Stewart Moves to Neighborhood

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski remembers the day a few months ago that her office received a call from a disgruntled constituent. The man called often, and almost always to complain.

“I call him the grumbler,” Miscikowski said. “It’s the kind of call many people would cringe at and just give lip service to.”

But this time the woman on the receiving end was Rosalind Stewart, Miscikowski’s deputy for special projects. Instead of numbly listening while the man vented, Stewart turned the man’s gripes around, challenging him to assemble his neighbors for a community meeting.

“She got this guy, who had never done anything but grumble, to get his neighbors together. And we went out and had a meeting with 80 people,” Miscikowski said. “That’s Rosalind.”

Stewart, the council aide behind the $34-million government center planned for Van Nuys, has spent years working beyond the spotlight, fielding complaints and building partnerships, cleaning up neighborhoods and boosting businesses. Now the 49-year-old deputy is poised to take the reins of a new city agency, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, an enterprise at the heart of the movement to reform city governance.

How Stewart fares will help shape the fate of the most visible innovation of the new city charter: a citywide network of neighborhood councils designed to make government more accessible and responsive. With secessionist sentiment brewing in the San Fernando Valley, Stewart’s work will be closely watched.

“The neighborhood councils are the most critical part of the passage of the charter,” said Xandra Kayden, president of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles. “If this fails, it certainly gives weight to the arguments for secession.”

Those who have worked with Stewart praise her energy and determination, her listening skills and ability to bring all types of people to the table, rallying them to work as a team.

“She’s a natural leader and a great motivator,” said Claire Bartels, who worked with Stewart on the Marvin Braude Constituent Services Center in Van Nuys.

Bartels, then project manager for the city’s Department of General Services, said Stewart deftly bridged the gap between city officials and the Voit Cos., the private developer building the three-story government hub.

“In every way, she drew them together,” Bartels said. “She has a way with people, she really does.”

Stewart, who grew up in Sherman Oaks and Santa Clarita, served seven years as Valley field deputy for former Councilman Marvin Braude. She worked closely with Miscikowski--then Braude’s chief of staff--and when Miscikowski was elected in 1997, Stewart joined her staff.

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., said Stewart has shepherded $3 million in community block grants, part of the city’s Targeted Neighborhood Initiative Program, into Van Nuys.

“I think Rosalind has been a real asset. She’s knowledgeable. She knows downtown. She understands the issues,” he said. “I think it would be tough to find anyone better qualified.”

Under the new charter approved by city voters in June, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment has a year to produce a detailed plan for the neighborhood councils. Guided by public input, it must determine how many councils will be created, their boundaries and how they will be certified by the city.

The question of how much power to give the panels has been divisive. Some business leaders opposed the neighborhood councils, fearing they would create another layer of bureaucracy and hinder development. Others argued the charter, which gave the councils only an advisory role, did not go far enough in empowering neighborhoods.

After weeding through about 90 candidates, Mayor Richard Riordan nominated Stewart for general manager to head agency operations. His choice for the $115,000-a-year job is subject to City Council approval. While some have quietly criticized the nomination, confirmation is expected next week.

Critics say the job should have gone to someone with more citywide experience, someone, they say, who better understands the two years of debate that went into hammering out the new charter.

“The devil here is all in the details,” said Kayden, who helped lead a civic coalition for charter reform. “The job should not be about working at the grass roots. It’s a leadership position.”

Kayden said only one of the seven commissioners Riordan has named--the group that will set policy for the new department--was involved in the long negotiations over the charter’s neighborhood councils. “There is a sadness about starting all over again,” she said. “They will learn, but it sets us back.”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose 8th District Empowerment Congress has been hailed as a model for neighborhood councils, said Stewart “clearly has a lot to learn,” but added he has heard only positive things about her.

“I think the areas in which she’s worked would potentially benefit the most,” said Ridley-Thomas. He recently introduced a motion urging that the city hire more assistant managers for Stewart’s department to better represent communities across the city. For the No. 2 job, Riordan has named Yolanda Chavez, chief of staff to Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), who represents the Eastside.

Other observers have noted that Stewart lives in Acton, outside the city whose neighborhoods she will soon be organizing.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth said Stewart’s field work in the Valley makes her a natural fit for the job.

“She’s been out there doing exactly what this part of charter reform intended to do: empower communities, organize them and give them the ability to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods,” Roth said.

“There’s nothing like real-world experience and a proven track record to make us feel comfortable with her ability to do this citywide.”

With a decade of community organizing under her belt, Stewart said she feels well-prepared to steer the fledgling agency as it sets out to promote participatory democracy across a sprawling city.

“This is not top-down, it’s not about telling people what to do,” she said. “It’s about providing an opportunity and a process so they can get involved. The charter left it to the neighborhoods to tell us how they want to be organized. I am nothing without that input.”