A brighter future for Westwood may be on the horizon.
The Westwood Village Business Association had its first meeting
Wednesday, at which property owners and tenants alike expressed
their desire to work together, with sights set on re-creating the
bustling Village of the past.
What emerged at the meeting was a proposal for a property-based
Business Improvement District. A near-consensus of Westwood
commercial stakeholders stated their opposition to Councilman Jack
Weiss’ current BID proposal. However, they agreed his
proposal’s fundamental framework ““ under which the
assessment levied on the property owners would be filtered to
the tenants ““ could be successful if certain parameters are
met.
Most merchants were initially against Weiss’ proposal,
because of the past BID’s failure amid accusations of
corruption.
“How can you move forward with a BID when the old BID
hasn’t been cleaned up?” asked Robert Watson, general
manager of the W Hotel.
Councilman Jack Weiss, who represents Los Angeles’ fifth
district, which includes Westwood, said at a meeting on Jan. 9 a
property-based BID was unfair to merchants and seemed to be in
favor of a merchant-based BID, but he didn’t make any
indications of creating a new BID in the near future.
Then, just ten days later, Weiss put a new BID
proposal on the city council agenda, causing many Westwood
constituents to go up in arms.
Weiss was not at the Village Business Association meeting
Wednesday and was not available by phone. A press aide said she did
not know why Weiss did not attend the meeting.
The previous BID, which Weiss ended last fall, had $750,000 in
missing money and was cited for a Brown Act violation after alleged
secret settlements with a few BID members were made. The BID
also failed to get audited for three years, even though it was
legally required to be audited annually.
The BID is currently being audited, though the release of the
results ““ which were originally due in November
““Â has been pushed back four times.
Doug Brown was the BID treasurer for two years when the BID was
not audited and was cited for violating the Brown Act. The fact
that Brown has been at the forefront of the push for a new BID has
enraged Village merchants because of his involvement with the old
BID that many think was a miserable failure.
Westwood commercial tenants have concerns with a property-based
BID because they fear they might have little say in decisions and
the allocation of funds. Under such a model, they would incur all
the fees as stipulated under a “triple-net lease.”
Approximately 95 percent of Westwood commercial tenants have
such a lease, which demands that in addition to having to pay base
rents, merchants have to incur property taxes and BID assessments,
community maintenance fees, and building insurance, said Brad
Gienger, senior property manager of TOPA, a management company
owned by Westwood property owner John Anderson.
The Village Business Association is the community’s first
organization which is composed solely of property owners, tenants
and community members ““ without people harboring outside
interests. It will be headed by the West L.A. Chamber of
Commerce.
Instead of trying to combat the councilman’s proposal
““ which many stakeholders do not favor ““ the
association is attempting to work with the proposal in hope that it
can reach a fair compromise.
Brentwood has a property-based BID in which the merchants are
contracted with the property owners so that the merchants decide
how every dollar they put in is spent. The Westwood Village
Business Association is looking to replicate their setup for
Westwood.
The Westwood Village Business Association modified the city
council’s BID proposal which it believes would adequately
address Westwood stakeholders’ two primary concerns in the
Village ““ parking and street maintenance.
The organization’s BID proposal is looking for
approximately $400,000 annually for parking validation subsidies
and a more permanent solution to the Village’s parking
problems. It is looking for approximately $175,000 annually for
street maintenance, which would supplement the Street Maintenance
Assessment District’s annual expenditures of $220,000.
Many merchants agree that street maintenance was adequate under
the old BID.
The third priority merchants have is addressing the issue of
transients, who, they say, degrade the clean and prosperous image
the Village desires.
This issue will be addressed by the Business Watch, a
subcommittee of the Westwood Village Business
Association headed by Senior Lead Officer Michael Wang.