“Carol Baker Tharp loved the City of Los Angeles and spent the past year working to strengthen its neighborhoods as the General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today in a statement announcing the passing of Carol Baker Tharp. "Though we mourn her passing today, we take comfort in the fact that her work and ideas will continue to yield positive benefits for the people of Los Angeles.” Tharp was......

Usually we hear doubting and negative comments about city offices such as the Department of Transportation (DOT) or Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). But the Department of Water & Power (DWP) somehow skids by the public and never become a hot button issue. That is, of course, until the day after the crisis strikes. What? You don't pick up hot dates by dropping some IBEW regs? The closest electrical power will ever come close to being......

It looks like neighborhood councils are back in style with two new hires for General Manager and Assistant General Manager at the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). Their first "whirlwind" week on the job has come on the heels of two new neighborhood councils: Panorama City and Rampart (making a total of 89 councils in LA). In their first letters to the public and neighborhood council members, General Manager Carol Baker Tharp shares......

So back in November we asked the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, who oversees Neighborhood Councils, for a quick 5 question interview... LAist: Okay, so what the heck is a DONE Advocate and what are these Neighborhood Councils all about? DONE: ... LAist: Why should our readers get to know their Neighborhood Council? DONE: ... LAist: What is one step our readers can do right now to participate to help mold the future of Los......

Last night, the former DONE GM (this is city lingo and you'll understand right below) wrote a lengthy e-mail, equaling out to more than 5 pages on paper, about Prop R. If you don't know about Prop R or much about Neighborhood Councils, here's a good start from the "No on Prop R" point of view: Neighborhood Council Board Members: For those of you who don’t know me, I recently retired as the general......