates from mid-March to mid-June, and it is unfolding across the city, beneath the buzz of higher-profile news and other headline-grabbing events.
Yet, despite the relatively low turnout and quiet ballot counts, advocates insist these hyperlocal elections remain vital for communities aiming to shape decisions on land use, public safety, and city services—even if their voices are often muted in the broader city conversation.
“We are the voice of the community,” said Norma O. Chavez, president of the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council.
Neighborhood Councils, a grassroots civic engagement movement, were created in 1999 as part of City Hall’s promise to give residents a stronger voice in local decisions, prompted by San Fernando Valley residents who were considering secession from L.A to create a new city encompassing the Valley.
Today, each Neighborhood Council is made up of volunteers who are elected by stakeholders. The Neighborhood Council election candidates and the voters include people who live, work, own property, or otherwise have a strong community connection in the neighborhood.
Candidates must be at least 18, except those running for designated youth board seats, who can run between age 14 to 17. Voters must be at least 16, but those 14 and older can vote for youth seats.
Neighborhood Council elections typically occur in odd-numbered years and are administered by the city’s Office of the City Clerk. This year marks the second time the city has conducted the NC elections entirely by mail. Eligible stakeholders must request ballots in advance, and once completed ballots can be returned by mail or dropped off at designated locations. Results are typically available within two weeks following each Neighborhood Council’s election day.
But even with this formal election process in place, Neighborhood Councils often grapple with limited influence on broader City Hall policies.
Their roles are strictly advisory, and their primary tools include submitting Community Impact Statements—formal positions on motions or proposals being considered by the City Council—as well as engaging directly with local council members and their staff on important neighborhood issues.
This sense of limited influence is especially strong in the San Fernando Valley, home to 34—or more than one-third—of the city’s 99 Neighborhood Councils. Ironically, the Neighborhood Council system itself was created partly to address Valley residents’ grievances after the Valley’s attempted secession.
At the time, San Fernando Valley residents, who made up nearly half of Los Angeles’ population, argued they were underserved and politically neglected by City Hall. Yet when the secession proposal reached voters in 2002, two-thirds of Angelenos rejected the idea of splitting off a new Valley city.
To ease tensions and keep the city unified, Los Angeles officials responded by promising grassroots Neighborhood Councils. But decades later, many Neighborhood Council members in the Valley say they’re still struggling to be heard.
“I can tell you from my experiences, we used to enjoy our communities and do things for our communities that were fun,” said Linda Gravani, who chairs the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, a coalition of all 34 Valley Neighborhood Councils founded in 2023. “But currently, since COVID specifically, we’re now fighting for our communities, which is a whole different story. ”
Gravani, who also leads the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, joined 14 years ago after wandering into a meeting hoping to promote her business, only to discover “it was something totally different.” She quickly got involved, volunteering for a leadership role almost immediately.
She recalls brighter moments, such as when residents reached out about Jesse Owens Park, a small neighborhood space that was overrun with encampments and homelessness.
Her Neighborhood Council worked with the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks to clear the encampments, install new fencing, and transform the park into a welcoming space. They’re now working to add a plaque honoring Jesse Owens.
The council also co-organized the annual Valley Emergency Preparedness Fair, which helps train and prepare people for emergencies and disasters.
“The entire Valley participated,” Gravani said. “We would teach people, we would give backpacks of things to be prepared for and whatnot.”
Despite these successes, Neighborhood Councils continue to face challenges—particularly feelings of limited influence.
“I’m not alone among people in Neighborhood Councils to feel that we have almost no power,” said Kathy Schreiner, president of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council. “So that’s a little bit frustrating because we’re also 100 percent volunteers. So when you’re contributing your own time, you would like to feel like maybe you had more of a chance to make an impact.”
Neighborhood Council leaders point to several factors behind this power gap. Some say the councils’ advisory-only status means their input is often overlooked by City Hall, with councilmembers rarely acknowledging NC recommendations.
Others cite a lack of outreach support from the city, which leaves many residents unaware of the Neighborhood Councils’ existence or their role. The ability to influence policy, they say, often depends on individual relationships with elected officials—leaving some NCs more empowered than others. Many NC members feel they’re left fighting uphill battles with limited tools.
Neighborhood Council leaders say part of their frustration stems from a recent City Council motion—introduced by Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and seconded by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez—that was approved on Wednesday, March 19, to explore potential bylaw amendments.
The recommendations include studying the addition of dedicated youth seats to boost youth participation and the introduction of term limits on Neighborhood Councils to encourage broader community involvement and leadership turnover.
Lydia Grant, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, has served on the Neighborhood Council for roughly 17 years, though not continuously. She stepped away for about three years to serve as a city commissioner but continued to oversee Neighborhood Council activities during that period.
Grant said she’s concerned that term limits could end up weakening, rather than strengthening, Neighborhood Councils.
“If you take people like me, who have almost 20 years of experience, and you want to put me on term limits so I can’t be on the board anymore, then that hurts the institutional memory,” she said. “A good board is really made up of people who’ve been on for a long time, are brand new, and a mixture in between.”
Gravani said that the work used to involve more enjoyable community activities, such as hosting chess tournaments and robotics, but now much of it is spent fighting with the city over basic services or procedural issues—like the inability to make public comment by phone.
“It’s no longer fun,” Gravani said. “ Now we have to put our boxing gloves on and deal with the city.”
Still, some longtime leaders say the system, while imperfect, has come a long way.
Leonard Shaffer, involved in the Neighborhood Council system for more than 20 years, said the NCs have slowly gained influence and recognition.
“Nobody really knew what they were going to be when they started,” said Shaffer, who sits on the Tarzana Neighborhood Council. “Neighborhood Councils engage in various things and some of it depends on how supportive their City Council member is and how successful the Neighborhood Council itself is.”
He believes the system is still evolving.
“Neighborhood Councils run the gamut from what we might call extremely successful to very poorly functioning,” Shaffer said. “Like any other groups, I think that they’re maturing and slowly but surely, we have gained more and more respect and influence in many ways.”