The La Brea General Council (LGC) was founded in 2012 in response to the need for one collective entity to represent the wide cross-section of the La Brea community in the interface with companies operating in the area.
After failed attempts to create such a body from exisiting NGOs/CBOs the decision was made to create a representative unit out of La Brea’s six village councils: Rousillac, La Brea, Sobo, Vessigny, Union and Vance River. Out of these six councils came the La Brea General Council (LGC) on which each village council is represented by three executives.
The LGC’s main objectives is to foster holistic development and collective representation on major issues in the community and to ensure a fair distribution of opportunity and resources among the six villages. The relationship between the LGC and the village councils is one of ongoing feedback and feed-forward to ensure that the LGC’s representation reflects the village councils’ position.
In its negotiations with companies operating in La Brea the LGC has been able to secure jobs, training opportunities, service contracts and improved amenities for the La Brea community. Its focus remains on ensuring that La Brea gets its fair share of the value of the natural resources extracted from it.