North Westwood Neighborhood Council recap – Oct. 6

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council is the official neighborhood council representing UCLA, Westwood Village and the North Village to the Los Angeles City Council. Council meetings are held each month and open to the public via Zoom. The next board meeting has not yet been scheduled as of publication because the council has been on probation by the city of Los Angeles.

The Oct. 13 and future board meetings were suspended because the NWWNC was placed in probationary status by the city of Los Angeles on Oct. 7 for noncompliance with an agenda posting policy.

[Related: North Westwood Neighborhood Council to undergo 3-month probationary period]

The probation is scheduled to last for three months, during which the council’s meeting agendas will be supervised by a neighborhood empowerment advocate from the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

The NWWNC held a special board meeting Sept. 7. The board approved its May expenditure reports and 2021-22 annual budget report at the meeting.

The NWWNC also held a board meeting on Oct. 6 as originally scheduled but only discussed nonvoting matters because not enough council members attended to meet quorum.

A special board meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 13 to discuss agenda items not addressed in the Oct. 7 meeting, but it was canceled because the council was placed on probation.

Comments by public officials at the Oct. 6 board meeting:

• Carmen Zambrano, a UCLA Government and Community Relations spokesperson, said the community held a cleanup in North Westwood for UCLA Volunteer Day. Zambrano added that UCLA is hoping to make similar community cleanups into a regular service event.

• Janet Turner, a representative for Rep. Ted Lieu’s office, said the House of Representatives passed an abortion bill that, if passed, would codify Roe v. Wade protections into federal law. Turner added that Lieu, the co-chair of the California Coastal Caucus, called for the end of off-shore oil drilling for environmental reasons.

There were no board announcements.

Public comment at the Oct. 6 board meeting:

• An individual with the Zoom name “ANDREW P (They/Them)” said that affordable housing in Westwood, including prioritizing construction of affordable units, is important for the neighborhood. They added that regarding public safety issues, they support public funding for unarmed mental health crisis responders.

• Jacob Wasserman said he was disappointed by Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz’s motion in the city council that would criminalize homelessness in Westwood Park.

• Lisa Hart, a board member at the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, said her organization’s mission is to work on sustainability issues with its more than 60 member neighborhood councils. Hart added that the organization is holding an advocacy training Sept. 10 and invited council members to attend.

Agenda items were not discussed.