DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — While the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC) is well known to most Downtowners, the neighborhood's second council often flies under the radar. Serving the Arts District, Little Tokyo and Chinatown, the Historic Cultural Neighborhood Council (HCNC) is often the site for interesting discussions on issues of preservation and growth.

Not so much at September's Board of Directors meeting, held last Week at the Pico House. It was brisk, clocking in under 90 minutes. Aiding to its efficiency was a call of hands to those with early evening appointments, and the poor acoustics that kept one side of the board from hearing the other side.

Even public announcements were a practice in brevity, as Raymond Yu ran through five minutes of announcement in two minutes.

There was an introduction of the City Bureau of Sanitation's plans to research processing black bin waste. That was followed by a vote on bylaws to add a neighborhood; a moot point since the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is unable to recognize the same neighborhood until 2010. HCNC will consider the change in bylaws, just to be ready.

The board was thanked for its participation in the Tanabata Festival, which according to off the cuff comments, was one of the few approved items that didn't end up in debate.

Briefly introduced was a new project that would begin to seek funding for trees to be planted in Joel Bloom Square, and a brief discussion to update the HCNC website.

The longest discussion was one in which the Board of Directors requested that Grayce Liu, Senior Project Coordinator for the Central City East Region of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), to look into the slow processing payments for independent vendors. It was prompted by a report that the Board have guardianship of invoices more than a year old.

Liu agreed that the process is slow, as it is for all councils.

HCNC officers include Kim Benjamin, President, Brian Kito 1st VP, Jose Luis Sedano, Secretary, and David Nagano, Treasurer. The next meeting will be in the Arts District at Rothenberg Sawasy Architects, the first meeting held in that neighborhood, and it is promised that the venue will allow those in attendance to hear what is being said.