The Department shall:
(a) implement and oversee compliance with City ordinances and regulations relating to a system of neighborhood councils;
(b) prepare a Neighborhood Council Plan (Plan) for the creation of a system of neighborhood councils to ensure that every part of the City is within the boundary of a neighborhood council and that each neighborhood has an opportunity to form a neighbor- hood council, in accordance with Section 22.809;
(c) determine methods for certification of neighborhood councils;
(d) assist neighborhoods in preparing petitions for recognition or certification, identifying boundaries that minimize the division of communities and organizing themselves in accordance with the Plan;
(e) help neighborhood councils to meet together on a citywide basis and facilitate these meetings if and when requested to do so by recognized neighborhood councils;
(f) Assist neighborhood councils with the selection of their governing body and conduct the City’s portion of the outreach effort necessary to mobilize stakeholders to vote in neighborhood council elections.
(g) assist neighborhood councils to share resources, including offices, equipment and other forms of support and to communicate with constituents, other neighborhood councils and with government officials;
(h) arrange training for department staff and neighborhood councils’ officers, board and committee members, such as training in leadership, cultural awareness, dispute mediation, civics, communications, equipment utilization, and any other training necessary to achieve the goals set forth in Section 22.809; and implement and administer all mandatory training for neighborhood council boards and committees. To implement and administer training, the Department shall have the authority to:
(1) Promulgate rules and regulations, establish policies and procedures, and issue directives and moratoria necessary to implement all training requirements, enforce compliance, and resolve challenges raised by neighborhood council board members and committee members regarding any required training.
(2) Amend neighborhood council bylaws to reflect all mandatory training requirements and modify any language in the bylaws inconsistent with the Department’s rules, regulations, policies, procedures, directives, or moratoria.
(i) arrange community empowerment education for top level City officials, including elected officials and commissioners;
(j) with the assistance of the Information Technology Agency, create and maintain an internal and external information and communication network available for public use to:
(1) Provide access to all current rules, regulations, and election/selection/voting and any other procedures adopted by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment;
(2) Provide access to all historic rules, regulations, and election/selection/voting and any other procedures adopted by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment that are no longer in force;
(3) Provide access to all current non- confidential legal opinions by the City Attorney on matters relating to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, Department rules or regulations, and Department procedures for elections/selections/voting and any other matter;
(4) Provide access to all historical non-confidential legal opinions by the City Attorney on matters relating to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, Department rules or regulations, and Department procedures for elections/selections/voting and any other matter that are no longer in force; and
(5) Provide a Citywide database of existing neighborhood organizations and similar information, sortable by areas and individual Neighborhood Councils.
(k) help coordinate the relationships between existing and newly created advisory committees and neighborhood councils;
(l) perform other duties as provided by ordinance;
(m) ensure that notification required in Section 22.809(f) is provided to the neighborhood councils along with sufficient committee or staff reports on the matters of interest to facilitate meaningful participation; and
(n) facilitate citywide meetings to be held, on at least a semi-annual basis, of representatives of all neighborhood councils.
(o) ensure that neighborhood councils have adequate office and meeting space to conduct their business by facilitating the shared utilization of City owned or leased space, coordinating the acceptance and use of donated space by private donors, as well as securing suitable office and meeting space on behalf of certified neighborhood councils. The City Clerk shall have the authority to execute standard short-term rental and lease agreements with a duration of one year or less for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations under this subsection, pursuant to guidelines established by the City Clerk.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 172,728, Eff. 8-30-99.
Amended by: Ord. No. 175,937, Eff. 6-1-04; Subsec. (f), Ord. No. 179,680, Eff. 4-15-08; Subsec. (p) added, Ord. No. 180,155, Eff. 9-26-08; Subsec. (j), Ord. No. 183,488, Eff. 5-3-15; Subsec. (o) amended and Subsec. (p) deleted, Ord. No. 184,835, Eff. 5-1-17; Subsec. (h), Ord. No. 187,803, Eff. 5-8-23.