The North Westwood Neighborhood Council elected a board member and urged the city of Los Angeles to address housing and homelessness concerns at its August meeting.

The council, which represents UCLA and Westwood Village, meets on the first Wednesday of every month at UCLA’s Weyburn Terrace. People can attend the council’s meetings in person or virtually using the link posted on the corresponding agenda.

Comments made by public officials:

• Nicolas Rodriquez, district director for Rep. Ted Lieu, said Lieu introduced a bill that authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to slow or stop the development of artificial intelligence models the federal government deems dangerous. Rodriquez added that Lieu secured additional funding to help UCLA expand its fleet of electric buses. Rodriquez also said Lieu secured more than $1 million in funding for a housing project on Sepulveda Boulevard, which includes about 120 housing units.
• Alexandra Dildine, the field representative for California State Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur, said Zbur helped secure $5 million in funding for UCLA’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy. She added that the state budget – signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in June – also allocates $300 million to healthcare affordability initiatives and $500 million for low-income housing tax credits.
• Henry Houser, a field representative for California State Sen. Ben Allen, said he tabled at UCPD’s National Night Out event to raise awareness about the projects Allen’s office is working on.
• Carmen Zambrano, an assistant director of local government and community relations at UCLA, said UCPD’s first National Night Out event had a large turnout. She added that UCLA is searching for a location for Volunteer Day, an annual community service event held in September. Zambrano said several other events, including a live music event in the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden and the Westwood Block Party, are approaching in August and September, respectively. Zambrano added that Sarah Dundish was appointed as UCLA’s associate vice chancellor for housing and hospitality.
• James Allen, an LAPD senior lead officer, said the department responded to an aggravated assault at In-N-Out Burger and an attempted murder on Wilshire Boulevard last month. He added that there is no active safety threat following the incidents. James Allen said UCPD responded to several burglaries recently because they occurred outside of LAPD’s jurisdiction.
• Erica Gatica Doughty – a neighborhood empowerment advocate for EmpowerLA, which oversees LA’s neighborhood councils – said homelessness liaison meetings will resume Aug. 31. She added that EmpowerLA will host training workshops for neighborhood council members.

Comments made by members of the public:

• Steve Sann, a member of the Board of Directors at the Friends of Westwood Library, said the library will hold no concerts in September and will host two concerts in October. He added that he believes long reports from public officials prolong council meetings, discouraging public attendance.

Announcements:

• Andrew Lewis, the chair of the Community Health, Homelessness, and Safety committee, said Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Centers – which provide mental health and homelessness services in LA – reached out to the committee to implement some of its programs in West LA.
• Elsa Duval, the co-chair of the Ad Hoc Olympics and Paralympics committee, said the committee met to discuss a community impact statement urging the city to address housing and homelessness concerns ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• Council President Josh Trifunovic said resident board member Patrick Babajanian attended an information session from LA28, where attendees learned about the locations of various Olympic events. Trifunovic added that LA28 is planning more information sessions in the future.
• At-large board member Aidan Light said he attended the neighborhood council election information session.
• Renter board member Elizabeth Brady said EmpowerLA denied the council’s request to hold meetings at 28th Church of Christ, Scientist on Hilgard Avenue because of accessibility concerns for people with disabilities.

Agenda:

• The council rejected a motion to reduce the number of meetings where a hybrid option is available. Trifunovic said the motion came after a member of the public used hybrid meetings to harass members of the council and their families.
• The council passed a community impact statement supporting Executive Directive 20, which expands hiring opportunities for Angelenos who were formerly incarcerated.
• The council approved Trifunovic’s motion to table the discussion of two community impact statements that would support LA County charter reforms to authorize the county to consider giving noncitizens voting access in local elections and introduce ranked choice voting in local elections, respectively.
• Trifunovic approved the resignation of Organizational Board member Tommy Contreras.
• The council unanimously approved its June expenditure report and authorized up to $175 in expenses to purchase microphones for meetings.
• The council elected Austin Buranapan, a fourth-year political science student, as an organizational board member.
• The council voted to hold council elections from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Boondocks Coffee Roasters and Weyburn Commons will serve as the primary and secondary polling locations, respectively. The council also approved a motion to offer ballots in Farsi.
• The council voted to establish an elections committee, where Lewis and Brady will be co-chairs and Light and Buranapan will be members.
• The council approved its August consent calendar.