The North Westwood Neighborhood Council, the official neighborhood council representing UCLA and Westwood Village to the Los Angeles City Council met Wednesday.

NWWNC meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month at UCLA’s Weyburn Terrace and are open to the public. Meetings can be attended in person or virtually using the link posted on the corresponding month’s agenda. The next meeting is set to be held Mar. 6.

In the Feb. 7 meeting, the council and Westwood community members heard from public officials and discussed issues in the region.

Comments by public officials:

• Assemblymember Rick Zbur’s field representative Sherwin Shamoeil said Zbur announced Feb. 6 that he will be co-authoring a bill with Assemblymembers Jim Wood and Josh Lowenthal to put a $1 billion bond on the ballot to support port infrastructure.

• Carmen Zambrano, assistant director of UCLA’s Community & Local Government Relations, said UCLA purchased the former Westside Pavillion, which will now be called the UCLA Research Park. She added that UCLA also purchased the West Hills Hospital, which will help ease UCLA Health shortages. Zambrano also said John Wooden is being honored by the United States Postal Service with a postage stamp released in January, and a celebration will be held at UCLA on Feb. 24. She added that UCLA will have multiple voting centers during the primary election.

• Michael Russell, executive director of the Westwood Village Improvement Association, asked for the council’s support in leasing a retail space in the Broxton Avenue parking garage that will be used as a Westwood Village information center.

• Janet Turner, Congressman Ted Lieu’s outreach deputy district director, said Lieu and Congressman Brad Sherman wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asking that it considers changing its policy of counting service-connected disability benefits as income so that unhoused disabled veterans can access housing. She also said Lieu introduced the Glue Trap Prohibition Act, which bans glue traps often used to catch rodents.

• Amanda Laflen, field deputy from District 3 Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s office, said the office is taking feedback for the LA Homeless Service Authority’s annual homeless count. She added that Horvath’s office is hosted an open house at their new Hollywood location Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m.

Comments made by the public:

• Steve Sann, co-chair of the Westwood Homeless Count and chair of the Westwood Community Council – a nongovernmental board that represents Westwood stakeholders – said Westwood’s annual homeless count was successful and thanked volunteers for joining.

[Related: Over 150 community members volunteer in annual Westwood Homeless Count]

Agenda:

• The council passed a motion that allows for hybrid meetings, following the passing of Senate Bill 411, which allows neighborhood councils to meet virtually.

• The council unanimously approved the resignation of NWWNC faculty member Donald Shoup.

• The council voted for Elsa Duval, a UCLA lecturer in the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies, to become the new faculty member.

• The council passed numerous changes to its bylaws, including barring NWWNC board members from serving on other neighborhood councils and allowing board members to serve four consecutive full terms – plus one partial term – instead of the previous seven consecutive years, effective immediately. The amendments still need to be reviewed and approved by the LA Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and the LA Board Of Neighborhood Commissioners before going into effect.

• The council also supported a conditional use beverage permit for California Pizza Kitchen’s (CPK) Westwood location, which allows for the continued sale of alcoholic beverages. CPK will change its hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

• The council also supported Michael Russell’s request for leasing the retail space below the Broxton Avenue parking garage.

• The council approved the February consent calendar.

Announcements:

• Peter Clinco, managing member of Skylight Gardens, a restaurant in Westwood Village, passed away in December. Council president Josh Trifunovic said Clinco was instrumental in helping him open Rocco’s Tavern.

• The planning and land use committee unanimously passed California Pizza Kitchen’s conditional use permit and a resolution agreeing with a new executive director from Mayor Karen Bass, said Raag Agrawaal, a NWWNC member.

• The budget and finance committee made changes that allow unused money to go toward neighborhood purpose grants, said Nuha Khalfay, a NWWNC member.