Merchants who want to see Westwood as it was when the Village
was so busy during the weekends it was known as “Times Square
West” remain frustrated with the board advocating their
interests and believe it needs to be reorganized.
The Westwood Village Business Improvement District was formed
seven years ago to supplement city services such as tree-trimming
and street and sidewalk cleaning. It was also supposed to develop a
strategy for increasing parking and tenancy in the Village as well
as the creation of a vibrant mix of retail necessary for a trendy
shopping area.
But it has failed to do so, according to some of its board
members.
The BID, whose charter expires on Sept. 31, is currently
undergoing a comprehensive overview, including an audit, by City
Councilman Jack Weiss, whose Fifth District includes Westwood.
Many merchants who fund the BID claim it has failed to achieve
its basic goals. They claim that though new businesses such as
Ralph’s, Best Buy and the arriving Home Depot have come in
since the BID was formed, the mix of retail which would best serve
UCLA students and draw in outside patrons remains nonexistent.
In the eyes of the few merchants who sit on the BID’s
board of directors, it needs to be reformed to better represent the
interests of the merchants paying into it.
“I don’t believe the board has a unified vision, and
therefore I think that many of the things that need to be done are
not, important issues are not being addressed,” said Jeff
Able, owner of Sarah Leonard’s Fine Jewelers.
Able and others believe the BID needs to be fundamentally
restructured to better represent the interests of Westwood
merchants.
The BID is property-based, which means the landowners within the
district pay the City of Los Angeles an assessment fee. The city
then deposits these funds into an account managed by the
BID’s paid staff who oversee its operations.
But according to board members Able and Phil Gabriel of Scrubs
Unlimited, most landowners have a “pass-through system”
where the lessee reimburses the landowner the BID assessment fee.
Gabriel said Village landowners leasing their property make up
about 70 percent of BID funding, but 90 percent of them collect
this fee from their tenants.
To some, this system is undemocratic.
“It’s a modern day Patrick Henry story — an
“˜assessment’ without representation,” said Jay
Handel of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
Able said the board favors the interests of landowners, realtors
and the Wilshire property owners over the Village merchants who
contribute most of the BID’s funding.
The BID is divided into two zones, one encompassing the Village
and the other the properties of the Wilshire Corridor.
Since the BID’s representation among Village merchants,
landowners and Wilshire properties is roughly equal, Able and
Gabriel believe the board is unwilling or unable to focus on the
specific needs of the Village and the general aim of recreating it
as a vibrant commercial-retail center.
Westwood merchants are more likely to have the greatest interest
in improving the overall Westwood economy, since much of their
success immediately depends upon the foot traffic of browsing
shoppers, Able said.
He added that the Wilshire Corridor zone should be eliminated
from the BID because its corporate interests have nothing to do
with the revitalization of Westwood Village.
“It’s like mixing doctors and carpenters together in
a trade organization” Able said.
Because the board represents divergent interests, there appears
to be disagreement on how active the BID should be with soliciting
prospective tenants and encouraging landowners to provide the
optimal mix of retail.
Some believe that too many on the board place personal interests
ahead of the collective interests of the community, further
diluting the BID’s resolve. This has frustrated many to the
point of losing faith in the board.
“No one wanted to do anything good for the Village, they
only wanted to do something good for themselves,” said Marcus
Rosner, owner of Morgan and Co. Jewelers on Glendon Avenue.
Rosner resigned from the board, saying the lack of cooperation
wasted his time.
This inability to work together has prevented the BID from
solving Westwood’s longstanding parking troubles.
Gabriel, who has been a board member for three years and is the
chair of the BID parking committee, says the voluntary parking
validation system is too expensive and not enough parking lots are
willing to participate. To make matters worse, he said there are
even landowners on the board who own parking lots, yet refuse to
participate in the program.
But board members have admitted that since they have not
prioritized soliciting prospective tenants or an active marketing
program, it is difficult to blame its staff for not performing
something they were never instructed to do.
The inherent competitiveness of the real estate business may
also be playing a factor in the difficulties of creating a
desirable retail mix. As landowners are likely to compete for
certain tenants, they may be unwilling to work collaboratively with
one another or to share information publicly.
“The way it is now it has been a fundamental
disaster,” Gabriel said. “We are spending too much
money to be a third or fourth place ball club.”
On the Web:
www.westwood-village.org, and
lacity.org/council/cd5/Index.htm