Venice Neighborhood Council Candidate Recruitment Party Thursday

The Venice Neighborhood Council will host a Candidate Recruitment Kickoff Reception on Thursday to help potential candidates understand the elections process and hear from current board members.

The candidate recruitment party will be held at the Canal Club restaurant, 2025 Pacific Ave., from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to everyone.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who starts chemotherapy Wednesday for cancer treatment, has been invited to attend to describe his relationship with the neighborhood councils and their role in city governance. Current board members also will be on hand to talk about the responsibilities of their positions. The elections process will be reviewed, a question-and-answer period will be held and time has been reserved to informally mix with current board members.

The whole board of the Venice Neighborhood Council is up for grabs in an election scheduled for Oct. 28 at Westminster Avenue Elemenatry School. Voters will be able to elect the following positions to the Venice Neighborhood Council: president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, communications officer, community outreach officer, land use and planning char, 13 community officers and one factual basis community officer.

All Venice Neighborhood Council stakeholders are eligible to run for office. A stakeholder is anyone who lives, works or owns property in Venice.

The deadline to file an application to become a candidate is Sept. 28. The city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) and an independent elections administrator will set the rules and hold the elections for most of the city's 95 neighborhood council boards.

Applications can be found online at the DONE Venice Neighborhood Council election site or at the VNC Table at the Venice Farmers’ Market on Friday mornings.