Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss addressed the concerns of
an audience of about 150 from the Hombly-Westwood Property Owners
Association and discussed his progress in strengthening the
Westwood Village community Thursday night.
Gathered at the biggest association meeting of the year,
Westwood residents came to listen and discuss issues related to the
upkeep of the Village and how its appearance affects shoppers and
the residential community.
One resident said the streets were not being cleaned as
regularly as they should be and that litter was diminishing the
Village’s attractiveness to visitors.
In response to a resident’s question as to “why the
Village is such a pigsty,” Weiss said that the appearance of
the area ““ including the many empty storefronts ““ was
one of many topics the city was working on.
“It’s a collapse of business and the result of a
variety of reasons,” Weiss said.
Weiss said he has had many successes with past issues related to
the Village’s appearance, such as backing a stronger
ordinance that regulated the placement and appearance of news
racks.
Obtaining free two-hour parking in the Broxton Avenue structure
to encourage shoppers to visit Village merchants was another of his
projects, Weiss said.
Another issue of concern was Palazzo Westwood, a $100 million
project from developer Alan Casden on Glendon Avenue, and its
effect on traffic and business in the area.
The subterranean garage being built to provide parking for 350
new upscale apartments and 115,000 sq. ft. of retail space requires
Glendon Avenue to close for eight months to a year, causing some
concern that the closure would both hurt businesses on Glendon and
create traffic issues in Westwood.
Some residents also believe that the project is exceeding
Westwood’s building height restrictions and that it will
become a giant that overshadows other shops in the area.
The development of new buildings in the Village has some
questioning why the city is not first working to improve the
condition of its streets.
Many of the roadways around UCLA are subjected to heavy daily
wear and haven’t undergone replacement for many years.
Long-term alteration between dry and rainy weather has caused the
gravel to expand and contract, leading to the formation of
potholes.
The potholes cause not just bumpier rides but also damage the
vehicles when they hit some of the deeper cavities.
“We have so many potholes in this city that need
resurfacing. The problem is that (resurfacing) is not a permanent
solution, but we can certainly get the potholes filled,”
Weiss said.
Homeowners at the meeting also asked about the increasing
frequency of power outages that affected homes and street lights
and what the Department of Water and Power was doing to fix the
problem.
Dan Miroballi, the department’s power section general
superintendent, said the company was addressing the power outages
that were the result of a variety of different causes such as
fallen trees, the recent rainy weather, and transformer and cable
splices failing.
“We hope to have (the city power grid) back to the
reliability it had from 1999 to 2003 by the end of 2005,”
Miroballi said.
The meeting also included issues which exist beneath the surface
of city operations.
Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick, who was also present at
the meeting, said Westwood needed to “improve city services
and open up the city’s books to more public
understanding.”
Chick said that many deficiencies still existed in city
departments and programs and said that as the city’s
“taxpayer watchdog” she was working to eliminate waste
and fraud.
An investigation team run under Chick has been auditing the
Department of Water and Power in charge of Westwood’s
services and, according to Chick, has found questionable project
contracts and practices.
Chick questioned why the Department of Water and Power was
paying $24 million for a public relations firm instead of spending
the money on improving their current systems, and questioned why
they needed a public relations firm at all if they were doing their
job.