Background
The Historic Cultural North Neighborhood Council (HCNNC) is the City of Los Angeles’s 99th neighborhood council. HCNNC was formed through the subdivision of an existing neighborhood council, Historic Cultural Neighborhood Council (HCNC).
The following is a brief history of Los Angeles’s neighborhood council system and the formation of HCNNC:
• July 1999 – Voters of the City of Los Angeles approved a new city charter establishing a neighborhood council system, including the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) to oversee this system.
• April 27, 2002 – HCNC was certified as an official neighborhood council that included the communities of the Arts District, Chinatown, El Pueblo, Little Tokyo, Solano Canyon, and Victor Heights.
• November 14, 2002 – An election was held for HCNC’s first governing board.
• September 27, 2016 – Los Angeles City Council approved Ordinance No. 184526, establishing a procedure for neighborhood councils to subdivide, whereby stakeholders can create a neighborhood council within the boundaries of one or more existing neighborhood councils.
• January 15, 2018 – An application was submitted to subdivide HCNC into two smaller neighborhood councils, split along the 101 Freeway, with the northern communities of Chinatown, El Pueblo, Solano Canyon, and Victor Heights in a new council (HCNNC), and Arts District and Little Tokyo remaining in HCNC.
• June 7, 2018 – In an election, voters approved the the subdivision proposal 90.67% to 9.33%.
• October 29, 2018 – The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) certified HCNNC as the City of Los Angeles’s 99th neighborhood council. In their decision, they also approved the recommendation from DONE to expand the boundaries of HCNNC to encompass the previously unrepresented areas between Chinatown and the LA River, including William Mead Homes, Ann Street Elementary School, and portions of Dogtown.
• November 13, 2018 – City Council heard public comment, and declined to veto the certification of HCNNC, which cleared the way for HCNNC to begin preparations to elect a board to oversee operations.
• April 4, 2019 – HCNNC’s first election was held. Over 400 voters cast ballots. 17 representatives were elected, and will be seated at HCNNC’s first board meeting, on June 26, 2019.
More Information
To learn more about neighborhood councils, visit EmpowerLA.org and read more about neighborhood councils. You can also see all of the City’s neighborhood councils on this interactive map.