Councilwoman Mungo Holds "State of the 5th District" Event For Invited Guests And Others (Attending Via Process Currently Unclear) In Event Tent With Dinner Included At El Dorado Golf Course Restaurant

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(May 21, 2016, 5:45 a.m.) -- Approaching the midpoint of her Council term of office, 5th district Councilwoman Stacy Mungo held a "State of the Fifth District" event that -- in contrast to her first "State of" event a year earlier in a public park -- wasn't a public meeting style event.

Instead, roughly 150-180 guests -- invited or attending via a process that remains unconfirmed to us by her office -- heard Councilwoman Mungo speak in an event tent, with dinner included, at the El Dorado Golf Course Restaurant.

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Those visible (at the front table) included Mayor Robert Garcia, Councilwoman Suzie Price and their aides.

Others present included various city officials/staffers, some lobbyists, business owners/operators and residents who attended via a procedure we were unable to confirm with Councilwoman Mungo's office through a May 20 phone call and follow-up email inquiring about it.

To our knowledge, word of Councilwoman Mungo's "State of the 5th District" event wasn't publicly available in advance on her City Hall website or on her Facebook page that we could see. (We learned about it via a tip.)

As guests exited, some in the audience told us they were invited by Councilwoman Mungo's office or learned of the event via an email perhaps (they speculated) as subscribers to her email list. One indicated that Mungo's newsletter or some type of email included a "click" link allowing recipients to indicate if they wanted to attend. The day after the event, responses from those who attended were generally positive on NextDoor.com.

However other 5th district residents (who didn't receive invitations from Councilwoman Mungo's office although they regularly participate in civic matters) voiced displeasure on learning that her "State of" their Council district apparently didn't include general public notice or public meeting-style access for district residents. Some said that although they subscribe to Councilwoman Mungo's emailed newsletter, they didn't see news of the upcoming event or see or receive any invitation to attend. The exact procedure remains a mystery to us; if you attended, we'd like to chat with you briefly (and we won't use your name); just email us at mail@LBReport.com and let us know how best to reach you.]

In her remarks, Councilwoman Mungo said the 5th district had seen growth in new businesses (over 200 she said.) She promoted an upcoming November 5 "History of Flight" event at LB Airport, praised City Hall internship programs, and said that after years of work, "we" [much was under her predecessor] were able to provide LBPD with a new East Division police substation on Willow St. near Grand Ave.

Regarding public safety, Councilwoman Mungo said she wants to work to see Neighborhood Watch "on every street" to assist LBPD, noting that a watchful ELB resident recently used Next Door.com to help police catch a suspect in real time. Councilwoman Mungo encouraged the audience to use NextDoor.com while adding that "it can be difficult to listen to one more conversation about soccer fields or coyotes."

Councilwoman Mungo noted that some ELB schools are preparing to launch a "campaign for kindness" that she would like to expand to neighborhoods. She advised the audience to watch for her newsletter for information on the coming campaign and how to report acts of kindness and indicated she'd like to start an inter-district competition for which Council district is the most kind.

Councilwoman Mungo concluded her remarks by saying, "So thank you for sharing your time with me. Thank you for sharing your concerns with me. Thank you for sharing your trust with me, and please continue to give me that feedback and help me grow, because I signed up for this when I wasn't quite prepared yet, and I promise by the time I'm done we will have contributed to creating someone who really has had an impact on each and every one of your behalf and each and every one of your mentorship and better [audibility from a distance difficult]. Thank you." [Audio for reference here.]