NEWLY CERTIFIED:  Westwood Neighborhood Council

On January 19, 2010, the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners certified Westwood as the 90th Neighborhood Council in the City of Los Angeles.  Join us now as we work together to make Westwood the best it can be.  Contact Us                 

Westwood Determination Letter.pdf           

The Westwood Neighborhood Council represents an area of Los Angeles which encompasses significant diversity in its stakeholders through their residential, cultural, entertainment, business and educational interests. The Westwood Neighborhood Council serves as a forum and as a representative of these diverse points of view; it seeks to find solutions to common problems, advance the quality of life, and promote the common good of its stakeholders. The Westwood Neighborhood Council will be established in accordance with the authorized plan of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment of Los Angeles and will comply with Federal, State and City laws including the Brown Act. Please write to us at:

          Westwood Neighborhood Council Formation Group    
          P O Box 24973
          Los Angeles, CA  90024                                          

Who are stakeholders? 

Neighborhood Council membership is open to all Stakeholders. "Stakeholders" shall be defined as those who live, work, or own property in the neighborhood and also those who declare a stake in the neighborhood and affirm the factual basis for it.

Anyone who owns property, rents or lives, or works in the district, or declares a documented stake in the district bounded by (north side ) Santa Monica Blvd on the south,  to (east side) of Sepulveda Blvd and the 405 on the West, Sunset Blvd on the North and the Beverly Hills border on the East.  Membership is free.  The WWNC welcomes property owners, shop keepers,  renters, students and faculty, service sector workers, managers of theatres, medical personnel, veterans and teachers --- in short any and all who are affected by urban life within the district and who will work to find solutions to problems, advance the quality of life, and promote the well being of the whole.

Boundary map for the area designated as Westwood  by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

****Note: UCLA is not city-property. All who live or work there are designated stakeholders

who may vote or serve as directors; they do not represent UCLA. It may be invited to send an ex-officio representative to board meetings.***
 

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF WWNC BOUNDARIES

Beginning at Sunset Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway (I-405), the northern boundary extends easterly along the south side of Sunset Boulevard to the city of Beverly Hills western boundary near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Ladera Drive; southerly along the Beverly Hills city border along the eastern boundary of the Los Angeles Country Club to the northerly right of way limit of Santa Monica Boulevard at a point approximately ¼ of a mile west of the Wilshire Boulevard / Santa Monica Boulevard intersection; westerly along the northern side of Santa Monica Boulevard to the eastern edge of the I-405; northerly along the I-405 for approximately 2,000 feet then easterly to Sepulveda Boulevard; northerly on west side of Sepulveda Boulevard to a point 1,000 sf south of Wilshire Boulevard; easterly to the east side of Veteran Avenue; northerly along Veteran Avenue to a point immediately south of Levering Avenue; westerly to a point approximately 300 feet south of Cashmere Avenue on the eastern side of the I-405 freeway; northerly along the I-405 Freeway to Sunset Boulevard.

Northern   boundary

The south side of Sunset Boulevard from the border of Beverly Hills on the east to the 405 freeway on the west.

Southern boundary

The north side  of Santa Monica Boulevard extending from the 405 freeway, (inclusive of Cotner Avenue.) to the western boundary of the city of  Beverly Hills at the southeast corner of the Los Angeles Country Club.

Western boundary

The 405 Freeway between Sunset Boulevard (south side and Santa Monica Boulevard, north side) excluding the Veteran's Cemetery and administrative land.  The boundary shifts to the 405, westward at Veteran Avenue following the northern boundary of the Veteran's Cemetery. Veteran continues to be the western border until Rochester street where the boundary moves west, following the northern side of Westwood Park and reconnects with Cotner Avenue (at border of the 405 Freeway) and Sepulveda Boulevard ending at Santa Monica Boulevard (north side.)

Eastern boundary

The western boundary of the city of Beverly Hills from Sunset Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard.The boundary follows the eastern side of the Los Angeles Country Club and is not street accessible.

 

WESTWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL FORMATION

In 1999, the new Los Angeles City Charter created neighborhood councils as quasi city entities to advise those in government who are making decisions that affect our lives.  The City was divided into geographic areas and a neighborhood council in each area was empowered to represent the respective communities.  Westwood is one of the few areas that in the last ten years has failed to organize.  Approximately 90 communities in the City of Los Angeles are already certified.  The city provides annual funding to the Council for outreach, meetings and community projects.  Its members are known as stakeholders and the designation is meant to be inclusive.

A stakeholder is anyone that owns property, lives, works, worships or volunteers within the boundaries of the Westwood Neighborhood set by the City Charter.  No single Stakeholder group shall comprise a majority of the governing body.

Our formation committee composed of renters, residents, homeowners, members of the police force, condo owners in every district, graduate students in public policy, representatives of Farsi community, a Cuban refugee, businessmen, workers in the NC area, chair of Westside Chamber of Commerce, former local President of the League of Women Voters, UCLA faculty, a faith-based factual basis person, a medical doctor.

As of 12/20/2009 the committee consists of Frank Appleby, Karen Blackfield, David Crew, Prue Faxon, Pat Geary, Kimy Haddadan, Alex Helmi, Jane Hunt, Margaret Jacob, Paul Reznick, Joyce Rich, Renato Romano, Teo Ruiz, Sam Shapiro, Jim Silton, Roxane Stern, Sandy Throop, Jann Williams, David Wallace, Liza White.

Assistance with by-laws drafting also came from Wolfgang Veith, Steve Sann, Carole Magnuson and others who are no longer affiliated with the formation committee and oppose the creation of WWNC. Our guides at the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) have been Deanna Stevenson and Amber Meschack. 

Click here to view the latest version of the  Bylaws

The Neighborhood Council is an autonomous but legal part of Los Angeles city government.  It has a direct pipeline to City government to express concerns or opinions about all matters affecting the Neighborhood.   

Examples of Neighborhood Council projects:

• Both Del Ray and Mar Vista NCs have raised significant sums to assist local elementary schools and to replace programs abandoned because of budget cuts.  
• Nearly 20% of the work of the NCs concerns land use and development.  
• The Mar Vista NC, with the assistance of other NCs, has stopped the implementation of the city's plan for one-way only traffic flow on Pico and Olympic, because no provision was made for commercial parking and hence access to the shops on the avenues, and no provision made for parking aside from residential streets. 
• Working with the Westside Pavilion expansion developer, Westside NC’s Land Use Committee insisted that the Landmark Theater be an architecturally distinct film venue with no theater larger than 300 seats to avoid peak surge parking demands. Further, the Westside NC’s encouraged the Landmark Theaters to be more of an Art House showing foreign and independent films.  
• South Carthay and Mid-City Neighborhood Councils jointly purchased an Automotive License Plate Recognition unit for installation in a LAPD patrol car. Requested by the LAPD to fight neighborhood crime, the equipment is the latest in surveillance technology to aid in prompt recognition of stolen cars and known suspects.

Previous History:

There have been at least four attempts in the last nine years to establish a Neighborhood Council in Westwood. Between  April and August, 2001 a group of Westwood neighbors met to organize a Neighborhood Council called Westwood Community Neighborhood Council lead by Liza White.  Fourteen people comprised the Steering Committee.  They were assisted by a newly formed DONE in the person of Amber Meshack.   Simultaneously, Westwood resident Michael Orlinski attempted to organize his own Greater Westwood Neighborhood Association (GWANA).  DONE tried to mediate.

 

In 2001 seven Steering committee meetings, as well as two Outreach subcommittee meetings, were held in public venues.  Additionally, meetings were held with leadership in all developing adjacent neighboring councils, with the Westwood BID and UCLA administration.  A mission statement, stakeholder classes and lists, and boundaries were developed. At that time, no signatures for certification were collected because the certification process itself was being established.

 

This effort disbanded for lack of sufficient manpower to do the organizational work.  Because the DONE was developing its own tools and processes, assistance was also not robust. Local Homeowners Associations were not in favor of a Westwood Neighborhood Council. Subsequently, attempts to create a Westwood NC were spearheaded by Jan and Nicole Brezski in  2002 and tentatively by Jim Silton in 2005. In those three years the effort was clearly still in progress because the minutes of the Board of Directors of the Westwood Homeowners Association for March 9, 2004 indicate an on-going discussion with Jim Silton speaking on behalf of a neighborhood council and the leaders of the HOA objecting to it.

The most recent effort commenced in September 2008 and was led by Roxanne Stern, Mark Herd, Easton Herd.  They first met on January 24, 2009 with Deanna Stevenson from DONE; again in February with Jay Handel is attendance and to offer advice. The collection of petitions and outreach began at that time. In March efforts were made to draw up bylaws, including an effort at virtual editing collaboration. In July 17, 2009 a meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce WLA office with Renato Romano, Paul Reznick, Jann Williams and two others. About fifty petitions were collected and then turned over to the steering committee responsible for this website. We identified community stakeholders, wrote or phoned about fifty percent of them. We had printed and distributed leaflets in Farsi and Spanish. In the early summer and fall of 2009 there have been four public meetings generally with over 50 people in attendance at each. This public website was up and running since early September and has been visited by over 2300 enquirers. Over 80% of ground level households have received flyers describing the formation efforts.

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The application for certification was filed on Sept. 28th 2009 and on January 19, 2010 the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners certified Westwood as the 90th Neighborhood Council.