North Westwood Neighborhood Council recap – Oct. 2

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council is the official neighborhood council representing Westwood Village and UCLA to the Los Angeles City Council. Council meetings are open to the public and held monthly. The next meeting will be held Nov. 6 in the Weyburn Commons Village View Room from 7-10 p.m.

Comments by Public Officials:

• Erin Seinfeld, Metro and West Los Angeles field deputy for county supervisor Sheila Kuehl, said the countywide voting process will be different beginning in 2020. Voting centers will replace polling places and voters will be able to vote at any center they visit. The centers will be open 10 days before election day and people can vote on a tablet that will print out their ballot.

Motions:

• The council unanimously approved a resolution supporting the liquor license application of the Landmark Regent Theatre and opposing any appeals this application may face. Margaret Taylor, CEO and senior building and land use consultant from Apex LA, presented the proposal to the board at the meeting on behalf of Landmark. The theater is currently undergoing renovations and will reopen in November, Taylor said.
• The council urged UCLA to do more to fund the food closet under the Community Programs Office while unanimously approving a $5,000 donation to the food closet. Council member Amir Tarighat said he supported funding the food closet but added he thought it was a tragedy UCLA was not fully funding the food closet.
• Kaleidoscope, a chamber orchestra, secured a $5,000 donation to perform in Westwood with unanimous approval from the council. Benjamin Mitchell, president of Kaleidoscope, pitched a concert in the Hammer Museum similar to the one the orchestra performed last year.
• The council approved a resolution opposing a proposed tax on vacant properties with 14 in favor, three against and one abstention. Council members Grayson Peters and Joseph Russel voted in favor of the proposed tax because they said the tax would encourage vacant properties to be filled. A majority of the council, however, agreed the city should make it easier to build new housing rather than impose negative sanctions and new regulations to decrease an already low vacancy rate.
• Council member Ashraf Beshay resigned with unanimous approval from the council. Beshay said he will be moving to Sacramento to work as a policy director for the University of California Student Association. The council will be accepting applications to fill Beshay’s seat, said president of the council Michael Skiles.