Westwood BID recap – April 21

The Westwood Village Improvement Association, also known as the BID, is a nonprofit organization tasked with improving the state of Westwood Village. The BID was created by property and business owners in August 2011 to provide Westwood Village with functions the City of Los Angeles could not provide. Its board of directors meets monthly.

• Andrew Thomas, executive director of the BID, said the city’s transportation department installed dynamic signs in Westwood Village that will show the number of parking spaces available on the street and in the Broxton Avenue public parking garage. He said the signs would begin working within two weeks.
• Thomas also said the BID will host two public meetings with a UCLA graduate class May 12 and June 2 at 2 p.m. to discuss changes to the Westwood Village Specific Plan. The meetings will take place at 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 105.
• Eric Geier, community relations manager for Los Angeles County Metro, gave a presentation to the BID board of directors and the public about the Purple Line Extension to Westwood. He said a half-cent tax increase proposal could allow construction to be finished by 2024.
• The board of directors unanimously voted to increase BID staff’s 401K retirement plan, a $5,673 additional cost annually to the BID. There will be no cuts to services provided by the BID since this increase was included in the BID’s budget for this year.
• The board also unanimously voted to give a $24,000 bonus to Thomas as part of his contract, after evaluating his performance as executive director during closed session.