This post was updated Aug. 18 at 11:52 p.m.

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council, the official neighborhood council representing UCLA and Westwood Village to the Los Angeles City Council met Aug. 7.

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 Sept. 4.

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

Comments by public officials:

• Kenneth Miller, the West Los Angeles area representative for Mayor Karen Bass, said Bass convened the new Film and Television Task Force, which she announced earlier this month as a way to address production-related issues with city departments. Miller added that Bass was pleased with the Point-In-Time Count – the city-wide homeless count in LA. Bass returned from the Olympics in Paris, where she brought back the Olympic flag for LA – which is set to host the next games, Miller said.

• Janet Turner, Congressman Ted Lieu’s outreach deputy district director, said Lieu joined Bass and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at Exposition Park to celebrate LA Metro’s receiving of $139 million for its Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy Project. Turner also said the congressman is a co-chair of the Congressional Olympic and Paralympic Caucus, and introduced resolution H.Res. 1381, which commemorates the beginning of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Lieu also co-sponsored two pieces of housing legislation in July – the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act and the Affordable Housing Resident Services Act – Turner said.

• Mario Garcia, battalion chief at LA Fire Department, said there was an earthquake Aug. 6, which activated LAFD’s earthquake mode. Garcia reminded the board to keep emergency supplies ready and to call 911 in the case of brush fires.

• Carmen Zambrano, the assistant director of community and local government relations at UCLA, said former University of Miami President Julio Frenk will enter office as chancellor starting January 2025, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt is serving as chancellor in an interim capacity until then. Zambrano said the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is hosting sunset garden tours every third Thursday of the month through September, and the Hammer Museum is holding its 17th Jazz Pop event this month.

[Related: University of Miami President Julio Frank announced as UCLA’s new chancellor]

• Erica Gatica Doughty, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment project coordinator, said Carmen Chang held the West LA Listening Session. She also said the 2024 Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhoods is happening in September.

Comments made by the public:

• Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said the funds for books given to the Westwood Library were put to “good use” and reminded the board about the library’s summer reading program.

Agenda:

• Steven Salas, a spokesperson for California Highway Patrol, said since CHP is statewide, the decisions made about protest responses came from the county division, not the local station. Salas added that CHP has general training for protest engagement as well as a special response team, and that its first goal is to protect state property. When asked about less-than-lethal rounds allegedly being pointed at people’s heads, Salas said he did not know of any specific cases of that happening, but that it is against protocol. Salas said CHP’s protocol evolves over the years, shifting due to new experience gained, changes in laws and available resources. CHP also conducts a debrief of every use of force, he said.

• The council passed a community impact statement and a commendation recommendation for LA City Council in support of UCLA Student Media.

• The council passed a community impact statement supporting design proposals for the future Westwood location of Raising Cane’s. The designs will be tailored to Westwood Village, including elements of the Bruin and Fox theaters as well as utilizing UCLA’s blue and gold in the design theme.

• The council passed a community impact statement in support of reform for LA municipal code section 41.18, which addresses obstruction of public streets and sidewalks. The council supports amendments to section 41.18 to identify available, close shelter spaces.

• The council passed a statement in support of the LA Department of Transportation Westside Mobility Project, which seeks to provide pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure around the westside. The council supported the construction of a two-way, protected bicycle lane on Ohio Ave.

• The council tabled a possible action item for a community impact statement about neighborhood council term limits and youth seats.

• The council established an ad hoc elections committee with councilmember Andrew Lewis as chair and councilmember Jacob Wasserman as co-chair, with councilmembers Elizabeth Brady and Elsa Duval as members.

• Bettina O’Mara resigned from the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition.

• The council approved its July consent calendar.