West Hills Neighborhood Council

Meet your Budget Advocates

WHNC Board Members Joanne Yvanek Garb and Simone Best represent West Hills in the Budget Advocates, a group composed of designated liaisons from participating Neighborhood Councils throughout Los Angeles.

In the coming weeks and months, the 36-member BA team will review the city’s 40 departments and committees and the total city budget of $8-billion-to-$9-billion to identify how Los Angeles can better spend its tax dollars to deliver the maximum amount of services.

As soon as Mayor Eric Garcetti delivers his Policy Letter on what he wants to see in the Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget, the Budget Advocates will meet with department representatives to address their concerns about transparency and accountability, their perspectives on homelessness and affordable housing, and how they can make the city money and cut costs within their departments.

The Budget Advocates will come out shortly with a new survey to gauge how successful the city departments and the City Council are living up to expectations. 

“We are focusing on city budgets early in the budget process fall to have a greater impact on the results,” Yvanek-Garb said.

The group is also working on a White Paper that will point at areas of significant concern relating to accountability, transparency, fiscally sustainable budgeting updated community plans, fixing city pension obligations and more.  

You can follow the Budget Advocates’ progress by visiting www.ncbala.com.