It's Official, Grayce Liu to Head the Dept. of Neighborhood Empowerment

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made it official Thursday with the announcement that , a senior official in the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), will be the department's new interim general manager.

Liu, 41, was a senior project coordinator at DONE, the department that oversees the city's 95 Neighborhood Councils including those in Chatsworth, Northridge and Porter Ranch.

Her latest project has been to organize Neighborhood Council elections which begin Saturday in the Northeast Valley. Northwest Valley elections are Sept. 8. Other elections will run throughout the city until Nov. 15.

The position opened when DONE announced plans last month to take a job with the San Diego Foundation. Kim's resignation is effective on Saturday.

Liu takes over the department just as Neighborhood Council elections are set to begin. The Neighborhood Council system was formed in 1999 to alleviate tensions in the wake of the San Fernando Valley secession movement and to give neighborhood leaders more voice in the city's governance and autonomy.

The system has been fraught with election turnout problems and a high- profile spending scandal at a few councils. Input from Neighborhood Council members on the city budget also frequently went ignored by elected officials.

However, the system's group of budget advocates were given a special opportunity to give a presentation to the City Council during budget deliberations this spring.

The outgoing general manager of the department earned a salary of $154,512.

"With Grayce Liu at the helm, I am confident that the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will continue fostering a robust and empowered Neighborhood Council system that enables meaningful civic participation for all Angelenos," Villaraigosa said. "Grayce is a capable and qualified liaison who will serve as the voice for improving government responsiveness to our local communities."

Liu, a resident of North Hollywood, previously was a co-chair of the Asian and Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Task Force and Community Program. Liu began her own legal practice in 1998. She earned her law degree from Loyola Law School.

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