The North Westwood Neighborhood Council passed a community impact statement calling on UCLA to designate itself as a sanctuary campus at its April meeting.

The council, which represents UCLA and Westwood Village, meets on the first Wednesday of every month at UCLA’s Weyburn Terrace. Their meetings can be attended in person or virtually by the public using the link posted on the corresponding agenda. The next meeting is set to be held May 6.

Comments made by public officials:

• Carmen Zambrano, the assistant director of UCLA Local Government and Community Relations, said the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture on the Conditions of Peace will be held April 21, the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge will take place May 7 and UCLA Extension’s film festival will be held May 3 through May 9. Zambrano said the LA Sanitation S.A.F.E. Collection Center at UCLA, which has been closed since May 2025, is ready to reopen following a city review.

Comments made by the public:

• Jovana Hester, a staff member in Undergraduate Students Association Council Transfer Student Representative Hyerim Yoon’s office, said many students are afraid to leave their dormitories because of increased United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Los Angeles. She added that the NWWNC should create a reliable response network to provide Westwood residents and UCLA students with notice of ICE’s presence.

• Zennon Ulyate-Crow, the executive director of People First of California, said he is running for state senate in California District 24, which represents Westwood and UCLA.

• Morgan Oyler, an accountant and long-time Westwood resident, said he is running to represent the LA City Council’s fifth district, which includes Westwood and UCLA.

• Lionel Mares, an administrative clerk for the City of Los Angeles, said city controller Kenneth Mejia announced his office had identified $80.4 million in unused funds across 177 special funds. He added that people should review the official press release.

Announcements:

• Connor Webb, the chair of the transportation, environment and public space committee, said UCLA Transportation presented to the committee in March about in-progress transit improvements. He added that the committee refiled several items on the consent calendar that require renewed approval.

• Patrick Babajanian, the chair of the ad hoc olympics and paralympics committee, said that LA28 presented at the committee’s March meeting. He added that the committee plans to visit the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games office so they can collaborate more in the future. Babajanian also said the committee drafted a community impact statement for the consent calendar requesting that all opportunities for bidding be organized in a centralized database.

• Andrew Lewis, the chair of the community health, homelessness and safety committee, said the committee is organizing a student-painted mural that commemorates Westwood’s Persian population.

• Elizabeth Brady, the chair of the budget and finance committee, said the committee did not meet this month but has items on the agenda pertaining to administrative expenses.

• Kevin Crummy, a business board member, said he hoped to raise awareness about threatening behavior displayed by a person who attended past meetings virtually. Crummy added that he believes the person made distracting statements at last month’s online meeting and subsequently threatened his family members, which made him concerned about hybrid NWWNC meetings.

• Jacob Lawson, an undergraduate student board member, said that he plans to send out sign-up slots for upcoming community event CicLAvia to increase the NWWNC’s presence at Westwood events. He added that members should review recommendations from the Charter Reform Commission.

Agenda:

• Gigi Martinez, CicLAvia’s outreach and engagement coordinator, gave a presentation about a car-free event April 26. The event will feature a pop-up park open to all attendees.

• The council voted on a community impact statement in support of restoring and maintaining neighborhood council elections funding. The council also voted unanimously in favor of the statement with an amendment from Elsa Duval, a co-chair of the ad hoc olympics and paralympics committee, to mention the Charter Reform Commission’s request to strengthen neighborhood councils.

• The council voted to pass all funding items on the agenda without objection.

• The council voted to pass a community impact statement in support of the Bureau of Engineering and LADOT, which plans to dissolve the Transportation Construction Traffic Management Committee and replace it with the Coordinated Streets of Significance Review Process. The process would streamline the city’s Metro, utility and complete streets infrastructure projects, according to the CIS drafted by the transportation, environment and public space committee of the NWWNC.

• The council voted to pass a community impact statement urging UCLA to designate itself a sanctuary campus. The designation would reassure the community that the university does not support the federal government’s mass deportation campaign, according to the CIS. The council also requested specific protections for undocumented students, including legal services, remote learning accommodations and guaranteed degree completion for students impacted by immigration enforcement.

• The council approved its March consent calendar.