Bigger role sought by neighborhood councils

With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa due to meet today with department heads to discuss the city's budget, neighborhood council leaders say they want to have a bigger voice in how the city sets its priorities.Daily News.

Jay Handal, a member of the mayor's Neighborhood Council budget committee, and representatives of about 45 different neighborhood councils, signed a letter looking at various aspects of city finances and presented it to the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee.

"We want to have a place at the table and be able to do more than just provide advice to the city," Handal said. "We are concerned the city is heading toward bankruptcy and no one at City Hall seems to know how to stop it."