The editorial board strongly endorses Paul Koretz for City Council District 5, which encompasses UCLA, Westwood and the North Village housing area that is mostly occupied by students.
Koretz is an experienced local politician, and it is evident that he cares deeply about maintaining his accessibility to his constituents.
For example, Koretz said that he has made his home phone number available to constituents to call him directly and that he will hold weekly office hours for constituents to talk to him about issues that concern them.
Koretz seems to be ““ at least in terms of accessibility ““ a welcome reprieve from Councilman Jack Weiss whose office is a notorious stone wall.
Koretz also graduated from UCLA and understands which issues students are concerned about and has said he will work toward addressing them.
For example, Koretz said he sees no reason for the city to enforce a ban on “apron parking” in the North Village. For some time, the city has been threatening to ticket apron-parked cars, which would reduce the number of already scarce parking spots in the North Village by 300.
Koretz also said he would do his best to repair the worst of the aging and badly cracked sidewalks plaguing Westwood.
Specifically, he cited a large sidewalk crack in front of the Subway Sandwich on Westwood Boulevard. Currently, a barrier is in place to prevent pedestrian injuries, but the crack has remained unrepaired for years.
In an interview with The Bruin, Koretz also pledged to look into the restrictions on amplified sound on campus. He said that limiting amplified sound to one or two hours seems unreasonable, and that he would work with the community to be more flexible about the rule ““ which would allow for more student activity.
Koretz also said he thinks Westwood, both north and south of Wilshire, has started to look “shabby,” with trash piling up in parking lots, peeled paint and poorly maintained sidewalks.
He said he planned to “spiff up” the area as much as possible, which he described as being in poor condition since its heyday.
He added that efforts to beautify Westwood would probably attract more businesses.
Koretz, a longtime resident of District 5, has served as a state assemblyman for six years and served as a city councilman in West Hollywood for 12 years. He has the experience and platform to make positive change for UCLA students.