A system of Neighborhood Councils was established in the new Charter of the City of Los Angeles. Prior to the current Charter, the previous one was adopted in 1924 when Los Angeles was far smaller and far less diverse than it is today. By 1990 that Charter was seen as out-of-date and in 1991 the City began a process of charter reform. In 1996 the City appointed a Charter Reform Commission. A second Charter Reform Commission was elected by voters. Both worked in parallel and held over a hundred public hearings between 1997 and 1999. On June 2, 1999 the new Charter was approved by the voters and it took effect on July 1, 2000.

The system of Neighborhood Councils is authorized under Article IX, Section 900:

To promote more citizen participation and make government more responsive to local needs, a citywide system of neighborhood councils, and a Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is created. Neighborhood councils shall include representatives of the many diverse interests in communities and shall have an advisory role on issues of concern to the neighborhood.

Following the Los Angeles structure of commission government, a Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) was created to oversee the new department (DONE).

The Bel-Air Association provided the leadership for the formation of the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council and is active in its operation. This Council is a federation of more than 15 homeowner associations covering the area east of Sepulveda Boulevard, south of Mulholland Drive, west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and north of Sunset Boulevard  (excluding the City of Beverly Hills.) In addition there are four business districts, six schools, two religious organizations, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and employee groups represented. Members of the Council are elected public officials and the Council is a public body operating in accordance with the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and laws governing conflicts of interest.

The City launched its public campaign on February 5, 2000 at a Neighborhood Convention that met at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The Convention was a part of Mayor Richard Riordan’s plan to demonstrate that the City was sensitive to the needs of its citizens and the neighborhoods where they lived and worked and, not incidentally, reducing the impact of the festering and divisive Valley secession issue.

That Convention was attended by four people from the Bel-Air Association. The meeting was stimulating and convinced us that this could be the beginning of an important new way to deal with the City. One of the attractive features was the realistic position of the City that each neighborhood would be free to organize itself as fitted its particular circumstances. As Mayor Riordan put it, “You tell us.”

The formation was lengthy involving achieving consensus among the stakeholder groups, writing bylaws, going through a certification process culminating with a public hearing before the BONC, and holding public elections. Seats are allocated according to a formula based on the size of the particular stakeholder group. The Bel-Air Association holds 3 seats on a Council of 42. The Neighborhood Council meets monthly on the fourth Wednesday 7–9 PM. Its meetings alternate between the Community Magnet School in Bel-Air and the Wonderland School off Laurel Canyon Boulevard.