The Emergency Management Department (EMD) Bulletin for this month highlights ways you can prepare your family and home before the expected El Niño rainfall and storms begin.

Get free emergency alerts sent to you via text, voicemail, or email by registering at NotifyLA.org, the City of Los Angeles official emergency alert system.

Check out the City’s comprehensive El Niño website at www.ElNinoLA.com for more tips and preparedness information.

Download the Bulletin PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0xI-9TuHe7zb2xGMjFfWG1Penc/view?usp=sharing

The GWNC Sustainability Committee is partnering with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to help residents of the Greater Wilshire area conserve water. Many zip codes within the Greater Wilshire area are in the top 1% of water users for the City of Los Angeles. The GWNC Sustainability Committee and LADWP are partnering together to change this statistic with their “180 Days to Turn It Around” campaign. The campaign will be limited to a small group of residents who must opt-in to the challenge. LADWP will perform an audit of the participating residences’ water usage. At the January 13, 2016 GWNC Board meeting, participating residents will receive a welcome packet from the LADWP with an analysis of their water usage. LADWP will provide recommendations on how to reduce water usage. Participating residents will have 180 days from the program’s official launch on January 13, 2016 reduce their water usage by 20%.

If you would like to participate in this program, you must opt-in to the program and submit your nomination tosustainability@greaterwilshire.org by January 6, 2016. Please include your name, address, contact information, and state in the body of your email: “I opt-in to the GWNC Sustainability Committee’s 180 Days to Turn it Around campaign.” Residence within the Greater Wilshire area is required for participation. For additional questions regarding the program, please email sustainability@greaterwilshire.org

The Department of Water and Power is proposing to raise our water and power rates by about 30% over the next five years. The $1.4 billion in new revenue will be used to improve the Water System’s infrastructure and water quality and to fund the Power System’s energy efficiency program and the State mandated transition to renewable energy.

On Wednesday, October 14, the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council will sponsor a 30 minute, moderated discussion with our Department of Water and Power to discuss the proposed rate increase.

The GWNC is asking the public to review the presentation online prior to the meeting and submit questions on the presentation to be asked at the meeting by Monday, October 12, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. Please submit questions to ladwppresentation@greaterwilshire.org. The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council will be at the Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90005, beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14.

CD4 Council Member David Ryu wants to hear from you! And he wants to fix our streets and sidewalks, too! The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council’s Transportation Committee is teaming up with Councilmember Ryu’s Office (Council District 4) to create a database of streets and sidewalks in need of repair within CD 4. If you live in CD 4 and within the boundaries of the Greater Wilshire area, please send your requests for street and sidewalk repairs to transportation@greaterwilshire.org.

Please include the following information: Your name, location of the sidewalk/street in need of repair (include closest address, if possible), HPOZ information (if applicable), brief description, and a photograph of the street or sidewalk in need of repair. Please note that there is no promise or guarantee that the street or sidewalk will be repaired. Please send all submissions by Friday, November 20, 2015.