What are Neighborhood Councils?
Created in 1999, they were designed to empower citizens to have a greater voice in their democracy. They are the “closest form of government to the people” in Los Angeles. You can learn more about the Neighborhood Council system here.
What do neighborhood councils do? NC’s consider supporting or opposing many critical issues in Los Angeles including Land Use, Transportation, Homelessness services, etc. They also frequently issue Neighborhood Purpose Grants to the community.
Who can run? Anyone over 18 can run to be on a Neighborhood Council (you don’t have to be a citizen) - and some NC’s have “youth representatives” as young as 16. You must live, work, or have a strong connection to a neighborhood to do so.
Who can vote? Anyone over 16 that lives in the area can vote for NC candidates - as opposed to general elections, you don’t have to be citizen, but you do have to request a mail-in ballot in advance. People aged 14 and 15 can vote for youth seats only, if applicable.
What are the important dates to know? Candidate registration and election dates vary by what region your neighborhood council is in - in general, registration continues for the first few months of 2023, followed by elections. Here’s a list of important dates for all regions.
How do I vote in these elections?
You are not automatically registered to vote, and must request your ballot. You can vote in multiple neighborhood councils where you live, work, own property, or have a community interest. This year, you can vote by mail or in person.
There are two ways to request your vote-by-mail ballot:
Go to this online portal and create an account. Then select “voter application” after you’ve verified it. You can apply for multiple NCs using this portal.
Download this PDF, fill it out, and email it to clerk.electionvbm@lacity.org with an ID (or other documentation) attached
You can also vote in person and register on-site. Each neighborhood council has a different election site — view the full list of polling locations here.
2023 Candidate Guide
The below candidates are people who supported a majority of the local proposals included in our survey. If you would like to be included, fill out our endorsement questionnaire.
All candidate responses (endorsed or not) can be viewed here.
Region 5 (Vote in person 4/30/23)
East Hollywood
Jack Symington (HollySet Junction Representative)
Andoni Elias Nava (Tenant Representative)
Greater Wilshire
Tommy Atlee (“Tommy”) (Renter Representative)
Selene Betancourt (Geographic Area 3 Director)
Hollywood United
Mark Millner (At-Large Stakeholder)
Mid-City West
We are pleased to endorse the entire Mid-City West Progressive slate.
Renters (vote for 5): Lynda La Rose, Ava Marinelli, Xcevio Zuluaga, Lauren Borchard, Ramiro Castro Jr
Homeowners (vote for 3): Shem Bitterman, Valerie Washburn, Don Whitehead
Business (vote for 6): Sara Griebe, Frank La, Nick Starr, Henry Mantel, Terence Mylonas, Danielle Donovan
Nonprofit (vote for 6): David Mann, Chris Dower, Julian Stern, Matthew Peskay, Cindy Bitterman, Christina Mondy
At Large (vote for 8): Andrea Guttag, Aimee Garcia, Michael Schneider, Andrew Herman, Christian La Mont, Ellie Goralnick, Sandra Sims, Ben Kram
Youth (vote for 1): Clark Raustiala
Zone 1 (vote for 1): Hunter Burgarella
Zone 2 (vote for 1): Sam Roseme
Zone 3 (vote for 1): Amy Goldenberg
Zone 4 (vote for 1): J. Keith van Straaten
Zone 5 (vote for 1): Tedd Cittadine
Zone 6 (vote for 1): Bob Shore
Zone 7 (vote for 1): Thao Tran
Region 6 (Vote in person 5/4/23)
North Westwood
Seat 9 Worker Stakeholder: Jacob Wasserman or Raag Agrawal (both scored a 100% on our endorsement questionnaire)
Seats 15-16 Organizational Stakeholder: Eric Coestad
Seats 2-3 Renter Stakeholder: Erin Coutts
Downtown Los Angeles
Pablo Fontoura (Historic Core Resident)
Debby Zhou (South Park Resident)
Region 7 (Vote in person 5/13/23)
Silver Lake
Maria Scileppi (At-Large Representative)
Adam Kearney (Region 2 Representative)
Los Feliz
Derek Galey (District Representative C)
Josh Steichmann (District Representative E)
Region 8 (Request to vote by mail before 5/1/23)
Coming soon.
Region 1 (Request to vote by mail before 5/15/23)
Sylmar
Jeremy Steinert (At-Large Representative)
Region 2 (Request to vote by mail before 5/22/23)
Coming soon.
Region 3 (Request to vote by mail before 5/30/23)
Coming soon.
Region 4 (Request to vote by mail before 6/3/23)
NoHo
Jillian Burgos (Arts Organization Representative)
James Askew (Community Org/Nonprofit Representative)
Region 11 (Voting closed)
Mar Vista
We strongly endorse the entire Mar Vista Progress slate.
Jasmine Delgado (Community Director)
Kelsey Figone (Zone 1)
Ashley Zeldin (Zone 2)
Derl Clausen (Zone 7)
Benjamin Szeghy (At-Large)
Edward H. Sand (At-Large)
Robin Doyno (At-Large)
Del Rey
Jessica “Jeffrey” Tropp (Area F Director)
Adam Lipman (Area E Director)
Daniel Perez (Communications Officer)
Palms
Rob Weber (Secretary)
Charles Miller (Residential Representative Area B)
Steven J. Stanton (Residential Representative Area C)
Katrina Kaiser (Residential Representative Area E)
South Robertson
Stefan Kalczynski (At-Large Representative)
Venice
Graham Sandelski (At-Large Community Officer)
Christopher Lee (At-Large Community Officer)
Noreen Ahmed (Community Interest/Community Officer)
West Los Angeles-Sawtelle
Walton Chiu (North West District Representative)
Alexandra Caryotakis (At-Large Representative)
Region 12 (Voting closed)
No recommendations.
Region 9 (Voting closed)
South Central
Rev. Redeem Robinson (President)
Region 10 (Voting closed)
Empowerment Congress Central Area
Jamaal A. Gulledge (Area 3 Representative)