Westwood Village Improvement Association recap – June 15

The Westwood Village Improvement Association is a nonprofit organization tasked with improving the state of Westwood Village. Property and business owners created the association in 2011 to provide Westwood Village with functions the city of Los Angeles could not provide. Its board of directors meets monthly.

• Executive director Andrew Thomas said the city recently reconstructed the sidewalk on Westwood Boulevard between Le Conte and Weyburn avenues. He added the association will begin tree trimming in mid-August.
• Michael Skiles, Graduate Students Association president, said he hopes the association and GSA can work together to bring student-friendly businesses that can add more nightlife to Westwood Village.
• Board member Bill Tucker said the Parking Access and Transportation committee spoke with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation about how to prevent drivers from misusing disabled parking placards to avoid paying for parking. Thomas said this misuse affects street parking revenue, as about half of the cars parked in Westwood Village have disabled parking placards.
• Tucker added the committee will meet with LADOT officials to discuss transferring the Broxton Avenue Public Parking Garage’s maintenance from the city to the association.
• Michael Cortez, construction relations manager for LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, gave an overview of the Purple Line extension to Westwood. He said Metro will begin relocating sewage, power water and other utility lines underneath Wilshire Boulevard in late summer or in October. He added that for most of the construction, Wilshire Boulevard will be reduced to two lanes and will be closed on multiple weekends.
• Carol Humiston, an attorney, gave a presentation about the Brown Act, a state law that guarantees a person’s right to attend and participate in a public organization’s meetings, such as association board and committee meetings.
• The board voted to change the association’s bylaws to extend board member term lengths to four years and eliminate term limits. The board also voted to limit executive officer terms to three years and give the board the authority to immediately fill vacant executive office terms.
• The board tabled the election of the board’s secretary to its meeting next month.
• The association’s staff introduced new designs for street pole signs and will present more mock-ups at a later board meeting.