[5:21] We can have you all take your
[5:25] seats. Before we call the
[5:26] meeting to order, I would like
[5:27] to read the city
[5:27] s land
[5:30] acknowledgments. The West
[5:31] Hollywood City Council
[5:32] acknowledges that the land on
[5:33] which we gather and that is
[5:35] currently known as the City of
[5:37] West Hollywood is the occupied,
[5:39] unseeded, seized territory of
[5:41] the Gabrieleno Tongva and the
[5:43] Gabrieleno quih peoples. I
[5:44] m
[5:45] officially calling this meeting
[5:47] of the FEBRUARY 18, 2025 City
[5:50] Council meeting to order at
[5:52] 6:05 and will Ari Strasnoy join
[5:54] us to deliver the Pledge of
[6:04] Allegiance, please. I pledge
[6:07] allegiance to the flag. The
[6:09] United States of America and to
[6:12] the republic for which it
[6:16] stands, one nation under GOD
[6:17] indivisible with liberty and
[6:25] justice for all. All right,
[6:28] thanks, Ari. City clerk, MAY we
[6:31] please have a roll call. Yes,
[6:32] Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember
[6:38] Erickson. Here Councilmemb Hang
[6:40] here Councilmember Meister here
[6:42] Vice Mayor Heilman here, Mayor
[6:44] Byers here we have a quorum
[6:45] terrific. City attorney, will
[6:46] you please provide us with a
[6:48] report of the closed session.
[6:50] Yes, thank you. Good evening.
[6:52] The city council convened close
[6:54] session this evening to discuss
[6:56] one piece of business listed on
[6:57] the posted agenda. There were a
[6:59] few pieces of written public
[7:00] comment that were submitted on
[7:02] the agenda item, but no members
[7:03] of the public present to speak
[7:05] on the item. The council
[7:06] discussed the one item of
[7:08] business and took no reportable
[7:09] action. The closed session
[7:10] concluded at 6 P.M. This
[7:12] evening. That concludes my
[7:14] report. Thank you so much. City
[7:16] clerk, are there any changes
[7:17] from staff to tonight
[7:17] s agenda
[7:19] as we move into agenda approval.
[7:21] Yes, Mayor, and just to
[7:23] reiterate for members of the
[7:25] public item c1 has been, uh,
[7:28] continued to a date uncertain.
[7:30] There are no other changes from
[7:31] staff from staff do my
[7:32] colleagues have any changes? Oh,
[7:33] Councilmemb Erickson, ready to
[7:34] go. Thanks. I
[7:36] ll start from the
[7:37] back potentially f7, Sister
[7:42] Cities program. I have comments,
[7:44] but I can make them under
[7:46] councilmember comments. Thank
[7:48] you. The Weeho loves local
[7:51] program expansion of new gift
[7:51] card program f6. I
[7:53] d like to
[7:56] hold that for discussion. Uh,
[8:00] f4, annual Juneteenth event.
[8:03] Great. Uh, f3, West Hollywood
[8:03] Design District Street poll
[8:05] policy update and approval of a
[8:06] licensure agreement between the
[8:07] city of West Hollywood and it
[8:07] won
[8:09] t read anymore. Great. And
[8:09] then I
[8:11] m going to try an f2 as
[8:19] well, the sunset strip, uh,
[8:19] street pole banner policy
[8:19] update and approval. Great. And
[8:19] I don
[8:20] t know if I have any more
[8:21] me up I do d1, an ordinance of
[8:23] the City of West Hollywood,
[8:26] proving amendments to Section
[8:27] 10.28.050 of the municipal code.
[8:34] Sounds great. Did you say? I, I
[8:35] did not, no. That
[8:38] s his. To
[8:39] move that to consent. Thank you.
[8:45] Terrific. So seeing nothing
[8:48] else, um, I have moved to
[8:50] consent item f2. Sorry, let me
[8:52] get there. F2, the sunset Strip
[8:54] Street pole banner policy
[8:55] update and approval license
[8:58] agreement, uh, f3, the West
[8:58] Hollywood Design District
[9:00] street pole banner policy
[9:01] update and approval license
[9:04] agreement, uh, for the annual
[9:06] Juneteenth event f5, the arts
[9:08] programming and recognition of
[9:10] Black History Month 2026, uh,
[9:12] f7, the Sister City program. Is
[9:16] that correct? Terrific. What
[9:19] about f1? I
[9:20] m fine with that
[9:30] one. Ok, so almost. Ok Seeing
[9:31] no other changes. I actually
[9:32] have a procedural question for
[9:33] the city attorney. I just
[9:34] wanted to ask real quick for
[9:36] clarity. MADAM City Attorney, I
[9:36] know it
[9:37] s been precedent that
[9:38] if a council member wants to
[9:39] hold an item, it
[9:40] s possible or
[9:43] to remove an item, but normally
[9:44] if it was requested, they would
[9:46] need 3 votes to approve an
[9:51] agenda, correct? In order to
[9:52] prove the agenda, you need 3
[9:54] votes, a majority of the city
[9:55] council. What
[9:57] s your specific
[9:59] question is 3 council members
[10:00] have given verbal
[10:00] acknowledgement up here to say,
[10:01] yeah, we can move that to
[10:03] consent, but one person likes
[10:04] to hold it. We
[10:05] ve normally done
[10:07] that out of tradition, but
[10:08] without actual procedural rules,
[10:10] right? Yeah, the courtesy has
[10:12] been that if 11 council member
[10:13] has questions to keep it on the
[10:14] agenda so that it can be heard
[10:16] in the regular course of
[10:18] business. Thank you. Thank you.
[10:21] So we have a motion to adopt
[10:32] the agenda in a second.
[10:35] Councilmemb Hang. Almost all
[10:36] votes cast. You cast your vote
[10:45] in the. Oh Almost Awesome, all
[10:48] votes in the motion passes 50.
[10:49] Thank you. Um, we
[10:50] ll move on to
[10:51] Levine Act disclosures, city
[10:52] clerk, I believe you have a
[10:55] comment. Yes, I do. So for
[10:57] items f2 and f3 which were
[10:59] moved to the consent calendar,
[11:01] um, they are not subject to the
[11:05] Levine Act under California
[11:07] government Code Section 843085b.
[11:08] So as the council looks at the
[11:10] items on the agenda for tonight
[11:11] to make their disclosures, just
[11:13] keep that in mind. Thank you.
[11:15] Terrific. Uh, with that, do my
[11:16] colleagues have any other
[11:18] Levine Act disclosures to
[11:18] report tonight looking through
[11:20] the agenda? No? Ok, see nothing,
[11:20] um, we
[11:22] ll move on to
[11:23] adjournment motions. Do any of
[11:25] my colleagues have adjournment
[11:27] motions? I have one. You have
[11:28] one? Ok, COUNCILMAN Erickson,
[11:28] we
[11:29] ll have to start with you.
[11:31] Thank you. I would like to
[11:31] adjourn tonight
[11:32] s memory of see
[11:33] Hendrick, who is the world
[11:34] s
[11:35] first openly gay imam who was
[11:37] shot dead in South Africa this
[11:40] past weekend. Thank you very
[11:42] much. Um, I have 3, so forgive
[11:45] me for a little bit of
[11:45] verbiness, um, but I
[11:47] m going to
[11:48] get started first tonight we
[11:51] will adjourn in honor of Donald
[11:52] Shope, a distinguished
[11:53] professor of urban planning at
[11:55] ucla who passed away on
[11:58] FEBRUARY 6th at the age of 86.
[11:58] Donald Shoup
[11:59] s groundbreaking
[12:00] research and decades of
[12:01] scholarship in the field of
[12:03] land use planning reshaped the
[12:05] way cities approach parking,
[12:06] transportation, and urban
[12:08] design. As a faculty member at
[12:10] ucla since 1917. Before he
[12:11] influenced generations of
[12:13] scholars, students, and urban
[12:16] planners. His work particularly
[12:18] landmarked in his book The High
[12:20] Cost of Free Parking challenged
[12:21] conventional thinking and
[12:22] sparked a global movement
[12:24] towards parking reform. Shupe
[12:24] s
[12:25] work illuminated how cities
[12:27] reliance on free parking spaces
[12:28] and excessive off-street
[12:29] parking requirements were
[12:30] contributing to traffic
[12:32] congestion, sprawl, pollution,
[12:34] and housing costs, ultimately
[12:36] halving urban environments. His
[12:37] innovative ideas led to
[12:38] widespread change with over
[12:40] 3000 cities. Adopting some of
[12:42] his suggested reforms. His
[12:43] contributions extended beyond
[12:46] academia as his research gained
[12:47] acceptance and recognition
[12:48] worldwide. She
[12:48] s legacy
[12:50] continues to inspire and shape
[12:51] urban planning practices and
[12:52] his influence will be felt for
[12:54] years to come. Beyond his
[12:55] academic achievements, Shupe
[12:57] was a beloved figure at ucla
[12:59] and a mentor to so many. His
[13:00] contributions to the ucla
[13:02] Luskin School of Public Affairs
[13:04] and his leadership of the ucla
[13:05] Institute of Transportation
[13:06] Studies cemented his place as
[13:08] one of the foremost experts in
[13:10] the field, even after his
[13:11] retirement in 2015, Shu
[13:13] remained an active and engaged
[13:15] member of the ucla community
[13:16] eagerly anticipated to teach
[13:17] his renowned parking class this
[13:18] spring. Donald Shoup
[13:19] s work
[13:21] will continue to inspire future
[13:22] generations of urban planners
[13:24] and his impact on the world of
[13:25] urban design will endure as we
[13:27] reflect on his remarkable
[13:28] legacy and life of
[13:29] contributions. We extend our
[13:31] deepest condolences to his
[13:32] family, colleagues, and all
[13:33] those who were touched by his
[13:36] wisdom and vision. Next tonight
[13:39] we adjourn in memory of Tahiri
[13:40] Broom, a 29-year-old black
[13:42] transgender woman who
[13:43] tragically lost lost her life
[13:44] to gun violence on the morning
[13:46] of FEBRUARY 9th in Southfield,
[13:48] Michigan, while visiting from
[13:50] Detroit from her hometown of
[13:51] Cleveland, Ohio. She was known
[13:52] by the nickname of Tokyo.
[13:55] According to her social media,
[13:56] she enjoyed pretty things, was
[13:58] a self-described shopaholic,
[13:59] and unabashedly earning money
[14:01] to buy things. She was a fan of
[14:02] Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. She
[14:04] loved Forever 21 and Hot Topic.
[14:05] She was a vibrant young woman
[14:07] who enjoyed life. Her favorite
[14:09] aunt, Patricia Bender,
[14:10] remembered Tahiri by saying, my
[14:12] baby is sweet, pure, giving,
[14:14] humorous, and will do anything
[14:15] for anyone and shines a light
[14:15] so bright you
[14:17] ll see it shine
[14:19] forever. Family is really
[14:20] hurting from this loss, but
[14:21] justice will be served.
[14:21] Tahiri
[14:22] s name will live on
[14:24] forever. Me Tahiri
[14:24] s light
[14:25] continued to shine in the in
[14:27] the hearts of all who knew her
[14:29] and made her memory inspire,
[14:30] inspire us all to work toward a
[14:31] world that is safer, more
[14:33] inclusive, and more
[14:34] compassionate for everyone. Our
[14:35] thoughts are with Tahiri
[14:35] s
[14:37] family and loved ones during
[14:39] this incredibly difficult time.
[14:40] And finally tonight we will
[14:42] endurn in memory of Sam
[14:44] Norquist, a 24-year-old
[14:46] transgender man whose life was
[14:47] tragically cut short under
[14:48] circumstances of profound
[14:50] cruelty. Originally from
[14:52] Minnesota, Sam moved to New
[14:53] York in SEPTEMBER 2024 seeking
[14:55] new beginnings and connection.
[14:59] His journey, however, So sorry.
[15:00] His journey, however, led him
[15:02] into a situation marked by
[15:02] unimaginable abuse and
[15:05] suffering. Sam was reported
[15:07] missing on FEBRUARY 9th. The
[15:08] subsequent investigation
[15:09] revealed that he had endured
[15:10] over a month of relentless
[15:12] torture before his life was
[15:13] taken. 5 individuals have been
[15:14] charged with second-degree
[15:15] murder in connection to his
[15:18] death. His death along with
[15:19] Tahiri Broom
[15:20] s death,
[15:21] underscore the vulnerabilities
[15:22] faced by transgender
[15:23] individuals and the urgent need
[15:26] for societal change to protect
[15:27] and uplift marginalized voices.
[15:28] Our thoughts and deepest
[15:29] condolences are with Sam
[15:29] s
[15:31] family, friends, and all who
[15:31] have been affected deeply by
[15:36] this tragedy. Thank you. Next
[15:36] we
[15:38] re going to move on to
[15:39] presentations. We have 2
[15:40] presentations this evening and
[15:40] first we
[15:42] re going to just
[15:43] recognize um Ari again who led
[15:45] us in the pledge tonight with a
[15:46] certificate, so if my
[15:48] colleagues will join and
[15:49] celebrate Ari for a great
[16:15] pledge of allegiance tonight.
[16:52] Uh Yeah So good job. Ok And
[16:55] next we have a presentation for
[16:57] the American Heart Association.
[16:57] I
[17:01] ll begin. Whereas
[17:02] cardiovascular disease remains
[17:02] the world
[17:04] s leading cause of
[17:05] death and disability impacting
[17:07] millions of lives every year.
[17:09] And in the United States alone,
[17:11] more than 350,000 people
[17:12] experienced cardiac arrest
[17:14] outside of a hospital each year
[17:16] with approximately 70% of these
[17:17] incidents occurring at home and
[17:20] tragically, only 1 in 10 people
[17:21] end up surviving, and whereas
[17:23] each year more than 23,000
[17:25] children under the age of 18
[17:26] experienced cardiac arrest
[17:27] outside of a hospital in the
[17:29] United States with nearly 40. %
[17:31] of these cases being sports
[17:34] related. And whereas
[17:35] cardiopulmonary resuscitation
[17:37] or cpr when performed
[17:39] immediately can double or even
[17:40] aaa person
[17:42] s chance of survival.
[17:44] Yet only about 46% of those
[17:45] people who experience cardiac
[17:47] arrest receive cpr from
[17:49] bystanders while waiting for
[17:51] emergency responders to arrive.
[17:52] And whereas effective solutions
[17:54] such as awareness campaigns,
[17:55] cpr training, the
[17:57] implementation of cardiac
[17:58] emergency response plans and
[18:01] access to automated. External
[18:02] to defibrillators or AEDs have
[18:04] been proven to save lives, but
[18:05] more education and
[18:07] accessibility are needed to
[18:08] empower communities to respond
[18:09] effectively during cardiac
[18:12] emergencies. It
[18:13] s all messed up,
[18:14] so sorry. And whereas this
[18:16] learning and properly
[18:17] performing cpr gives bystanders
[18:19] the confidence to act swiftly
[18:20] in cardiac emergencies,
[18:22] increasing the likelihood of
[18:23] survival and by prioritizing
[18:25] immediate action, calling 911,
[18:27] delivering high quality cpr and
[18:29] using an aed when available can
[18:31] save more lives. And whereas
[18:32] the American Heart Association
[18:34] has set an ambitious goal to
[18:36] double the survival rate from
[18:38] cardiac arrest by 2030,
[18:39] transforming bystanders into
[18:41] lifesavers and ensuring that
[18:41] everyone everywhere is prepared
[18:42] and empowered. To be a vital
[18:45] link in the chain of survival,
[18:46] whereas the city of West
[18:48] Hollywood commends the life
[18:48] saving efforts of organizations
[18:50] such as the American Heart
[18:52] Association, whose unwavering
[18:53] commitment to combating heart
[18:55] disease and cardiac arrest has
[18:56] advanced public education and
[18:58] inspired people to save lives.
[18:59] Now, therefore, be it resolved
[19:01] that the city council, the city
[19:03] of West Hollywood hereby
[19:04] recognizes the importance of
[19:05] the ongoing fight against heart
[19:07] disease and stroke, and the
[19:08] support and supports the
[19:10] efforts to double the survival
[19:11] rate from cardiac arrest. The
[19:14] city hereby Claims FEBRUARY
[19:15] 2025 as American Heart Month in
[19:17] West Hollywood and encourages
[19:19] all residents to engage in
[19:19] raising awareness, promoting
[19:22] heart health, and participating
[19:24] in cpr and aed trainings to
[19:25] save more lives. At this time,
[19:26] I would like to invite our
[19:28] representatives up from the
[19:29] American Heart Association to
[19:30] the diaspora photo, and to
[19:31] accept this proclamation. Thank
[20:24] you so much. Ok Thank you so
[20:25] much for this proclamation
[20:27] today. I am here today both as
[20:29] a marketer, as the cmo Foot
[20:30] Locker, but most importantly I
[20:32] am here for my passion as a
[20:34] board member of the American
[20:35] Heart Association. You rattled
[20:36] off all the things that I
[20:38] wanted to bring to light today,
[20:40] which is number one, more
[20:41] awareness and number 2, how do
[20:44] we, how do we get more people
[20:46] within West Hollywood to not
[20:47] only advance the importance of
[20:49] heart health, but also put meat
[20:51] behind those bones and actually
[20:51] do something about it, so I
[20:55] encour. All of you here to not
[20:56] only know your numbers but to
[20:58] also check our website for many
[20:59] ways that you can contribute
[21:01] within the community, but most
[21:02] importantly, take care of your
[21:04] heart, take care of your health,
[21:06] eat well and treat others
[21:07] kindly on behalf of the
[21:08] American Heart Association,
[21:10] thank you so much and we are
[21:12] very honored for this very
[21:13] great award. Thank you. Thank
[21:19] you so much. And with care for
[21:22] heart and mind, we will move on
[21:24] to public comment. Uh, the city
[21:25] council values your comments.
[21:28] However, Sorry, pursuant to the
[21:30] Brown Act, the council cannot
[21:32] take action on items not listed
[21:33] on the posted agenda. The
[21:34] public comment period is
[21:36] limited to 20 minutes with 2
[21:37] minutes allocated for each
[21:38] speaker. The public comment
[21:40] period is to address the city
[21:42] council on consent calendar
[21:43] items, other agenda items if
[21:44] the member of the public cannot
[21:46] be present at this time, uh,
[21:48] that the item is considered or
[21:49] items of general interest
[21:51] within the jurisdiction of the
[21:52] city council. Another period is
[21:54] also reserved for general
[21:54] comment later in the meeting
[21:55] for those that could not be
[21:57] heard at this time. Public
[21:58] hearing testimony will only be
[21:59] taken at the time of the
[22:01] hearing. If you signed up to
[22:03] speak on both consent calendar
[22:03] items and general public
[22:05] comment, as well as the items
[22:06] as, um, as well as an item that
[22:08] was moved to the consent
[22:09] calendar. You MAY take this
[22:10] public comment period to speak
[22:12] on the consent calendar items.
[22:14] You MAY also sign up to speak
[22:15] during the 2nd public comment
[22:17] period for your, for your
[22:19] general public comment. Lastly,
[22:20] speakers should not bring any
[22:21] items to the podium other than
[22:23] a prepared written statement or
[22:24] writing materials. MADAM City
[22:26] Clerk, how many public speakers
[22:28] do we have? We have 12
[22:29] individuals in chambers and no
[22:34] one in Zoom, ok. Can, uh, I
[22:36] will go ahead and read the
[22:37] first speakers. Um, I have my
[22:40] list here. So Jonathan Wilson
[22:41] will start there, followed by
[22:42] Christopher Clapp and Genevieve
[22:52] More after that. Well Mayor,
[22:53] vice mayor, and council members,
[22:54] i just want to say thank you.
[22:56] For moving forward with the
[22:57] Juneteenth event. I
[22:57] m very
[22:58] grateful for that. I
[22:58] m coming
[23:02] to you, Jonathan Wilson, as a
[23:03] member of society, I
[23:03] m a
[23:04] resident within West Hollywood
[23:06] as well as a business owner in
[23:08] West Hollywood. Um, one of the
[23:10] things is, yes, I, we
[23:12] appreciate this. Please note
[23:13] that um as we do planning,
[23:15] there MAY be a need for
[23:16] additional dollars. We
[23:16] re not
[23:18] too clear about that yet, but,
[23:19] you know, we
[23:19] re keeping things
[23:21] moving. The reason why I want
[23:21] to say there
[23:22] s to keep this,
[23:24] keep the idea open is that, you
[23:26] know, my company actually
[23:28] wanted to give some dollars, um,
[23:30] uccl they also want to give
[23:32] dollars um to the Juneteenth
[23:32] event only because it
[23:34] s such a
[23:36] big uh moment and right now in
[23:36] this time that we
[23:37] re in with
[23:38] with the federal government and
[23:40] some things that are changing.
[23:40] Maybe I shouldn
[23:40] t have said
[23:42] that, but I did. Um, some of
[23:43] the things that are changing
[23:44] out there, but the climate out
[23:46] there is really, really
[23:47] difficult for some people, and
[23:50] I think as we move away from
[23:51] dei in some circles, um,
[23:51] there
[23:52] s gonna be a need to
[23:53] uplift people in other ways.
[23:55] And so I just want to make sure
[23:55] that we
[23:57] re open to different
[23:58] ways of thinking. It was
[24:00] complex, I guess to have money
[24:01] come from my company and for
[24:03] money to come from ucla at this
[24:05] time for this event. So just
[24:07] please keep in mind that um
[24:09] just be open to future ways of
[24:10] thinking, um, as we go for the
[24:13] next 4 months. So, thank you
[24:15] again for pushing this forward.
[24:15] I
[24:17] m very grateful, extremely
[24:18] grateful, and um. Thank you.
[24:21] Yeah Thank you, Christopher
[24:23] Clap. Followed by Genevieve
[24:32] More. Followed by Greg Rain.
[24:34] Good evening, Honorable Mayor
[24:37] Byers, Vice Mayor Heilman, and
[24:38] distinguished members of city
[24:39] council. Can you pull the mic
[24:41] down a little bit, yeah, thank
[24:41] you. I
[24:45] ll start again, uh. Good
[24:47] evening, Mayor by Honorable
[24:49] Mayor Byers, Vice Mayor Heilman,
[24:51] distinguished members of city
[24:54] council and uh all esteemed, uh,
[24:55] city staff of West Hollywood.
[24:56] Uh, my name
[24:57] s Christopher Clapp.
[25:01] I live in Los Angeles and uh I
[25:02] have operated a business here
[25:04] in West Hollywood, uh,
[25:05] Petrogian restaurants and
[25:07] boutique on Robertson. Um, I am
[25:08] currently the vice chair and
[25:09] treasurer of the West Hollow
[25:10] Design District. Uh, I just
[25:11] wanna reach out and say thank
[25:13] you, thank you for your support,
[25:17] um, of our local. Community, um,
[25:18] specifically the item tonight
[25:20] f3, uh, the banner program is
[25:22] absolutely essential to our
[25:24] operations. Um, I
[25:24] m inspired
[25:26] specifically by city staff
[25:27] Laura Bay, Laura d
[25:28] Ambrosia,
[25:29] and Paolo Kesperit, and I thank
[25:30] them for their guidance and
[25:32] continued support of our
[25:34] programming, um, so yeah, just
[25:35] uh a heartfelt thank you and I
[25:36] look forward to being of
[25:37] service to the constituents
[25:40] here in West Hollywood, um,
[25:42] thank you. Thank you. Genevieve
[25:44] More followed by Greg Rain and.
[25:47] Craig Williams after that.
[25:49] Thank you, Mayor. Good evening,
[25:51] Mayor, Vice Mayor, council
[25:52] members, Genevieve More,
[25:54] PRESIDENT, ceo of the West
[25:55] Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
[25:56] and good evening to all the
[25:58] members of the public and the
[26:00] staff. I ditto what MR. Clapp
[26:02] said. I want to thank you, uh,
[26:04] our appreciation for both the
[26:06] business improvement districts
[26:07] banner program licensing
[26:08] agreement and also protects all
[26:10] of us, you as well as us, and
[26:10] it
[26:11] s an agreement that hasn
[26:11] t
[26:13] been in place for all these
[26:14] years, but I think it
[26:14] s
[26:16] welcomed and I want to thank
[26:18] Laura, uh, Byron. Apollo,
[26:19] Casperad and David Wilson for
[26:20] all the work that they
[26:20] ve done
[26:23] on that. Um, I also want to
[26:25] thank Mayor Byers for the Weeh
[26:26] Ho Loves local extension
[26:27] program and Tom Keeley and his
[26:29] team at Visit West Hollywood
[26:30] and we talked about it today at
[26:33] a board meeting. The chamber is
[26:35] also launching a Weehoe gives
[26:36] Back program, and we think
[26:38] combined with the who loves
[26:41] locals, the city, the chamber,
[26:42] visits West Hollywood can all
[26:44] drive traffic, and we have some
[26:45] case studies from other
[26:46] chambers recently at a
[26:48] conference that my just went to
[26:50] last week about, um, local
[26:52] programs that have a chamber
[26:54] that bought like gift cards
[26:55] for restaurants and gave it to
[26:56] the customers if they visited
[26:58] there, and I think they spent
[26:59] $15,000 and it generated about
[27:01] 80,000 into the businesses, so
[27:03] we do think that this has legs,
[27:05] it has some strength and power
[27:06] if we all combine efforts. So,
[27:10] uh, you can go to WeHho
[27:10] Chamber.Com/WheeHhoGivesback uh
[27:11] for that pledge we
[27:11] re going to
[27:13] launch it on MARCH 1st and we
[27:14] have some media as well, so I
[27:16] just want to thank you for all
[27:19] that, um, because Right now we
[27:20] did do a survey, and we did get
[27:21] a good response from the
[27:23] businesses, and they are down
[27:25] about 25 to 50%. So while we
[27:25] weren
[27:27] t hit with the fires, I
[27:29] think the world thinks we
[27:29] re
[27:30] all burning or we have toxic
[27:31] air, so we
[27:32] re trying to say
[27:33] come into West Hollywood, we
[27:35] can help you and we can help
[27:36] the fire victims and first
[27:37] responders and give back to
[27:38] them and give back to everybody
[27:39] and our fellow businesses, but
[27:41] we all have to work together to
[27:42] give back and patronize our
[27:44] businesses, so thank you. Thank
[27:47] you. Greg Ring, followed by
[27:49] Craig Wil, Todd Holman
[27:56] after that. Good evening.
[27:58] Excuse me. Good evening,
[28:00] Honorable Mayor Byers, Vice
[28:01] Mayor Heilman, steamed City
[28:04] council, and city staff. I am,
[28:05] uh, Greg Grang, resident of Los
[28:07] Angeles and the current
[28:08] Executive director of the West
[28:09] Hollywood Design District,
[28:12] which is both a pleasure and a
[28:14] privilege, um, to hold that
[28:17] office, um, I spoke, um, via
[28:19] public comment on items b 11
[28:20] and f3 already, and I am simply
[28:22] here so you can see my face and
[28:23] hear my sincerity when I too
[28:24] say thank you for your support
[28:27] of. The Design District and our
[28:29] programming, um, I followed
[28:30] instructions and did not bring
[28:31] anything to the dais, but I do
[28:33] have with me maps for
[28:33] tomorrow
[28:35] s art walk as well as,
[28:36] um, promotional materials for
[28:38] Design West Hollywood, which is
[28:41] MARCH 4, 5 and 6. It was
[28:43] originally a two-day event, but
[28:44] through community engagement
[28:46] and support. We have extended
[28:47] it to 3 days, and we look
[28:49] forward to making that an
[28:51] annual event for the city and
[28:52] the community. Thank you so
[28:53] much. Appreciate your support.
[28:58] Thank you. Greg, Greg Craig,
[28:59] you give those handouts to me,
[29:00] I can make sure the council
[29:04] gives them. Thank you. Next
[29:05] speaker is Craig Williams,
[29:07] followed by Todd Holman and
[29:15] Sarah Adolfson after that. Good
[29:17] evening, Mayor Byers, Vice
[29:20] Mayor Heman and city council.
[29:21] Um, I
[29:22] m Craig Williams, and I
[29:24] have the pleasure of being a
[29:25] longtime West Hollywood
[29:27] resident and I wanted to speak
[29:29] in support of an increased
[29:33] budget for the Juneteenth
[29:35] celebration for 2025. Um, We
[29:36] re
[29:37] calling it an event, but I
[29:37] d
[29:41] like to. We purposed that to a
[29:43] celebration and a demonstration
[29:44] of our commitment to inclusion
[29:48] and diversity. There are 3
[29:51] things that I know for sure.
[29:52] The black people are
[29:55] entrepreneurs. Black people do
[29:56] spend money and the east side
[29:57] of West Hollywood has a lot of
[30:00] vacant storefronts. This is an
[30:05] opportunity for West Hollywood.
[30:06] To embrace and engage a
[30:08] demographic. That can
[30:10] accomplish those goals, and I
[30:11] think that the Juneteenth
[30:12] celebration, we hope to do that.
[30:16] Thank you for indulging. Mhm
[30:20] Todd Holman. Of Sara for the
[30:23] Human Services Commission. Good
[30:27] evening, We buyers. Vice Mayor
[30:29] Heilman and council members,
[30:32] Todd Hallman, 30-year plus West
[30:33] Hollywood resident, uh, Public
[30:35] Safety commissioner, but
[30:35] tonight I
[30:37] m speaking as a
[30:38] resident on behalf of
[30:40] Juneteenth. Thank you for
[30:43] proving the budget. I have been
[30:44] very open and honest with all
[30:46] of you how disappointed I
[30:46] ve
[30:48] been with this event over the
[30:50] years. I think this is a year
[30:53] for us to get it right. Um,
[30:55] social justice is on it. I know
[30:57] they have a subcommittee. They
[31:00] are meeting, they probably will
[31:01] need additional funding,
[31:06] because we need this to be a
[31:07] jubilant Juneteenth celebration,
[31:09] especially with what we
[31:09] re
[31:11] dealing with in this country
[31:14] today. Social justice is very
[31:16] important to us and I
[31:17] m also
[31:19] going to ask you to really
[31:21] stand behind this advisory
[31:24] board, not only for me as a
[31:26] black queer man, but for all of
[31:28] us, because their work is going
[31:31] to affect all of us because of
[31:33] the climate we live in. We also
[31:35] need to work on our diversity
[31:38] as a city. People of color
[31:40] coming on Friday and Saturday
[31:42] nights to West Hollywood does
[31:45] not diversity make. We need to
[31:47] do a better job and make West
[31:49] Hollywood more inclusive. I
[31:52] give a lot to the city. I love
[31:54] this city, but at the end of
[31:55] the day, I
[31:57] m a queer black man
[32:00] with a tribe in this city. I
[32:01] don
[32:02] t want the next generation
[32:06] to feel that way. So, please be
[32:08] there for social justice.
[32:10] Please be there for this event.
[32:18] We need this. Thank you. Thank
[32:19] Sarah Adolfsson Adolphen, sorry,
[32:20] I keep getting that wrong in my
[32:22] head. Thank you. And David Nash
[32:25] after that it all works. Uh,
[32:27] good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor,
[32:29] uh, council members. My name is
[32:30] Sarah Adolfson. I
[32:30] m here on
[32:32] behalf of the Human Services
[32:34] Commission. As you know, the
[32:35] commissioner attend city
[32:36] council meetings to share
[32:38] information about vital social
[32:39] services provided by the city
[32:40] and its partners. Tonight I
[32:42] want to highlight the
[32:44] importance of cervical cancer
[32:45] awareness and preventative
[32:47] services. While cervical cancer
[32:49] rates have declined significant
[32:51] disparities persist. This year,
[32:52] an estimated 13,000 women in
[32:54] the us will be diagnosed, and
[32:56] more. 4000 will die from the
[32:59] disease. Women of color
[33:00] experience the highest rates of
[33:02] cervical cancer, with a death
[33:03] rate nearly 80% higher than
[33:07] white women. Furthermore,
[33:08] transgender men face barriers
[33:09] to screening, including
[33:11] discrimination, lack of
[33:12] provider knowledge, and
[33:13] discomfort resulting in lower
[33:15] screening rates. Cervical
[33:17] cancer was once a leading cause
[33:19] of cancer deaths for women. But
[33:20] thanks to increased prevention
[33:22] and screening efforts, the
[33:23] mortality rate has been reduced
[33:27] by 50%. When detected early,
[33:29] survival rate is 92%. Even more
[33:31] encouraging, over 90% of
[33:32] cervical cancers could be
[33:34] prevented by the hpv vaccine.
[33:36] So what are we doing? The city
[33:38] of West Hollywood Partners with
[33:39] several nonprofit agencies to
[33:41] provide crucial and life-saving
[33:42] services, including Planned
[33:44] Parenthood, offering essential
[33:44] reproductive and sexual health
[33:47] services. Including screenings
[33:49] such as pelvic exams and Pap
[33:50] smears. The Audrey Lord Health
[33:53] Program at the la lgbt Center
[33:54] providing identity sensitive
[33:55] health services, including
[33:57] cervical and other cancer
[33:59] screenings and importantly,
[34:01] they offer self-collection test
[34:02] options for transgender men
[34:04] along with Pap smears and hpv
[34:06] testing. And then finally, the
[34:08] Saban Community clinic offers a
[34:10] range of services including
[34:12] obgyn checkups, Pap smears,
[34:14] screenings, lab tests, family
[34:15] planning, birth control, and
[34:16] cancer screenings. So if you
[34:17] re
[34:19] due for a screening, or you
[34:23] need supportive services,
[34:26] please
[34:27] visitehh.Org/humanservices or
[34:28] call 323-848-6510. Thank you.
[34:29] And Sarah, on behalf of all of
[34:31] us, I just want to offer our
[34:32] condolences to you and your
[34:33] husband on the loss of your
[34:35] father-in-law, and if we could,
[34:36] I completely forgot that in my
[34:36] notes, but we
[34:37] ll be adjourning
[34:38] in in their memory tonight as
[34:39] well. Thank you so much. That
[34:42] means a lot to us. Thank you.
[34:44] Next speaker, we have David
[34:47] Nash. Followed by Jacob Shaw
[34:55] and Tony Solano. I think I
[34:57] heard my name. My name is David
[34:58] Nash. I
[35:00] m a 26 year resident of
[35:02] West Hollywood. Good evening,
[35:04] Mayor Byers, Vice Mayor Heilman
[35:05] and city council members. I
[35:06] m
[35:07] here tonight to thank two
[35:08] people who are very special to
[35:10] me in the city of West
[35:13] Hollywood. First, Larry Block,
[35:15] who owns Block Party. He
[35:16] s been
[35:17] gracious enough to allow me to
[35:19] have a small art show in the
[35:20] back of his store through the
[35:24] end of the month. I greatly
[35:25] appreciate that opportunity.
[35:29] Both Larry and I share um a
[35:30] disability. We have very
[35:33] limited vision. And, uh, not
[35:34] just because it
[35:36] s me, but to,
[35:37] to renew and refresh your
[35:40] awareness of how people with
[35:41] disabilities can surprise you
[35:42] with their creative abilities.
[35:43] I
[35:44] d like each and every one of
[35:46] you to stop by and take a look
[35:48] at my art show in the back of
[35:51] the store. The very first
[35:54] customer I had first paying
[35:56] customer, I must say I greatly
[36:00] appreciate was Quartez Jordan,
[36:02] the manager of our aquatic
[36:05] center, he has become not just
[36:06] uh asset to the city, but a
[36:08] friend to me, I greatly
[36:09] appreciate that he purchased a
[36:13] picture. And uh I gave more
[36:15] thought to how much I
[36:16] appreciate Cortez, and I looked
[36:19] up the salaries in the city
[36:23] open list, and I noticed that
[36:26] his salary is about half of
[36:26] Danny Revis
[36:27] s and less than a
[36:30] quarter of the city manager.
[36:30] That
[36:31] s an extensive operation,
[36:33] those two pools up on the 4th,
[36:36] pardon me, the 5th floor here,
[36:37] and I think not just because
[36:37] he
[36:39] s been kind to me, but
[36:43] because of the quality of work
[36:44] that he supervises and the
[36:45] importance of the aquatic
[36:46] center, I
[36:48] d like to see Cortez
[36:50] Jordan get a raise. So thank
[36:52] you for listening to me. Please
[36:56] come to my art show and do give
[36:58] more money to support the
[36:59] Aquatic Center and Cortez
[37:03] Jordan. Thank you. Thank you.
[37:07] Jacob Shaw and Tony Solano. Or
[37:08] just Tony didn
[37:09] t make it. Good
[37:10] to see you, Mayor, Vice Mayor,
[37:12] city council members. Thank you
[37:14] for the opportunity to make
[37:15] this public comment. Uh, it
[37:15] s
[37:16] very simple we have partnered
[37:19] with ucla Health, Jacob Shaw
[37:20] and Tropicana have graciously
[37:22] offered their Place of business
[37:24] to host a blood drive. There
[37:25] are some new changes that have
[37:26] come about, so we
[37:26] re very
[37:28] excited to bring this about,
[37:30] this coming Friday from 10 A.M.
[37:31] To 3 P.M. If there
[37:31] s anybody
[37:33] that would like to make
[37:34] donations to first responders.
[37:35] We are hosting a table for that
[37:38] as well. If anybody would like
[37:39] to discuss potentially working
[37:40] with us to host another blood
[37:42] drive within the city of West
[37:42] Hollywood, our great city. I
[37:44] would love to have that
[37:45] conversation and I hope to see
[37:47] some of you there. Thank you
[37:50] very much. That this coming
[37:54] Friday from 10 to 3. And flyers
[37:56] around. Thank you so much. Uh,
[37:58] next speaker is Michael Nuttall,
[38:00] followed by Annie Gianpicente
[38:02] and Steve Martin will conclude
[38:02] our public speaker list. If
[38:04] anybody else is hoping to speak,
[38:06] please get your comments in.
[38:08] Thank you so much. Hi my city
[38:08] council. Uh, I
[38:10] m back to talk
[38:12] about trash. Um, one of the
[38:13] things that I like to talk
[38:16] about is trash, but currently
[38:16] I
[38:17] m at 650 bags that I picked
[38:19] up in the West. Community and
[38:22] the TriWest area to be specific,
[38:22] um, and the one thing that I,
[38:24] one thing that I found that I
[38:25] just like to educate people
[38:27] about is that of the trash that
[38:28] I find, I find water bottles a
[38:29] lot, which is probably no
[38:32] surprise to anyone, but what I
[38:34] find double that amount are the
[38:36] caps to water bottles, so my
[38:38] ask or something to keep in
[38:39] mind is that when we
[38:40] re making
[38:41] contracts or doing parties or
[38:42] events, the water bottles that
[38:44] have the caps that stay on
[38:45] instead of fully coming off,
[38:46] they can like, you know, pop it
[38:47] off a little bit, are much
[38:49] better. Then all the plastics
[38:51] that end up in our street, so
[38:53] just something to keep in mind
[38:53] when we
[38:54] re buying water bottles.
[38:56] And then the second thing I
[38:59] want to talk about was That
[39:01] orange turd in the White House.
[39:04] The National Park Service.
[39:06] Removing the tea from the lgbt
[39:08] plus, uh, the Stonewall
[39:09] Monument, I think it was
[39:09] repulsive. They
[39:10] re trying to
[39:14] erase the tea from lgbt plus
[39:15] and I just think with the voice
[39:17] that we have, the voice that I
[39:19] have, that I want to stand up
[39:20] and say that that part of the
[39:22] community, the entire community
[39:24] we love, we cherish them and we
[39:24] see them and we won
[39:25] t turn our
[39:27] backs on them and thank you.
[39:31] Thank you. Annie jumped Vicente,
[39:43] followed by Steve Martin. There
[39:45] it is, thanks, yeah, there was
[39:46] actually a news article written.
[39:47] Why did you, why did you all
[39:48] censor me last time I was here
[39:49] to speak, you wouldn
[39:50] t show my
[39:52] face. I know why, cause Chelsea,
[39:53] I told you right before I gave
[39:55] public comment exactly what I
[39:57] was gonna do. You knew exactly
[39:57] the public comment I was going
[39:59] to give, and you told the
[40:01] camera not to show you my face.
[40:01] How
[40:05] dare you? Yeah, uh,
[40:08] Michael, thank you for, um, for
[40:09] your, uh, uh, for your speech
[40:11] and saying that, you know, you
[40:15] stand with the t and lgbtqia
[40:16] plus, um, the problem is though,
[40:19] is in this city, I
[40:19] ve now had
[40:23] to, uh, I have been attacked
[40:25] every single weekend just for
[40:27] waiving the progressive pride
[40:28] flag around the streets. People
[40:31] call me, tell me that flag
[40:32] belong does not belong here.
[40:33] Why are you waving it? What
[40:37] even? Is that thing that flag.
[40:38] What makes you think you could
[40:41] wave it around? Why are you a
[40:42] coward for not showing your
[40:44] face just because how and I
[40:45] both agree we should be wearing
[40:51] masks. Did anyone catch that
[40:53] protest this weekend in San on
[40:54] Santa Monica Boulevard and
[40:54] Crescent Heights where, you
[40:56] know, trans people were very
[40:57] upset that the city
[40:57] s not doing
[40:59] anything. You know, it
[41:00] s been a
[41:04] trans sanctuary city for Far
[41:04] too
[41:06] long and you haven
[41:06] t
[41:07] done anything to strengthen
[41:12] that, like, Like you are
[41:13] allowing the federal government
[41:15] to come in and just take us out.
[41:19] I mean, like What what outrage
[41:20] was there over the ice signs
[41:22] that were, you know, on Santa
[41:24] Monica Boulevard too, like,
[41:25] like they
[41:25] re, they
[41:26] re coming
[41:26] for us and you
[41:27] re, you
[41:27] re just
[41:30] gonna allow it to happen. Do
[41:31] something to strengthen
[41:33] protections for trans people.
[41:33] We still can
[41:34] t afford to live
[41:36] here in a trans sanctuary city.
[41:39] None of us can. This is not a a
[41:41] sanctuary city. This is just
[41:41] not. It
[41:46] s a facade. Thank you,
[41:47] Steve Martin, I believe you
[41:47] ll
[41:54] be our final speaker today.
[41:56] Good evening, council members
[41:59] and Mayor, um. I, I guess it
[42:02] was about 500 years ago that
[42:04] the Pope decreed that the sun
[42:08] revolved around the earth. And
[42:10] It just seems odd that in 2025
[42:13] we would have a PRESIDENT Who
[42:15] would suddenly decree that
[42:15] we
[42:17] re all simply binary.
[42:17] There
[42:18] s only two genders, men
[42:22] and women, and Uh For some
[42:25] people that might be amusing,
[42:26] but it really impacts so many
[42:29] people. And tries to trivialize
[42:31] so many people. But I think we
[42:34] need to take a long view, uh,
[42:34] I
[42:36] m part of that generation
[42:39] that grew up illegal. Uh, there
[42:40] was basically nothing about our
[42:43] existence that we were allowed
[42:46] to do. And despite all the laws,
[42:50] um, as a young man, I was
[42:51] persistently perhaps stubbornly
[42:53] illegal, but the laws did
[42:56] change and we did make progress
[43:00] and what I think is most
[43:01] important is that despite being
[43:06] in a very long fight. Is that
[43:07] It was most important to remind
[43:11] people of our basic humanity.
[43:11] And that
[43:12] s what
[43:13] s so important
[43:15] in this particular fight with
[43:16] the trans community because we
[43:19] have so many people on school
[43:21] boards in Congress and in the
[43:24] White House and in the federal
[43:26] bureaucracy who are really
[43:29] trying to eradicate and
[43:29] trivialize people
[43:29] s lives and
[43:31] you know, I heard a great
[43:33] interview from a military
[43:36] person who happened to be trans
[43:38] who was so effective in talking
[43:39] about what a wonderful
[43:41] opportunity. They had to serve
[43:43] to work in the military and how
[43:45] much support they had from
[43:47] their comrades in arms and how
[43:51] wonderful it was to serve as in
[43:53] the army and as to serve the us
[43:55] people or serve the people of
[43:56] America, and I just think that
[43:59] we need to be there and remind
[44:00] people that we are talking
[44:02] about friends, neighbors, and
[44:03] people with real humanity.
[44:06] Thank you. I believe that
[44:06] concludes our public comments.
[44:08] Any anybody show up in Zoom or
[44:12] any other slips come in?
[44:14] Additional speakers in chambers
[44:16] or Zoom. Terrific. Then I
[44:16] believe we
[44:18] ll turn to the
[44:18] staff
[44:20] s table over here for our
[44:20] city manager
[44:27] s report. Good
[44:29] evening. Thank you, Mayor. Good
[44:31] evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and
[44:32] city council members. Um, I
[44:34] will be providing the city
[44:34] manager
[44:37] s comments from the
[44:39] staff table today. Happy Black
[44:40] History Month. FEBRUARY is
[44:41] Black History Month. It
[44:41] s also
[44:44] the time when we provide our
[44:46] annual update on the city
[44:48] s um
[44:48] equity and inclusion
[44:52] initiatives, um, the city is
[44:54] continuing with our deia
[44:55] initiatives regardless of the
[44:56] direction that the federal
[44:58] government is going. At this
[45:01] time. Uh, joining me is Jamaica
[45:03] Carter, our equity and
[45:03] inclusion officer. She
[45:05] ll be
[45:07] buying a brief presentation of
[45:07] the city
[45:09] s equity and inclusion
[45:10] efforts over the last year.
[45:25] Thank you. Hello. Good evening,
[45:26] Mayor, Vice Mayor, council
[45:28] members, and community members.
[45:30] Thank you for the opportunity
[45:32] to speak to you today. My name
[45:34] is Jamaica Carter, and I serve
[45:35] as the equity inclusion officer
[45:39] for the city of West Hollywood.
[45:41] Tonight I will provide an
[45:43] overview of our equity
[45:44] initiatives, highlight our
[45:47] vision for an inclusive city,
[45:49] discuss our partnership with
[45:51] gar, the government alliance
[45:53] for Race and Equity and outline
[45:55] the steps we are taking to
[45:56] strengthen equity within city
[45:59] operations. I will also share
[46:02] updates on our draft city
[46:03] organizational equity statement
[46:09] and discuss what lies ahead. As
[46:11] we shape our vision for equity
[46:13] within our city, we recognize
[46:15] that equity is not just an idea,
[46:16] it
[46:17] s an it
[46:18] s an essential
[46:20] framework for how we operate as
[46:22] a city. We envision a city
[46:24] where all community members can
[46:26] thrive regardless of their
[46:27] identity or background. Our
[46:29] goal is to lead in creating
[46:31] policies that are truly
[46:33] inclusive and equitable,
[46:34] ensuring that every individual
[46:36] has access to opportunities,
[46:39] resources, and representation.
[46:39] Our vision is important because
[46:41] it serves as a guiding
[46:44] framework for our work. When we
[46:46] prioritize equity, it creates a
[46:46] stronger, more connected
[46:49] community. And a strong vision
[46:51] can inspire collective action
[46:53] around shared goals and will
[46:54] continue to shape our city into
[46:56] a place where everyone has the
[47:03] opportunity to thrive. In 2020
[47:05] we joined the garr network.
[47:08] Gare is a dyna dynamic peer to
[47:09] peer learning and practice
[47:11] network dedicated to advancing
[47:13] racial equity in government.
[47:15] This created a foundation for
[47:17] our racial equity work during a
[47:18] critical time and providing
[47:21] staff with the tools to deepen
[47:22] their understanding and
[47:23] implement strategies for
[47:26] advancing equity in their work.
[47:28] The importance of our
[47:30] partnership with ga cannot be
[47:32] overstated. The equity
[47:33] challenges we face today are
[47:35] just as urgent as they were 4
[47:40] years ago and even before that.
[47:41] Addressing structural
[47:42] inequities requires long-term
[47:45] commitment and action and garr
[47:46] provides essential support for
[47:49] embedding racial equity in our
[47:50] government systems through
[47:52] training, coaching, and
[47:53] strategy development. We can
[47:56] better align our efforts with
[47:57] best practices across cities
[47:58] and ensure sustainable progress.
[48:03] We also have gut team goals,
[48:06] the gear teams are made up of
[48:06] staff from various divisions,
[48:08] and they have been making
[48:10] significant progress over the
[48:12] past few years and will
[48:13] continue and we will continue
[48:16] to support these efforts by
[48:18] providing citywide training,
[48:20] divisions specific training,
[48:21] coaching support, long term
[48:23] strategy development. This is
[48:26] important because without
[48:28] Intentional action within the
[48:29] organization inequity
[48:30] inequities will continue to
[48:36] persist. And it
[48:37] s necessary for
[48:38] our infrastructure to address
[48:40] these challenges, to ensure
[48:42] that racial equity is not an
[48:43] afterthought but a foundational
[48:48] principle in governance. Over
[48:49] the past few months, we have
[48:52] taken a deep dive into the
[48:53] equity landscape, engaging with
[48:56] divisions to understand their
[48:56] efforts and identify
[48:58] opportunities to enhance and
[49:00] expand their impact. Through
[49:03] these conversations, several
[49:06] key themes emerged. Equitable
[49:07] resource allocation and access,
[49:09] ensuring that fair distribution
[49:10] of city services and
[49:11] opportunities for both staff
[49:14] and the community. Inclusive
[49:16] language and communication,
[49:18] fostering clear, accessible and
[49:22] cultural responsive messaging.
[49:24] Internal and community dia
[49:25] education and training to
[49:27] ensure that we equipped staff
[49:28] and community members with the
[49:29] knowledge and tools to drive
[49:32] meaningful change.
[49:33] Collaborative and community
[49:35] centered engagement, partnering
[49:36] with residents to co-create
[49:37] solutions that reflect and
[49:38] serve our city
[49:40] s diverse needs.
[49:42] These insights are key to
[49:45] guiding our our equity efforts.
[49:47] And over the next year we will
[49:48] remain focused on embedding
[49:51] equity into all city functions.
[49:53] We are committed to focusing on.
[49:57] Equity strategies aligned with
[49:57] broader city strategic plan
[50:01] goals. An equity action plan
[50:04] driven by community input.
[50:06] Continued training for staff,
[50:09] elected and appointed officials
[50:11] and also community members as
[50:11] well as community equity
[50:17] initiatives. Furthermore, I am
[50:19] happy to share that equity is
[50:20] not just an aspiration for the
[50:22] city of West Hollywood as we
[50:24] see here, our commitment to
[50:26] equity is reflected in ongoing
[50:26] initiatives that drive
[50:29] meaningful change. From our
[50:31] engagement with gar to
[50:34] centering equity and public
[50:36] safety and health initiatives,
[50:37] addressing disparities through
[50:38] responsive community training
[50:41] and support services. We are
[50:43] taking action. These efforts go
[50:45] beyond statements, create real
[50:46] change and lasting impact
[50:55] across the city. Last year we
[50:57] began a collaborative process
[50:59] to draft a citywide equity
[51:01] organizational statement.
[51:02] Through staff input, group
[51:04] discussion, and shared
[51:05] perspectives we created a
[51:07] statement that reflects our
[51:09] values and aspirations. An
[51:10] organizational equity statement
[51:13] serves as a formal commitment
[51:14] to equity and inclusion guiding
[51:16] our decision making and
[51:18] fostering trust. It unites
[51:20] staff, leadership, and
[51:22] community members around shared
[51:23] values and drives collaboration.
[51:25] Towards a more inclusive
[51:27] environment. I
[51:27] m going to go
[51:29] ahead and read the equity
[51:32] statement. The city of West
[51:34] Hollywood is committed to
[51:35] fostering a thriving inclusive
[51:37] community where all people have
[51:39] access to opportunities,
[51:41] resources, and representation.
[51:43] We recognize that equity is a
[51:44] shared responsibility and an
[51:46] ongoing practice that informs
[51:48] our policies, programs and
[51:49] services rooted in our
[51:50] foundational values of
[51:52] inclusion and advocacy, we
[51:54] acknowledge that systematic
[51:56] barriers and historical
[51:59] injustices have had have
[52:00] impacted marginalized
[52:03] populations including bipoc,
[52:05] lgbtq plus displaced, disabled,
[52:07] and aging communities. We
[52:08] commit to actively dismantle
[52:09] these barriers through
[52:11] practices and systematic.
[52:14] Change, that prioritizes
[52:16] meaningful engagement, resource
[52:17] distribution and empowerment
[52:18] for residents and visitors
[52:21] alike. This includes empowering
[52:23] our city staff through
[52:24] equitable opportunities for
[52:27] development, decision making.
[52:29] An active participating in
[52:30] active participation in shaping
[52:31] the city
[52:32] s future. Through
[52:34] transparency, accountability,
[52:35] and collaboration, we will
[52:38] address current and historical
[52:39] injustices and work
[52:40] continuously to build a city
[52:41] where everyone has seen, heard,
[52:44] and supported. Together we
[52:46] strive to uphold equity as the
[52:48] foundation of our policies,
[52:50] practices, and vision for. West
[52:51] Hollywood
[52:55] s future. A strong
[52:56] equity statement is important
[52:57] and it provides clarity and
[52:59] accountability. It serves as a
[53:00] framework for decision making
[53:02] and ensures that our actions
[53:04] align with our values. It helps
[53:06] reinforce our commitment to
[53:09] inclusion and serves as a
[53:09] foundation for continuous
[53:15] improvement. So I was, so as we
[53:17] look ahead, we know that equity
[53:19] is not a one-time effort. It is
[53:20] a continuous process that
[53:24] involves. That evolves with
[53:25] community needs, so it
[53:26] s
[53:27] critical to keep these goals in
[53:29] mind. Equity as a continuous
[53:31] commitment, collaboration and
[53:33] shared responsibility.
[53:37] Sustainability and active and
[53:38] adaptive strategies by
[53:40] maintaining our commitment,
[53:41] fostering strong community
[53:42] connections and adapting our
[53:43] strategies. We ensure that our
[53:45] city remains a model for
[53:47] inclusive, uh, inclusion and
[53:53] progress. Our work in equity
[53:55] and inclusion is ongoing and it
[53:56] and it
[53:59] s, excuse me, and it
[53:59] s
[54:01] success relies on continued
[54:03] commitment from city leadership
[54:05] staff and the community. Even
[54:08] as we face external challenges.
[54:09] Including efforts in the at the
[54:11] federal level to undermine and
[54:12] discredit deia work. It is
[54:14] imperative that we remain
[54:16] committed. Equity is not a
[54:17] political trend. It
[54:18] s a
[54:20] fundamental, a fundamental
[54:22] necessity for a thriving and
[54:24] inclusive city by continuing to
[54:25] prioritize these efforts, we
[54:27] protect the rights and
[54:28] well-being of all. Together we
[54:29] can create a city where
[54:31] individuals are valued,
[54:32] empowered, and included. Thank
[54:44] you all for your time. Thank
[54:48] you, Jamaica. Um, just one
[54:50] other announcement. Wee Hores
[54:52] will be presenting power and
[54:53] progress during Black History
[54:56] Month. This is an online
[54:57] presentation via Zoom and
[55:01] YouTube. It will be FEBRUARY 26
[55:04] from 6:30 P.M. To 8 P.M. Um,
[55:08] for more information, please
[55:09] visit WeHho.Org/WheeHhoreads
[55:10] and that concludes my comments,
[55:12] Mayor. Thank you so much, City
[55:15] manager, and we appreciate the
[55:15] presentation tonight. Um, we
[55:16] ll
[55:17] move on to the fiscal impact on
[55:18] the consent calendar. City
[55:20] clerk, what is the fiscal
[55:21] impact on tonight
[55:21] s consent
[55:23] calendar. Thank you, Mayor. The
[55:24] fiscal impact on tonight
[55:25] s
[55:27] consent calendar with the
[55:32] addition of items f2, f3, f4,
[55:39] f5, and f7 is $988,968 in
[55:44] expenditures, $102,750. In
[55:46] revenue and $6,584 in waived
[55:48] fees. We do have a motion and a
[55:49] second to adopt tonight
[55:49] s
[55:58] consent calendar. Terrific. And
[56:04] the motion passes 50. Amazing.
[56:06] So noting item c1, the public
[56:07] hearing has been continued to a
[56:08] date uncertain. We
[56:10] ll move on
[56:11] to legislative item d1, an
[56:12] ordinance of the city council,
[56:15] the city of West Hollywood,
[56:18] approving amendments to Section
[56:20] 10.28.050 of the municipal code
[56:21] regarding utilizing the parking
[56:29] credits pool. Thank you to our
[56:29] staff representatives who are
[56:36] making their way to the table.
[56:36] Whenever you
[56:38] re ready, will you
[56:39] please introduce yourself and
[56:43] present the staff report. Good
[56:44] evening, Mayor and members of
[56:45] the council. I
[56:45] m Jennifer
[56:46] Alcaer. I
[56:46] m the assistant
[56:47] director of Community
[56:48] Development, and I
[56:48] m going to
[56:50] give a brief overview of what
[56:51] this item is all about and then
[56:51] I
[56:53] m here with um Bill Bortfield
[56:55] and Vince Guarino who are going
[56:56] to help us answer any questions
[56:59] you MAY have. So, um, We don
[57:00] t
[57:01] have a PowerPoint, so I
[57:01] m just
[57:03] gonna, just gonna go, uh, the
[57:05] parking credits program was
[57:06] established in 2012, and at the
[57:09] time, it was a tool that was
[57:11] used to help businesses that
[57:12] wanted to expand or property
[57:15] owners that wanted to lease
[57:17] their tenant spaces to um to
[57:19] other types of businesses to
[57:21] allow flexibility for that and
[57:23] to allow our commercial
[57:25] corridors to um flourish and
[57:29] thrive. Um, at that time,
[57:30] additional parking was required
[57:32] for those types of changes, and
[57:34] so that was a tool that we used
[57:37] at that time. Since then, we in
[57:40] 2018, uh, the city lowered
[57:42] parking requirements for many
[57:44] of the commercial uses and
[57:46] changed how and when new
[57:46] parking requirements were
[57:49] applied for a small conversions
[57:52] and where um where those things
[57:55] were required and in 2023, the
[57:56] state adopted ab 2097, which hi
[58:00] bi t s the city from applying
[58:02] uh, minimum parking standards
[58:04] to new projects and so now we
[58:06] have because of those changes,
[58:06] we
[58:08] ve got more tools in the
[58:10] toolbox to help businesses
[58:12] expand and to help those tenant
[58:13] spaces be used by different
[58:16] types of businesses, um, so the
[58:18] parking credits program is, is
[58:19] not as critical, and in fact,
[58:21] now we have a certain set of
[58:23] businesses that pay the fees
[58:24] for parking credits because
[58:24] they
[58:25] re required in their
[58:25] conditions of approval, and we
[58:26] have new business. Services
[58:28] that come in and they aren
[58:28] t
[58:29] required to pay those fees
[58:29] because they
[58:30] re not required to
[58:31] have parking credits. They
[58:31] re
[58:33] not required to provide that
[58:34] off-street parking. And so in
[58:36] order to try to make those
[58:37] equal and provide equity to the
[58:38] different types of businesses
[58:41] that are long standing and new,
[58:42] um, the most, the easiest and
[58:43] most straightforward way to go
[58:45] about that is to just eliminate
[58:47] the fee associated with those
[58:50] parking credits, so that nobody
[58:52] has to pay that extra amount.
[58:54] Uh, we did think about changing
[58:55] the conditions of approval to
[58:56] not require the additional
[58:58] parking. But that takes a lot
[59:00] of extra steps on the part of
[59:01] the business owners. So while
[59:03] that MAY be a long term
[59:04] solution over time at this
[59:06] point in time, um, it, it
[59:07] presents an, uh, an
[59:09] administrative challenge and it
[59:10] presents extra extra steps for
[59:12] those businesses that maybe
[59:12] aren
[59:12] t um aren
[59:13] t equipped to do
[59:14] that, um, to go through those
[59:16] steps with the city. So that
[59:16] s
[59:16] what we
[59:17] re recommending at this
[59:19] time is to just eliminate the
[59:20] fee and move forward and I
[59:21] m, I
[59:22] and the team are here with
[59:25] Quest for any questions. Like
[59:26] Terrific. Do any of my
[59:26] colleagues have questions to
[59:27] start, uh, Councillormer
[59:31] Meister. Yeah, thanks. Thanks,
[59:34] Jennifer. Um, so the fee, uh,
[59:34] as it
[59:37] s even showed in the um
[59:39] in the staff report went
[59:41] towards the parking improvement
[59:45] fund. So how then do we improve
[59:47] how do we, you know, have funds
[59:49] then for the parking
[59:52] improvement fund if we don
[59:52] t
[59:54] charge for parking credits. So
[59:55] I
[59:56] m gonna pass that question on
[59:57] to, um, my partners from the
[59:59] parking division. I
[1:00:00] m mayor,
[1:00:02] vice mayor and council members
[1:00:04] Vince Greeno parking services
[1:00:06] manager, uh, that is one of the
[1:00:09] impacts that it will have, uh,
[1:00:09] uh, we
[1:00:10] ll have to figure out
[1:00:11] how we
[1:00:12] re gonna address that uh
[1:00:17] revenue shortfall. Ok. Um, and
[1:00:22] then my other question was, um,
[1:00:24] The program required uh staff
[1:00:27] to do a parking credit survey,
[1:00:29] I believe every 6 months. Can,
[1:00:31] do we, when was the last time
[1:00:34] we actually did that survey? It
[1:00:37] was uh before covid, we haven
[1:00:37] t
[1:00:39] had the demand for the parking
[1:00:40] credits, so it hasn
[1:00:40] t been
[1:00:43] necessary to do the survey, um,
[1:00:45] because we have less and less
[1:00:48] businesses utilizing it. Ok, um,
[1:00:51] ok, that makes sense. Well,
[1:00:52] those are my only questions. I
[1:00:54] might have comments, but I
[1:00:54] don
[1:00:55] t want to, if there
[1:00:55] s, I
[1:00:55] don
[1:00:57] t know if there
[1:00:57] s public
[1:00:58] speakers. I don
[1:00:58] t have any
[1:00:59] public speakers on the item
[1:01:00] Vice Mayor Heilman, did you
[1:01:05] have comments? I had Sort of
[1:01:07] one related comment. I know
[1:01:09] that when we did the parking
[1:01:10] s
[1:01:13] credit, parking credit program,
[1:01:15] it was utilized fairly
[1:01:18] frequently around here with the
[1:01:20] understanding that the parking
[1:01:22] structure here would be
[1:01:24] available for people. I have
[1:01:26] come in on several occasions
[1:01:27] where it
[1:01:28] s very difficult to
[1:01:32] find a parking space at all in
[1:01:33] the parking structure and um
[1:01:33] I
[1:01:36] ve raised this. Previously,
[1:01:39] but the overflow in the library
[1:01:39] doesn
[1:01:40] t always work either
[1:01:43] because we have so many spaces
[1:01:45] that are not utilized or not
[1:01:48] able to be utilized because we
[1:01:51] have the devices there and if
[1:01:52] there aren
[1:01:52] t aren
[1:01:53] t valets or
[1:01:55] people there to assist, you
[1:01:56] can
[1:01:58] t utilize those spaces, so
[1:01:58] I
[1:01:59] m completely supportive of
[1:02:01] the item, and I appreciate you
[1:02:03] bringing it forward, but I, I
[1:02:06] hope that you will look at What
[1:02:08] is causing those kind of
[1:02:09] impacts because they are
[1:02:11] impacting people who want to
[1:02:13] utilize the library and utilize
[1:02:15] the park, and I think some of
[1:02:20] it is people who are employees
[1:02:22] of other businesses, not to
[1:02:24] mention the bdc where they
[1:02:25] charge substantially more for
[1:02:27] parking than we do, so maybe
[1:02:28] that
[1:02:28] s something that needs to
[1:02:29] be looked at. That
[1:02:33] s all. Other
[1:02:35] Any other questions? What? Go
[1:02:40] for it. Um, how do we monitor
[1:02:42] and police the five-story
[1:02:43] parking structure to follow up
[1:02:45] on Vice Mayor Heilman
[1:02:45] s
[1:02:47] comments, uh, so specifically
[1:02:50] if you park there, you can go
[1:02:52] into the library and can you
[1:02:52] still get validated for that,
[1:02:53] or do you need to be in the
[1:02:56] library a lot? Have we fixed
[1:02:58] that little ticket snafu that I
[1:03:00] realized when I was a Uh, when
[1:03:03] I worked here at City Hall. So,
[1:03:04] so we don
[1:03:05] t the the validations
[1:03:08] for the library only work in
[1:03:12] the library garage. Great. Um.
[1:03:14] Are we or have we implemented a
[1:03:15] better valet program on the 5th
[1:03:17] floor. When do we offer valets
[1:03:21] up there on the top floor. Uh,
[1:03:22] typically during uh council
[1:03:23] members or during uh the
[1:03:25] council meetings if we have the
[1:03:27] demand. Has there ever been a
[1:03:29] need to implement it or added
[1:03:32] during the weekends when we see
[1:03:34] more individuals um driving to
[1:03:36] the dog park, um, but you know,
[1:03:37] driving in general and parking
[1:03:39] there, would it be beneficial
[1:03:41] to have an option like that
[1:03:42] exists on Saturdays and Sundays.
[1:03:45] We can, we can look into that,
[1:03:46] uh, one of the challenges is
[1:03:50] that it, it tends to be uh the
[1:03:52] folks doing the ballet or the
[1:03:53] folks are coming in don
[1:03:54] t like
[1:03:56] to use the valet typically, but
[1:03:56] we
[1:03:56] ll, we
[1:03:57] ll see what we can do.
[1:04:01] Yeah, the only reason I ask is
[1:04:03] I think any of us that know how
[1:04:04] to park and where to park in
[1:04:06] the city. No, not to park in
[1:04:07] the five-story parking
[1:04:08] structure, uh, when we need to,
[1:04:09] it
[1:04:10] s very nice. I appreciative
[1:04:12] of it. However, I think if
[1:04:12] there
[1:04:14] s ways that we can
[1:04:15] increase the opportunity for
[1:04:17] people to park. I know the
[1:04:18] weekends are very busy with a
[1:04:20] lot of our events and so the
[1:04:21] more accessibility we can have
[1:04:23] for people to park there. It
[1:04:23] s,
[1:04:24] it
[1:04:24] s better, but that
[1:04:25] s just a
[1:04:26] general comment. Councillor
[1:04:31] Meister. Thank you, Mayor. Um,
[1:04:34] I would like to suggest that we
[1:04:36] have some type of parking needs
[1:04:40] assessment study done. For that
[1:04:41] parking garage because I mean,
[1:04:42] maybe you
[1:04:43] ve done it, but now
[1:04:46] that the arc has opened and
[1:04:48] programming keeps increasing.
[1:04:50] We are seeing that it is harder
[1:04:53] and harder to park in the
[1:04:56] five-story garage and um I
[1:04:58] remember when Oscar Delgado was
[1:04:59] here and we had a project come
[1:05:01] before us that wanted to reduce
[1:05:04] their parking by 100 spaces and,
[1:05:07] you know, at that time, no one
[1:05:08] from staff said anything about
[1:05:10] Well, maybe we
[1:05:11] ll need those
[1:05:12] spaces because of arc, but the
[1:05:15] truth of the matter is that we
[1:05:18] probably did need those spaces,
[1:05:20] so I think we need to see
[1:05:22] numbers around, around the
[1:05:23] parking garage and and what the
[1:05:25] needs are, especially as we
[1:05:26] keep increasing programming at
[1:05:29] the arc. Thank you, Councilor
[1:05:36] Buring. Thank you, Mayor. Uh,
[1:05:38] thank you for the presentation.
[1:05:40] Um, I just wanted to note that
[1:05:42] Cars are getting bigger too,
[1:05:42] and I
[1:05:43] ve noticed that in the
[1:05:44] parking lot. It
[1:05:45] s hard to park
[1:05:46] when cars are just getting
[1:05:47] bigger, trucks are getting
[1:05:48] bigger, people are driving them
[1:05:50] and parking them in there,
[1:05:52] taking over more than one spot
[1:05:54] 1.5 spots, so that
[1:05:54] s something
[1:05:55] that can be looked into. It
[1:05:55] s
[1:05:57] something that we can control,
[1:05:58] but you know, cars are just
[1:06:03] getting bigger. Vice Mayor, I
[1:06:06] see a motion. Yeah, I was going
[1:06:08] to move the item with the
[1:06:09] direction that
[1:06:10] s been given to
[1:06:13] investigate the issues of
[1:06:15] parking shortages and in the
[1:06:17] five-story parking lot and also
[1:06:19] looking at the issue of ballet
[1:06:23] and when we utilize it and also
[1:06:25] looking at the library parking
[1:06:27] lot and see whether that
[1:06:27] s
[1:06:28] properly configured for maximum
[1:06:31] use, so. Thank you, and we have
[1:06:32] a second on the table. Are
[1:06:34] there any other comments or
[1:06:37] questions from my colleagues? I
[1:06:39] question. Does, does your
[1:06:40] motion include the idea of a, a
[1:06:42] needs assessment. I mean, you,
[1:06:45] it sounds like it. Well, I, I
[1:06:45] wasn
[1:06:46] t authorizing them to go
[1:06:48] and hire a consultant to do a
[1:06:50] needs assessment, but to
[1:06:52] investigate and if they do need
[1:06:54] a consultant to do a needs
[1:06:56] assessment, then that would,
[1:06:58] they would come back to us with
[1:06:59] that terrific. I
[1:07:01] m trying to
[1:07:04] not go too far afield from what
[1:07:05] was actually agenda I guess I
[1:07:06] would just ask, do you need a
[1:07:08] consultant to do I mean, you
[1:07:09] usually do parking studies all
[1:07:12] the time. I mean, the parking.
[1:07:15] Division There we go. I was
[1:07:17] having trouble with my
[1:07:20] microphone, uh, uh, we, we do
[1:07:22] some of the surveys internally,
[1:07:24] yes, but in this instance, I
[1:07:25] think we would want to go out
[1:07:30] and get a consultant. Could we
[1:07:31] bring that back as a different
[1:07:33] agenda item. Yeah, we
[1:07:34] ll look
[1:07:36] into it if we need to come back
[1:07:37] for for with an item for a
[1:07:38] consultant, we
[1:07:39] ll do that. It
[1:07:39] d
[1:07:40] be great. Ok, so we have a
[1:07:42] motion in a second on the table.
[1:07:42] I believe we
[1:07:43] re prepared for a
[1:07:44] vote with the direction
[1:07:48] included by Vice Mayor Heilman.
[1:07:53] Terrific. Motion passes. Thank
[1:07:55] you so much for your
[1:07:56] presentation. We
[1:07:56] ll move on to
[1:08:00] uh Unfinished business, item e1,
[1:08:02] the mid-year update on fiscal
[1:08:05] year 2024, 2025 operating
[1:08:06] budget and progress on work
[1:08:19] plan priorities. Good evening,
[1:08:20] whenever you
[1:08:36] re ready. Ok. Um,
[1:08:36] while we
[1:08:37] re waiting for our
[1:08:42] PowerPoint to load. Ok. It
[1:08:43] s on
[1:08:44] there. You just have to close
[1:08:55] out of that. Thanks. There it
[1:09:06] is. One second. Great, thank
[1:09:10] you. Thank you for your
[1:09:12] patience. Um, my name is
[1:09:13] Christine Seret. I am the
[1:09:15] assistant to the city manager
[1:09:16] with me tonight is Melissa
[1:09:18] Linley, the budget officer, and
[1:09:18] sitting at the dais with you,
[1:09:20] of course, our city manager
[1:09:21] David Wilson. We will be
[1:09:24] presenting a report to you on
[1:09:26] um the fy 25 mid-year budget
[1:09:28] update and Melissa Linley will
[1:09:30] be doing the, the presentation
[1:09:37] for you this evening. Good
[1:09:39] evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and
[1:09:40] council members. I don
[1:09:40] t think
[1:09:40] that
[1:09:49] s. Ok. Good evening. I
[1:09:50] m
[1:09:51] happy to be here this evening
[1:09:53] to present the city
[1:09:53] s midyear
[1:09:54] budget. We
[1:09:56] ll start by
[1:09:56] recapping last fiscal year and
[1:09:58] then dive into the current
[1:10:00] fiscal year, including where we
[1:10:01] are midyear and our projections
[1:10:03] for the end of the year. We
[1:10:03] ll
[1:10:06] also update you on some
[1:10:07] proposed organizational changes,
[1:10:09] then touch on our departmental
[1:10:11] work plan priorities and look
[1:10:12] ahead to the next budget
[1:10:15] process. Let
[1:10:17] s begin with last
[1:10:18] fiscal year. All of the amounts
[1:10:20] in this table are rounded to
[1:10:26] the nearest million. Fi 24 was
[1:10:26] another successful year
[1:10:27] financially. As you can see
[1:10:29] from this chart, we
[1:10:30] re
[1:10:30] providing some historical
[1:10:33] context, starting with f I 20
[1:10:34] and fy21, which, as you
[1:10:35] ll
[1:10:36] recall, were significantly
[1:10:39] impacted by the covid-19
[1:10:40] pandemic. You can see the
[1:10:44] revenue surge in fy 22 and fy
[1:10:46] 23 as we rebounded. Some of
[1:10:48] that growth was due to
[1:10:48] recovering from the pandemic
[1:10:50] and some was thanks to new
[1:10:51] revenue streams like Measure
[1:10:54] e-sales tax. And our digital
[1:10:57] advertising programs. Are
[1:10:59] adopted budget for fy 24 back
[1:11:03] in JUNE of 23 was 151 million.
[1:11:05] We made some adjustments
[1:11:06] throughout the year, ending
[1:11:09] with the revised mid-year
[1:11:12] budget of $153.5 million. The
[1:11:14] final results were better. Our
[1:11:16] actual revenues shown here in
[1:11:20] blue came in at 161 million.
[1:11:20] That
[1:11:22] s 7 million above budget.
[1:11:25] And we spent less than
[1:11:28] anticipated with actual
[1:11:31] expenditures of 147 million 6.4
[1:11:32] million below budget. This
[1:11:34] resulted in a healthy surplus
[1:11:38] of $14 million. While fy 24 was
[1:11:39] a strong year. It
[1:11:40] s important
[1:11:41] to note that revenue growth was
[1:11:43] more moderate than the previous
[1:11:46] 2 years. Our biggest revenue
[1:11:49] sources, sales tax and hotel
[1:11:50] tax saw slight dips. We also
[1:11:52] had a temporary waiver of
[1:11:53] business tax certificate
[1:11:56] renewal fees, which impacted
[1:11:58] revenues. However, we saw
[1:12:00] growth in property taxes,
[1:12:02] permits, and interest earnings,
[1:12:04] which resulted in an increase
[1:12:05] from the previous year of $0.9
[1:12:10] million. On the expenditure
[1:12:13] side, we saw increases across
[1:12:14] all categories. This reflects
[1:12:16] the return of services and
[1:12:17] events that were deferred
[1:12:20] during the pandemic, along with
[1:12:21] some key investments, which
[1:12:23] included the first year of
[1:12:25] field operations for the care
[1:12:27] team, increased support for the
[1:12:30] pride in Halloween events and
[1:12:32] economic study, marketing
[1:12:33] support for local businesses
[1:12:35] and some one-time capital
[1:12:37] expenditures, including
[1:12:37] construction and
[1:12:38] pre-development costs for the
[1:12:39] Holloway and Durim housing.
[1:12:41] Program and the log cabin
[1:12:46] renovation. Now let
[1:12:46] s talk
[1:12:49] about the current fiscal year
[1:12:52] fy 25. The city
[1:12:53] s financial
[1:12:54] financial position remains
[1:12:58] solid. Our fy 25. We adopted a
[1:13:00] budget of 161 million for both
[1:13:03] revenues and expenditures in
[1:13:05] JUNE of 2024. Looking at the
[1:13:06] mid-year numbers, which are
[1:13:08] JULY through DECEMBER. We
[1:13:08] re
[1:13:11] right on track. Revenues were
[1:13:15] 72 million, which is 45% of the
[1:13:16] original budget and
[1:13:18] expenditures were 76 million or
[1:13:22] 47% of the original budget.
[1:13:23] With supplemental expenditures
[1:13:25] previously approved by council
[1:13:27] and recommended mid-year budget
[1:13:29] adjustments, the proposed
[1:13:30] mid-year budget is balanced
[1:13:34] with revenue and expenditure
[1:13:36] budgets of 162.5 million and a
[1:13:37] projected year-end surplus of
[1:13:43] $30,000. Tonight we
[1:13:43] re
[1:13:45] recommending a few mid-year
[1:13:46] budget adjustments. We
[1:13:47] re
[1:13:48] proposing a $1.9 million
[1:13:50] increase in general fund
[1:13:53] revenue, driven by higher than
[1:13:54] anticipated interest earnings.
[1:13:54] We
[1:13:57] re also recommending a
[1:13:59] $180,000 adjustment to general
[1:14:01] fund expenditures, including
[1:14:03] 42,000 for recreation safety
[1:14:06] training and programming, and
[1:14:08] 138,000 as a one-time
[1:14:10] allocation for hearing examers
[1:14:11] hearing examiner services
[1:14:13] related to parking. This will
[1:14:14] allow us to maintain these
[1:14:16] services while we complete a
[1:14:19] request for proposal process to
[1:14:20] secure more cost-effective
[1:14:23] services in the future. We also
[1:14:24] have some minor adjustments
[1:14:26] proposed for the proposition a
[1:14:28] and parking improvement funds
[1:14:29] detailed and attachment aid to
[1:14:34] the staff report. As a recap,
[1:14:36] The council has already
[1:14:38] approved supplemental
[1:14:40] expenditures of 1.7 million for
[1:14:43] public safety technology,
[1:14:43] Halloween Carnival production
[1:14:47] costs and a haunted trolley.
[1:14:47] Local business marketing
[1:14:49] support, the Women
[1:14:49] s Freedom
[1:14:51] Festival, and outdoor ice
[1:14:53] skating rink, an additional
[1:14:54] funds for special counsel
[1:15:00] programs. This chart provides a
[1:15:02] helpful comparison showing
[1:15:04] prior your actuals. The
[1:15:06] original fy 25 budget and our
[1:15:07] proposed mid-year budget
[1:15:10] highlighted in blue. The
[1:15:12] proposed mid-year revenue
[1:15:15] budget of 162.5 million is 1.9
[1:15:17] million higher than last year
[1:15:17] s
[1:15:19] actuals. This is primarily due
[1:15:21] to the reinstatement of
[1:15:22] business tax certificate
[1:15:23] renewal fees and some
[1:15:25] conservative budgeting for
[1:15:27] revenues like hotel taxes and
[1:15:30] city permit revenues. The
[1:15:32] proposed mid-year expenditure
[1:15:35] budget of 162.5 million is 15.4
[1:15:36] million higher than last year
[1:15:37] s
[1:15:39] actuals. This difference
[1:15:40] reflects the 6.4 million in
[1:15:42] savings we realized in fy 24,
[1:15:45] as well as new expenditures
[1:15:47] included in the fi-25 budget to
[1:15:49] support the city
[1:15:49] s priority
[1:15:51] areas in areas like financial
[1:15:54] stability, community safety,
[1:15:55] infrastructure development,
[1:15:57] community services, arts and
[1:15:58] culture and community
[1:16:00] engagement. With the
[1:16:02] recommended adjustments or
[1:16:03] projecting a balanced budget
[1:16:05] and any excess revenues will be
[1:16:07] allocated to reserves and our
[1:16:13] capital program. Moving on to
[1:16:14] organizational changes,
[1:16:15] reflecting counsel
[1:16:15] s direction
[1:16:17] to consolidate staff and the
[1:16:19] billboard program within the
[1:16:20] community development
[1:16:20] department. We
[1:16:22] re recommending
[1:16:24] 3 new positions. A senior
[1:16:26] planner, a project development
[1:16:27] administrator and an
[1:16:29] administrative specialist.
[1:16:30] Additionally, hr is
[1:16:32] recommending a reclassification
[1:16:35] of an engineering position from
[1:16:37] traffic management program
[1:16:37] specialist to assistant
[1:16:39] engineer. Funding for these
[1:16:42] changes will be included in the
[1:16:47] proposed fi26 budget. Finally,
[1:16:49] let me point out a few things.
[1:16:50] The attachments to the staff
[1:16:54] report. Attachment aid details
[1:16:55] the approved and proposed
[1:16:56] budget adjustments for the
[1:16:58] general fund as well as minor
[1:17:01] adjustments to the Prop a and
[1:17:02] parking improvement funds.
[1:17:04] Attachment b outlines our
[1:17:05] departmental work plan
[1:17:07] priorities which are key
[1:17:08] initiatives and ongoing
[1:17:09] programs developed as part of
[1:17:13] the fy 25 and 262-year budget.
[1:17:15] It also shows our progress so
[1:17:18] far in fy 25. Attachment c
[1:17:20] provides an overview of the
[1:17:22] budget schedule, looking ahead,
[1:17:22] we
[1:17:24] ll continue to monitor
[1:17:25] economic conditions and ensure
[1:17:27] the long-term financial health
[1:17:29] of the city. Planning for the
[1:17:31] next budget process, the 2nd
[1:17:33] year update starts now. There
[1:17:34] will be several opportunities
[1:17:36] for input throughout the
[1:17:37] process with two meetings of
[1:17:39] the Finance and budget
[1:17:41] subcommittee, and 2 meetings.
[1:17:43] With city council or receive
[1:17:46] and file item in MAY and the
[1:17:48] fy26 budget adoption in JUNE.
[1:17:49] Thank you, that completes the
[1:17:50] report for this evening and
[1:17:51] we
[1:17:52] re happy to answer any
[1:17:54] questions. Thank you both so
[1:17:55] much. Which is my colleagues
[1:17:57] like to begin comments, and we
[1:17:58] do have one public commenter so
[1:17:59] far, so we take that first, and
[1:17:59] we
[1:18:01] ll come back. Ok, great.
[1:18:03] Kevin Burton, have you signed
[1:18:07] up to speak. Anybody else would
[1:18:09] like to speak? Get your slips
[1:18:12] in Good evening, counsel. I
[1:18:13] m
[1:18:14] Kevin Burton, a resident of
[1:18:15] West Hollywood, and I
[1:18:17] m with a
[1:18:18] group of community emergency
[1:18:20] response team members here in
[1:18:22] West Hollywood. We owe research.
[1:18:24] I know this is about, this is
[1:18:26] an update of the budget. I
[1:18:26] think it
[1:18:28] s a good opportunity
[1:18:29] to start thinking about next
[1:18:30] year
[1:18:31] s budget. I want to
[1:18:35] comment on, um, emergency
[1:18:35] communications, which are
[1:18:38] touched on in the work plan of
[1:18:39] the community safety Department
[1:18:40] where they say they
[1:18:40] re going to
[1:18:43] work on Depending the Nickho
[1:18:45] Program where you can receive
[1:18:47] email from the city or the
[1:18:47] Sheriff
[1:18:48] s Department during an
[1:18:49] emergency. That
[1:18:49] s all very good.
[1:18:50] Uh, that
[1:18:53] s one of many channels
[1:18:55] the city can use, but it was
[1:18:57] obvious listening to a
[1:18:58] discussion among yourselves,
[1:18:59] comments from the public at the
[1:19:01] same occurred at the public
[1:19:03] safety commission. That many
[1:19:05] people in the city did not know
[1:19:08] what was going on the night of
[1:19:11] the Runyon Canyon sunset fire
[1:19:13] and uh just did not pay
[1:19:15] attention to the channels the
[1:19:16] city was using, so I
[1:19:17] d like to
[1:19:19] suggest that the city resume
[1:19:21] our program at used to have,
[1:19:24] perhaps our council member
[1:19:27] Heilman remembers the city had
[1:19:28] emergency sirens in Plumber
[1:19:30] Park, West Hollywood Park, and
[1:19:31] I think those should be
[1:19:33] considered. For next year
[1:19:34] s
[1:19:35] budget and the sirens of
[1:19:37] yesteryear are not those of
[1:19:39] this year, because many cities,
[1:19:41] Sierra Madre Rolling hills,
[1:19:43] especially Beverly Hills, use
[1:19:45] modern sirens which each can be
[1:19:47] individually activated, not
[1:19:50] only do they siren, but they
[1:19:52] broadcast messages. What is the
[1:19:53] siren about? Where can you go
[1:19:56] to get information. So I was
[1:19:56] suggest you seriously consider
[1:20:00] that. And speaking of
[1:20:04] information about emergencies,
[1:20:05] our website WeHhoresearch.Org
[1:20:09] focuses on information. About
[1:20:10] West Hollywood during
[1:20:12] emergencies and also links to
[1:20:13] the city
[1:20:14] s own emergency
[1:20:14] preparedness webpages. Thank
[1:20:19] you. Thank you. Ok, back to us,
[1:20:20] which of my colleagues would
[1:20:21] like to begin? Vice Mayor
[1:20:22] Heilman, looks like you
[1:20:22] re
[1:20:27] preparing. My only comment is
[1:20:30] thank you for the presentation
[1:20:32] and I support the revisions
[1:20:33] that you
[1:20:34] ve made, they all make
[1:20:36] sense to me, and I look forward
[1:20:39] to working with the mayor on
[1:20:41] the upcoming budget. Get
[1:20:42] started very soon. Councillor
[1:20:43] Erickson, did you have comments?
[1:20:44] Yes, thank you so much and
[1:20:47] thank you, Kevin. Um, I, I saw
[1:20:48] that public comment and was
[1:20:49] that you that did that public
[1:20:51] comment? Well, someone did a
[1:20:52] public comment about sirens and
[1:20:53] someone who lives next to
[1:20:54] Plumber Park. I don
[1:20:54] t know if I
[1:20:57] would know a nuke was falling
[1:20:59] or something was happening and
[1:21:01] there would be scared to hide
[1:21:02] underneath a table or something
[1:21:04] like that if I heard a siren,
[1:21:04] but that
[1:21:05] s neither here nor
[1:21:08] there. Um, thank you very much,
[1:21:09] uh, Christine and David and
[1:21:10] staff for putting this together.
[1:21:11] Couple of questions and I
[1:21:12] ll
[1:21:12] get into my comments and I
[1:21:13] ll
[1:21:16] do that. How much um did the
[1:21:19] offset of the business tax, uh.
[1:21:24] Um Application cost or impact
[1:21:24] the city
[1:21:25] s budget. Is there a
[1:21:29] dollar amount? Um, I think I
[1:21:29] don
[1:21:30] t have the exact number
[1:21:32] with me right now. You can, you
[1:21:33] can rough it. We had
[1:21:34] anticipated it was going to be
[1:21:36] about $2 million. We reduced
[1:21:39] the budget for. And we did that
[1:21:39] this last year, but didn
[1:21:40] t we
[1:21:42] do it the following year, the
[1:21:43] previous year to that or some
[1:21:44] version of that. Yeah, we
[1:21:45] ve
[1:21:47] had two rounds of it, one
[1:21:48] initially during covid, the
[1:21:50] early part of covid, and then
[1:21:53] we did it again this past year.
[1:21:53] It
[1:21:54] s businesses were still
[1:21:56] being impacted. Yeah, I think
[1:21:57] definitely our businesses are
[1:21:58] still being impacted in some
[1:21:59] way. I think it
[1:22:00] s a small
[1:22:01] gesture of goodwill that we can
[1:22:03] continue to look at and explore
[1:22:04] if my colleagues would be
[1:22:06] interested in that um to help
[1:22:06] our businesses out. It
[1:22:08] s it. It
[1:22:09] is a nominal amount per
[1:22:10] business and how you
[1:22:10] re
[1:22:11] registering, but every dollar
[1:22:12] helps that we can give to our
[1:22:14] business community. So if
[1:22:15] that
[1:22:16] s something my colleagues
[1:22:17] be willing to explore or I
[1:22:20] guess I can just give direction
[1:22:20] if that
[1:22:22] s possible. I would be
[1:22:22] really interested in seeing
[1:22:25] what that looks like in our
[1:22:26] budget, um, uh, in regards to
[1:22:28] the tax that was passed by the
[1:22:32] voters this year, David, that
[1:22:35] comes into effect when and how
[1:22:36] much is that estimated to bring
[1:22:37] in again? We
[1:22:38] re talking about
[1:22:43] the city tax, um, I do like the
[1:22:46] 1/3 of a 3 cent tax that we
[1:22:48] passed overwhelmingly this past
[1:22:50] year that was whh and it did
[1:22:53] pass in NOVEMBER, and it is a
[1:22:54] contingency tax so it only
[1:22:57] comes into effect if another
[1:23:00] regional entity attempts to
[1:23:01] place a tax measure that
[1:23:02] impacts our local cap, and if
[1:23:04] it did go into effect, we
[1:23:06] estimate it would be somewhere
[1:23:08] in the neighborhood of 5 to
[1:23:09] million dollars per year. Great.
[1:23:11] And are we expecting a ballot
[1:23:14] measure from the county to do
[1:23:16] that, I believe that is up in
[1:23:16] the air. That
[1:23:20] s what. I No,
[1:23:20] it
[1:23:23] s not measure a, but that
[1:23:25] did not, that did not, was not
[1:23:28] subject to the cap, and so it
[1:23:30] did not trigger measured whh,
[1:23:30] the city
[1:23:33] s tax right now that
[1:23:34] taxes is like is active and
[1:23:35] sitting in the wings. We are
[1:23:37] not collecting any revenue
[1:23:38] because there hasn
[1:23:38] t been a
[1:23:41] trigger event. And the soonest
[1:23:43] that could be is 2026. It would
[1:23:44] have to be a next regular
[1:23:50] election. So we wait and see.
[1:23:51] Wonderful, because I was
[1:23:52] wondering about that because I
[1:23:52] didn
[1:23:53] t know if it had triggered
[1:23:54] it yet, so that
[1:23:56] s helpful
[1:23:57] information and clarity in
[1:23:59] regards to the budget
[1:24:01] presentation for how we receive
[1:24:02] it in JUNE. I know there
[1:24:03] s a
[1:24:04] number of infrastructure
[1:24:06] projects that have really high
[1:24:07] dollar amounts associated with
[1:24:10] them. I know that we have a, a
[1:24:13] memo and things about major
[1:24:14] development project updates,
[1:24:15] but I know some of these
[1:24:18] projects are going to cost
[1:24:19] Significant investments in our
[1:24:21] budget in the coming 5,, 1015
[1:24:23] years. If there
[1:24:23] s a way
[1:24:25] specifically that we could see
[1:24:27] how or The city is paying for
[1:24:28] that. I know we
[1:24:28] ve talked about
[1:24:29] bonds and we
[1:24:30] ve done bonds
[1:24:31] before, that would be helpful
[1:24:34] to see how then we can
[1:24:34] prioritize certain
[1:24:36] infrastructure projects for the
[1:24:37] dollar amounts that are there
[1:24:38] specifically I
[1:24:38] m looking at the
[1:24:40] carb grant with some of the
[1:24:41] projects that are happening on
[1:24:43] our streets. I know that helps
[1:24:44] pay for and offset some costs.
[1:24:47] So what is the dollar amount
[1:24:48] there additionally. In the next
[1:24:50] 1 to 2 years, I believe we
[1:24:50] ll
[1:24:53] be dealing with the full
[1:24:53] renovation and amazing
[1:24:55] opportunities that are log
[1:24:57] cabin, and I know our log cabin
[1:24:58] community, um, the West
[1:25:00] Hollywood recovery community
[1:25:01] has been asking about rents,
[1:25:01] and we
[1:25:02] ve spoken about, I
[1:25:02] ve
[1:25:04] spoken with David about this,
[1:25:05] but if we can nail down on how
[1:25:08] we would be able to continue to
[1:25:10] support the recovery community
[1:25:11] with just landing the plane and
[1:25:11] how much they
[1:25:12] re going to have
[1:25:13] to pay every month. I know that
[1:25:14] they
[1:25:15] ve initiated their own
[1:25:16] fundraising efforts, but I
[1:25:17] would like to address that
[1:25:20] sooner rather than. Um just for
[1:25:21] peace of mind with them. I
[1:25:21] ve
[1:25:23] spoken with a number of them
[1:25:24] and I understand those concerns,
[1:25:27] but something along those lines
[1:25:27] with our infrastructure
[1:25:28] projects, and then additionally
[1:25:29] because there was a slide in
[1:25:30] here and I know we
[1:25:33] ve gone down
[1:25:34] this road regarding staffing
[1:25:35] where are and how are we
[1:25:38] supporting some of our most
[1:25:39] critical staffing areas. I know
[1:25:40] that you
[1:25:42] ve added 3 positions
[1:25:44] with the billboards, projects
[1:25:45] which we all approved a couple
[1:25:47] of meetings ago, but there are
[1:25:48] some other departments that I
[1:25:49] think do require some looking
[1:25:50] at. I
[1:25:51] m looking at Nick and
[1:25:52] Jennifer down here, everyone
[1:25:52] s
[1:25:53] favorite floor, the second
[1:25:55] floor, I do think some more
[1:25:56] attention to that. I do know
[1:25:58] Parks and Rec is someone that
[1:26:00] might be needing some more
[1:26:01] staffing opportunities to
[1:26:03] comment on the public
[1:26:05] commenters around the pools, um,
[1:26:07] and then looking at
[1:26:09] administrative or financial aid
[1:26:11] assistance, uh, in on the
[1:26:12] whatever floor the finance
[1:26:13] department is on now, but
[1:26:14] looking at how we
[1:26:15] re continuing
[1:26:16] to engage in our bargaining
[1:26:18] units and our negotiating.
[1:26:20] Opportunities there to help
[1:26:21] support staffing at those
[1:26:22] levels. I know we don
[1:26:22] t give
[1:26:23] direction on staffing. I want
[1:26:25] to make that very clear so
[1:26:25] everyone
[1:26:28] s aware that
[1:26:28] s
[1:26:28] something David we
[1:26:28] ll figure
[1:26:30] out, although we did get into a
[1:26:33] little bit of a gray area with
[1:26:36] directing 3 positions. From the
[1:26:38] da to the city to higher, which
[1:26:39] are now immediately in the next
[1:26:39] year
[1:26:41] s budget, so I think the
[1:26:43] public and the city can
[1:26:45] understand the confusion there
[1:26:45] with if it
[1:26:46] s that easy for us
[1:26:47] to say, you just need more
[1:26:50] staff, so boom boom boom, there
[1:26:51] it is, right? And I
[1:26:51] m not
[1:26:52] saying that we shouldn
[1:26:52] t have
[1:26:54] more staff or need more staff,
[1:26:55] but I want to make sure it
[1:26:56] s
[1:26:57] very clear for the public and
[1:26:58] internally with our staff on
[1:27:00] how these processes work and
[1:27:01] where the need and demand is. I
[1:27:03] have spoken with the bargaining
[1:27:04] units. I hear their concerns,
[1:27:05] and I agree. With them and I
[1:27:07] just want to make sure that
[1:27:07] we
[1:27:08] re addressing the critical
[1:27:09] needs in our in our amazing
[1:27:10] city hall to support the great
[1:27:12] work that you all are doing,
[1:27:15] that we all ask you to do more
[1:27:17] um a lot, and I think about it
[1:27:19] and I look at events and parks
[1:27:19] and everyone, they
[1:27:20] re doing a
[1:27:21] lot more, so those are all my
[1:27:23] comments. I support this item
[1:27:23] and I
[1:27:24] m looking forward to the
[1:27:25] continued work and thank you
[1:27:27] very much. Thank you, and I
[1:27:28] just have one clarification for
[1:27:30] the record that our city clerk
[1:27:32] asked me to make, which is that
[1:27:33] related to the reclassification
[1:27:34] of the traffic management
[1:27:36] program specialist. That is
[1:27:38] correct and the staff report.
[1:27:40] It is being proposed to reclass
[1:27:42] to an assistant engineer, civil
[1:27:44] engineer within the engineering
[1:27:44] division. It
[1:27:46] s not an assistant
[1:27:47] city engineer. So I just wanted
[1:27:48] to clarify that for the record,
[1:27:50] and thank you for your comments.
[1:27:52] I think David did want to
[1:27:53] respond. I was just going to
[1:27:55] add that yes, as part of the
[1:27:57] budget process for the next
[1:27:57] year
[1:27:58] s budget update, we will
[1:28:00] be having discussions with the
[1:28:02] budget subcommittee, um, we
[1:28:04] always have the departments and
[1:28:05] divisions submit budget. Us
[1:28:07] based on their needs. We
[1:28:08] re
[1:28:10] also doing a classification and
[1:28:11] compensation study, um, this
[1:28:14] year right now currently that
[1:28:15] will help inform the city on
[1:28:17] some of those needs, um, so
[1:28:17] there
[1:28:18] ll be lots of
[1:28:19] opportunities over the next
[1:28:22] several months to talk about
[1:28:23] staffing um for the next year
[1:28:24] s
[1:28:25] next fiscal year
[1:28:25] s budget. You
[1:28:26] hear that, Vice Mayor. We have
[1:28:28] lots of work to do.
[1:28:30] Councilmember Meister, so yeah,
[1:28:33] in the same vein I was going to
[1:28:34] ask or say uh how many program
[1:28:36] changes have Occurred since the
[1:28:38] budget was approved that are
[1:28:39] scheduled for the current
[1:28:42] budget year. So how many of our
[1:28:45] initiatives and program changes
[1:28:45] have happened that that would
[1:28:49] affect You know, staffing and
[1:28:51] other things that haven
[1:28:51] t been
[1:28:53] necessarily addressed. And you
[1:28:58] know, in this mid-year budget.
[1:29:02] Well, I can tell you from a, a,
[1:29:04] a budgeting perspective in the
[1:29:05] supplemental expenditures that
[1:29:06] have been approved at the
[1:29:08] council level. It looks like we
[1:29:09] have somewhere in the
[1:29:12] neighborhood of 10 to 12 items
[1:29:13] that came through with budget
[1:29:15] requests, um, and those are
[1:29:16] things that are on the work
[1:29:19] plan and are being implemented,
[1:29:21] um, expeditiously. We also have
[1:29:22] items that come in through
[1:29:24] council and or that are
[1:29:26] adjusted on an ongoing basis
[1:29:28] from our executive team
[1:29:29] prioritization and repriorit.
[1:29:31] Ization and that happens on an
[1:29:32] ongoing basis, but items from
[1:29:34] council, I believe they
[1:29:34] re, um,
[1:29:37] as I noted, there were, uh, I
[1:29:39] think 10 to 12 they
[1:29:40] re noted in
[1:29:40] attachment a. They
[1:29:41] re in one of
[1:29:43] the pages on attachment a, uh,
[1:29:44] and then there
[1:29:45] s also, um,
[1:29:47] There are also other items that
[1:29:48] the city council brings that
[1:29:51] get added to our kind of daily
[1:29:52] and monthly look ahead
[1:29:54] calendars. Yes, so I guess my
[1:29:56] point is just that You know,
[1:29:59] how is it, how is it affecting
[1:30:06] staff. So, you know, 10 to 12.
[1:30:07] Initiatives can be very um you
[1:30:09] know, taxing on staff and or or
[1:30:12] not. Um, so I think that as we
[1:30:15] go into Uh, Our next year
[1:30:15] s
[1:30:18] budget, we have to, we have to
[1:30:19] sort of incorporate that
[1:30:20] possibility. So that we
[1:30:21] re
[1:30:24] ready for it as opposed to You
[1:30:26] know, putting these through and
[1:30:29] then and not having the budget
[1:30:32] for it to increase staff or Or
[1:30:34] whatever else is needed. So
[1:30:34] that
[1:30:36] s, that would be my
[1:30:38] suggestion, um, and then I just
[1:30:40] wanted to say that I agreed
[1:30:43] with Kevin Burton, and I do
[1:30:45] think that public safety
[1:30:48] communications, um, have to be
[1:30:50] looked at and uh I think that
[1:30:52] the emergency sirens and
[1:30:54] broadcasting system would be
[1:30:57] well worth its uh whatever
[1:30:58] investment it would take. Thank
[1:30:59] you, Councilmember.
[1:31:00] Councilmember Hang. Oh, I
[1:31:00] m so
[1:31:02] sorry. Yes, please, so yes, we
[1:31:05] are looking at that. As part of
[1:31:07] our response to the wildfires.
[1:31:09] We have a committee of staff
[1:31:10] looking at that and what we
[1:31:12] were reporting back on that.
[1:31:12] We
[1:31:13] re not looking specifically
[1:31:15] at the sirens at this point,
[1:31:15] but that
[1:31:17] s something that we
[1:31:17] can consider for next year
[1:31:18] s
[1:31:18] budget as we
[1:31:19] re looking at it.
[1:31:21] Um, as far as staffing, I
[1:31:21] m
[1:31:24] sorry, well, I guess staffing
[1:31:26] and priorities and all the new
[1:31:27] initiatives that we do have, um,
[1:31:29] we are looking at coming back
[1:31:32] in APRIL to have a priorities
[1:31:32] discussion. We
[1:31:33] ll get a lot of
[1:31:34] that from the budget
[1:31:36] subcommittee, but I think it is
[1:31:38] important to hear from the full
[1:31:39] council as we
[1:31:40] re developing our
[1:31:42] work plans because there are a
[1:31:43] lot of new initiatives and
[1:31:46] things added during the year,
[1:31:48] so having a discussion like
[1:31:49] with everything incorporated
[1:31:50] together and Including those
[1:31:51] things that have been added
[1:31:52] over the next year, MAY be
[1:31:54] helpful for all of us. Sounds
[1:31:56] great. Thank you, City manager,
[1:32:00] Councillor Hang. Thank you,
[1:32:01] Mayor. Thank you for the report.
[1:32:02] I know that
[1:32:03] s very arduous and
[1:32:04] long, so I really appreciate,
[1:32:06] we all really appreciate the
[1:32:09] numbers, um, speaking of
[1:32:10] critical need of staff, the
[1:32:12] three new hires, the senior
[1:32:14] planner position, the project
[1:32:15] development administrator
[1:32:17] position and the administrative
[1:32:19] specialist for position. Would
[1:32:20] you happen to have an idea of
[1:32:23] when they will be onboarded. As
[1:32:24] they will be revenue generating.
[1:32:31] So this helps to begin the
[1:32:32] recruitment process typically
[1:32:33] recruitments can take anywhere
[1:32:35] from 3 to 4 to 6 months. It
[1:32:40] just depends on the positions,
[1:32:40] but we anticipate towards the
[1:32:43] end of this fiscal year to
[1:32:44] hopefully have those positions
[1:32:47] filled or close to filled so
[1:32:47] they
[1:32:48] ll be ready and up and
[1:32:51] running for the start of the
[1:32:51] next budget cycle which starts
[1:32:55] JULY. Thank you. And with
[1:32:58] regards to the staff, um, does
[1:33:00] The city usually promote from
[1:33:02] within, or are we going to do
[1:33:05] an open requisition for it. It
[1:33:08] depends. We often promote from
[1:33:11] within some of our positions
[1:33:14] require an internal recruitment
[1:33:15] first before external some
[1:33:17] positions do not, and we go
[1:33:18] external, but often higher
[1:33:20] internally for those as well,
[1:33:22] so it really just depends, but
[1:33:23] we always try to promote from
[1:33:26] when then when there are people
[1:33:27] who have the experience and
[1:33:29] expertise for the position.
[1:33:31] Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I
[1:33:32] really appreciate these 3 new
[1:33:34] hires. I think the creation of
[1:33:34] this new billboard unit is
[1:33:36] going to be vital to generating
[1:33:38] more revenue for our city and
[1:33:39] providing more staff to
[1:33:41] actually carry that work out,
[1:33:44] the important work, um, you
[1:33:46] mentioned that the tot tax was
[1:33:48] kind of on a kind of on a dip.
[1:33:48] I know they
[1:33:50] re not here, but on
[1:33:51] a high level, do you know what
[1:33:53] visit West Hollywood is doing
[1:33:55] that hopefully bring those
[1:33:59] numbers back up. That
[1:34:00] s a great
[1:34:02] question. Is Laurayry here?
[1:34:05] Laura, do you, do you feel uh
[1:34:06] able to answer that question,
[1:34:07] or would you like us to, to get
[1:34:08] a response from Visitw West
[1:34:11] Hollywood. Ok, we
[1:34:11] re we
[1:34:11] re
[1:34:13] going to see if they can get us
[1:34:14] a response, but if not, we
[1:34:14] ll
[1:34:15] come back and provide one as a
[1:34:19] memo. Thank you. And then, um,
[1:34:19] when
[1:34:22] s the last time the city
[1:34:23] updated its fee schedules every
[1:34:26] couple of years, every year.
[1:34:35] Every year. Every year. Every
[1:34:35] year there
[1:34:36] s an item we look at
[1:34:38] our fees and there
[1:34:39] s an item
[1:34:41] from staff for any updates, and
[1:34:42] then every and I don
[1:34:43] t know if
[1:34:43] Annie
[1:34:45] s here every 2 to 3 years
[1:34:47] and we actually do a study and
[1:34:49] it MAY be more like 3 to 5
[1:34:51] years we actually do a full
[1:34:52] study where a consultant comes
[1:34:55] in and looks at our fees, but
[1:34:57] generally every year we
[1:34:59] reevaluate internally like the
[1:35:00] actual impacts of certain
[1:35:02] things in the related piece.
[1:35:05] Great. Thank you. Do my
[1:35:06] colleagues have any other
[1:35:07] questions? Is he Vice Mayor
[1:35:09] with a motion on the table. Did
[1:35:11] you have any comments to add
[1:35:13] for? Oh, and we got a second.
[1:35:14] Um, I just wanted to add to, um,
[1:35:15] you know, it
[1:35:16] s a mid-year
[1:35:16] report, and I
[1:35:17] m aware that most
[1:35:19] of the conversation tonight has
[1:35:21] been about staff capacity. I
[1:35:23] know we are great contributors
[1:35:25] to the workload that staff is
[1:35:26] constantly dealing with, so I
[1:35:27] appreciate that and just
[1:35:28] recognize our responsibility as
[1:35:30] a council and making sure that
[1:35:31] the items we
[1:35:32] re putting forward
[1:35:34] to are truly reflective of the
[1:35:34] community
[1:35:36] s needs at this time,
[1:35:38] um, that balance of being a
[1:35:38] counsel that so few are in this
[1:35:41] way that actually bring items
[1:35:42] forward on our agenda, I
[1:35:44] believe, is what has made us
[1:35:45] such an amazing city that
[1:35:46] s so
[1:35:46] responsive, and I
[1:35:46] m deeply
[1:35:47] aware that we can only
[1:35:48] accomplish what we can
[1:35:50] accomplish on behalf of the
[1:35:51] community if staff
[1:35:51] s able to
[1:35:52] accomplish it, so we
[1:35:53] ll be
[1:35:54] recognizing that balance as a
[1:35:56] counsel. I certainly will, as
[1:35:58] somebody who brought multiple
[1:35:59] items together tonight as we
[1:36:01] move forward and just want to
[1:36:02] reflect and honor our role in
[1:36:04] the whole conversation as well,
[1:36:04] so if there
[1:36:05] s nothing else they
[1:36:07] see a motion and a second on
[1:36:08] the table. Vice Mayor Hellman
[1:36:09] and I have acknowledged our
[1:36:11] work to do for the next budget
[1:36:12] cycle. We
[1:36:13] re excited for that
[1:36:16] and my vote is in. Terrific.
[1:36:18] Thank you both for the
[1:36:19] presentation. You too, City Man
[1:36:20] David Wilson, we appreciate it
[1:36:23] and we can move on to item e2.
[1:36:24] Our update on major development
[1:36:30] projects. And I don
[1:36:31] t believe
[1:36:33] we have a staff presentation in
[1:36:34] our full report for this, but,
[1:36:36] um, would you? No? Oh, he
[1:36:36] s got
[1:36:48] some. Ok, great. Maybe we do.
[1:36:48] I
[1:36:50] m happy to provide an
[1:36:51] overview. Sure, ok, good
[1:36:53] evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor,
[1:36:55] counsel Nick Marisic, director
[1:36:56] of community development,
[1:36:57] joined by our assistant
[1:36:58] director Jennifer Alkier and
[1:37:00] our building and safety manager
[1:37:02] Ben Galan. Item e2 is the
[1:37:03] quarterly update on the status
[1:37:05] of major development projects
[1:37:06] around the city back in JUNE of
[1:37:08] 2023, the council requested to
[1:37:09] receive these reports, and
[1:37:10] we
[1:37:11] ve expanded them over time
[1:37:13] to a compass additional project
[1:37:15] types such as those requesting
[1:37:16] approval under the builder
[1:37:16] s
[1:37:17] remedy provisions of state law
[1:37:20] and for the first time with
[1:37:21] this report a list of
[1:37:22] standalone billboard projects
[1:37:24] being proposed under the Sunset
[1:37:26] Arts and advertising program.
[1:37:27] Attachment a covers major
[1:37:29] projects and builders remedy
[1:37:30] projects and attachment b
[1:37:32] includes a map of these
[1:37:34] projects, uh, the additional
[1:37:35] billboard projects are listed
[1:37:36] in attachment c and are shown
[1:37:38] on a map in attachment d. I
[1:37:40] know that the first project
[1:37:42] listed in attachment a, the
[1:37:43] Melrose Triangle project has
[1:37:44] been a long standing item of
[1:37:47] interest, and we do have a
[1:37:48] significant update with this
[1:37:50] report on this project. The
[1:37:52] entitlements for the previously
[1:37:52] approved project have now
[1:37:55] expired. And there is no new
[1:37:57] project that has been proposed
[1:37:59] by the owner for the site at
[1:38:01] this time. Given the excavation
[1:38:02] work that took place on the
[1:38:04] site, the city has required the
[1:38:06] applicant to secure the
[1:38:08] necessary permits to backfill
[1:38:09] the excavated area and to
[1:38:10] restore the site in a timely
[1:38:16] manner. Part of the permitting
[1:38:18] process requires a community
[1:38:19] preconstruction community
[1:38:21] meetings to be held, and the
[1:38:21] applicant we
[1:38:23] ve been informed
[1:38:24] has been scheduled that meeting
[1:38:27] for a Wednesday, FEBRUARY 26th
[1:38:32] at 10 A.M., 3 P.M., and 6:30
[1:38:34] P.M. Via Zoom, and they, uh,
[1:38:34] the additional information
[1:38:37] including the Zoom meeting
[1:38:38] instructions and access
[1:38:41] information has been sent out
[1:38:41] to adjacent businesses and
[1:38:44] residents within 200 ft. It
[1:38:45] also can be found on a website
[1:38:50] that the owner has set up,
[1:38:52] which is
[1:38:54] www.Melrose-triangle.Com.
[1:38:54] That
[1:38:55] s Melrose triangle.Com and
[1:38:57] the owner has also set up an
[1:39:00] email address, Melrose
[1:39:00] triangle@gmail.Com where
[1:39:01] community members can reach out
[1:39:03] if they have questions and just
[1:39:05] showing here a copy of the
[1:39:06] notice which they provided to
[1:39:08] us at the end of last week. Um,
[1:39:09] finally, I would like to note
[1:39:10] that we
[1:39:11] ve submitted a
[1:39:11] memorandum this afternoon with
[1:39:13] updated in additional
[1:39:14] information for attachments a
[1:39:15] and c, and this is available
[1:39:17] for the public through the
[1:39:18] posted online agenda, and thank
[1:39:19] you to the city clerk team for
[1:39:22] their assistance in getting
[1:39:23] that distributed this afternoon.
[1:39:23] The staff
[1:39:24] s recommendation is
[1:39:25] for the council to receive and
[1:39:26] file this report. We
[1:39:26] re
[1:39:27] available to answer any
[1:39:29] questions. Thank you. Thank you,
[1:39:30] Councilmemb Erickson is ready
[1:39:34] to go. Thank you. Um, a couple
[1:39:35] of items around Melrose
[1:39:38] Triangle. Um, do you know
[1:39:40] specifically how long it would
[1:39:41] be so the community meetings
[1:39:44] happen. And then what is it a
[1:39:48] rough timeline. So the
[1:39:50] community noticed that they
[1:39:50] ve
[1:39:52] distributed now or are
[1:39:52] distributings says, quote, It
[1:39:54] is anticipated that it will
[1:39:56] take between 6 and 9 months to
[1:39:58] fill the hole depending on
[1:40:00] weather conditions and
[1:40:01] availability of film materials.
[1:40:03] Ok, so I have 2 questions to go
[1:40:04] along with that. Now I had one
[1:40:07] actually, but now 2.1. Are we
[1:40:08] going to be making sure that
[1:40:10] the dirt that they bring in is
[1:40:11] tested to make sure it
[1:40:13] s not
[1:40:16] coming from any potential toxic
[1:40:18] or environmentally unsafe area.
[1:40:20] I have been asked by some
[1:40:20] community members. There
[1:40:21] s a
[1:40:22] lot of dirt out there right now
[1:40:25] and some of that dirt might be
[1:40:27] be removed from areas that were
[1:40:28] victims of fires and who knows
[1:40:30] what could be going on, but is
[1:40:31] there a testing requirement to
[1:40:33] that, and if not, I want to
[1:40:35] make sure that we add that to
[1:40:36] whatever goes in there because
[1:40:36] I don
[1:40:39] t want what. Anyways, you
[1:40:40] get where I
[1:40:40] m going to, is
[1:40:43] there a way in which we can
[1:40:44] collect on any financial bond
[1:40:46] or anything that we
[1:40:46] ve had
[1:40:47] there in with them if we didn
[1:40:47] t
[1:40:50] have one, I understand, but um
[1:40:52] 6 to 9 months is unacceptable
[1:40:54] in my opinion. Is there an
[1:40:55] expedited timeline that we can
[1:40:58] give to them, I mean, I know
[1:40:59] this seems like reductionist
[1:41:01] and I understand I don
[1:41:01] t have a
[1:41:03] background and you know filling
[1:41:05] holes in dirt, but like I did
[1:41:07] grow up in the Midwest like how
[1:41:08] long does it take to fill a
[1:41:11] with dirt, I guess, really. I,
[1:41:12] I, I mean, I don
[1:41:13] t mean to be
[1:41:15] like joking about it, but like
[1:41:16] my my niece has filled a hole
[1:41:17] that she
[1:41:18] s built in the
[1:41:19] backyard quicker than I think
[1:41:21] this. Possibility. I I just
[1:41:22] don
[1:41:24] t get it. I
[1:41:25] ll, I
[1:41:25] ll ask
[1:41:27] Ben to respond to some of those
[1:41:28] questions. I will say that we
[1:41:29] are anticipating a significant
[1:41:32] number of truck trips required
[1:41:34] in order to fully refill the
[1:41:35] excavated area and Ben can
[1:41:37] speak to that more. Sure, thank
[1:41:39] you for the question,
[1:41:41] COUNCILMAN Erickson. Uh, first
[1:41:43] question was regarding
[1:41:44] certification of the infill, so
[1:41:47] both in the building code and
[1:41:48] in our requests to the
[1:41:50] developer, uh, the info does
[1:41:52] have to be certified on site
[1:41:53] before it gets shipped to West
[1:41:54] Hollywood. So that
[1:41:54] s already in
[1:41:57] play. And regarding the second
[1:41:58] question, it was regarding how
[1:41:59] long it
[1:42:00] s going to take to fill
[1:42:05] the hole, so That holds about
[1:42:07] 270,000 cubic feet and each
[1:42:08] dump truck is about 10 cubic
[1:42:09] feet, so we
[1:42:11] re going to have
[1:42:12] about 27,000 trucks coming in
[1:42:16] to infill that that hole, so,
[1:42:20] um, again, as uh Director Nick
[1:42:24] mentioned, it all depends uh
[1:42:24] there
[1:42:24] s there
[1:42:25] s a few factors
[1:42:27] that play into it, um,
[1:42:27] obviously the weather, they
[1:42:27] re
[1:42:29] not going to be moving dirt in
[1:42:30] there when it
[1:42:33] s raining, um,
[1:42:35] and uh also it
[1:42:35] s availability
[1:42:36] of infill, um. They
[1:42:37] re going to
[1:42:39] have to be going outside of the
[1:42:40] county to to find material to
[1:42:43] bring that in. So, uh, the
[1:42:44] developer has identified 3
[1:42:44] sites where they
[1:42:47] re going to be
[1:42:47] bringing material into the city.
[1:42:50] So, again, it
[1:42:51] s between 6 and 9
[1:42:53] months. Great. Is there a
[1:42:54] deadline that we can place on
[1:42:55] there as a city to say if it
[1:42:55] s
[1:42:58] not done by DECEMBER 30th, 2025,
[1:43:00] you now have to pay $10,000 a
[1:43:05] day or anything like that. I
[1:43:05] mean, they don
[1:43:07] t have
[1:43:09] entitlements on the property
[1:43:10] anymore and um is there any
[1:43:11] type of financial penalty that
[1:43:12] we can apply to them. We
[1:43:13] ve
[1:43:14] been working with the city
[1:43:15] attorney
[1:43:16] s office to initiate
[1:43:18] this process, so I would um
[1:43:21] defer to her. I would, I would
[1:43:23] defer to attorney advice on any
[1:43:25] possible options with respect
[1:43:27] to that. Understood the urgency
[1:43:29] to get this filled as much as
[1:43:29] possible. We
[1:43:31] ve, you know, sent
[1:43:33] them letters. We have them in
[1:43:33] the plan check process just to
[1:43:35] get permits to be able to
[1:43:37] do the film. So it
[1:43:37] s a long
[1:43:39] complicated process, and we
[1:43:40] will put whatever pressures we
[1:43:42] can on them both through our
[1:43:43] legal remedies and through our
[1:43:44] permits that we can to get this
[1:43:46] done as quickly as possible. I
[1:43:47] mean, I just think that every
[1:43:50] tool should be on the table
[1:43:51] with this aspect, I think, you
[1:43:54] know, I was councilmember,
[1:43:54] land
[1:43:56] s deputy when this project
[1:43:58] first was going through
[1:43:59] Councilmember Meister, I think
[1:43:59] you weren
[1:44:00] t on the council yet.
[1:44:02] We, I know Vice Mayor Heilman
[1:44:05] was, but you know, this. Been
[1:44:07] reiteration after iteration. So
[1:44:09] if it is legally feasible and
[1:44:10] our my colleagues agree, I
[1:44:12] would like to implement or look
[1:44:13] at some type of penalty
[1:44:16] structure for not getting it
[1:44:19] done in 9 months max, 6 months
[1:44:19] at the best. I don
[1:44:20] t know what
[1:44:21] those possibilities are. Is
[1:44:23] there a bond on this project?
[1:44:26] Yeah What are the requirements
[1:44:27] for us to collect? I don
[1:44:27] t
[1:44:29] think the amount of the bond
[1:44:32] was, it was lower than the cost
[1:44:34] to fill the hole. It was, it
[1:44:35] was much less than the actual
[1:44:39] cost to fill the hole, um. Yeah,
[1:44:40] so I did that
[1:44:41] s just my only
[1:44:42] comment on this item and that
[1:44:42] s
[1:44:43] all thank you very much. Thank
[1:44:45] you, Councilor Meister. Thank
[1:44:48] you, Mayor. Did you say 27,000
[1:44:53] trucks. Yes. Oh Approximately,
[1:44:57] yes, trucks, trips are trucks
[1:44:59] Trips are, yeah, each, each
[1:45:05] truck is a trip. 27,000 and and
[1:45:06] did it take 27,000 trips to get
[1:45:11] the Get it out, so That
[1:45:12] s not
[1:45:13] really included in in an
[1:45:17] environmental Impact Is there,
[1:45:19] was that, was there an
[1:45:20] environmental impact report on
[1:45:23] this? There was for the
[1:45:24] original project. No, I
[1:45:25] understand that. I
[1:45:26] m saying
[1:45:29] that for this specifically.
[1:45:31] This is a slightly different
[1:45:31] process. It
[1:45:33] s somewhat of an
[1:45:34] enforcement measure to get them
[1:45:37] to fix a condition that they
[1:45:37] created, so it
[1:45:38] s not, it
[1:45:38] s
[1:45:39] going through a building permit
[1:45:40] process, but it
[1:45:42] s not going
[1:45:44] through a normal discretionary
[1:45:45] planning review process because
[1:45:45] it
[1:45:46] s essentially an enforcement
[1:45:47] matter to get them to fix it,
[1:45:48] but shouldn
[1:45:49] t there be
[1:45:52] mitigation? I mean, if there
[1:45:55] are environmental impacts from
[1:45:56] 27,000 trips that hasn
[1:45:56] t been
[1:45:57] accounted for in the original
[1:46:05] eir. Hellman. Well, I, I
[1:46:08] suspect that there were, um,
[1:46:10] the study of all of the
[1:46:11] construction trucks that would
[1:46:14] be going there if it had been
[1:46:15] built, so I
[1:46:17] m sure that the eir
[1:46:19] considered not only all of the
[1:46:21] trucks that were going to be
[1:46:23] there for the demolition, but
[1:46:25] then all of the trucks to pour
[1:46:27] concrete, etc. So I
[1:46:29] m sure the
[1:46:31] eir studied probably well more
[1:46:35] impacts than this is. Creating.
[1:46:39] Thank you. Um, And then, um,
[1:46:41] Did you say that it was 200 ft
[1:46:46] for the notice. Or 500 ft. I
[1:46:46] believe it
[1:46:48] s 200 ft. That was
[1:46:52] what was given to us from the
[1:46:53] owner representative when we
[1:46:54] received the notice, but I
[1:46:55] would defer to our colleagues
[1:46:58] in neighborhood and business
[1:46:59] safety who enforced this
[1:47:00] provision of the code if
[1:47:00] there
[1:47:01] s a question as to
[1:47:02] because shouldn
[1:47:04] t it be 500 ft
[1:47:04] if it
[1:47:08] s 500 ft. For notice of a
[1:47:10] of anything. You know, uh, uh,
[1:47:14] uh, commission meeting, um, it
[1:47:17] seems to me 200 ft barely gets
[1:47:20] into onto Rangeley. I mean
[1:47:21] that
[1:47:22] s not very, how many
[1:47:25] people were actually noticed.
[1:47:28] Or being noticed maybe we could
[1:47:31] ask Vito. At a Midas to join us
[1:47:32] here for that question. Thank
[1:47:35] you. And to confirm the notice
[1:47:37] I received included the 200 ft,
[1:47:43] not 500. Uh, thank you, um.
[1:47:45] Kilmer Meister staff is happy
[1:47:47] to double check the noticing
[1:47:50] that was done for the project.
[1:47:52] Next Wednesday is the first
[1:47:53] neighborhood outreach meeting
[1:47:55] and the notices and postcards
[1:47:56] are being mailed out. I
[1:47:56] m
[1:47:59] trying to confirm if it was
[1:48:02] given the size of the project
[1:48:03] that we increased the
[1:48:04] notification, but we
[1:48:04] ll confirm
[1:48:07] that for you, ok, because when
[1:48:08] the project went before council,
[1:48:10] it was at least a 500 ft notice.
[1:48:12] 200 ft doesn
[1:48:13] t even get you
[1:48:16] barely across Santa Monica
[1:48:18] Boulevard to the Norma triangle
[1:48:20] or uh that area. So I just
[1:48:23] think that it should be a 500
[1:48:24] ft notice for this because
[1:48:25] otherwise residents aren
[1:48:25] t even
[1:48:27] going to get it. Understood. So,
[1:48:30] and I also would ask that uh
[1:48:33] that staff, please reach out to,
[1:48:35] you know, West Hollywood, West
[1:48:40] Residents Association, uh, and,
[1:48:40] uh, the Norma Triangle to let
[1:48:43] them know. In case they haven
[1:48:43] t
[1:48:44] already seen or heard, you know,
[1:48:47] when these meetings are
[1:48:48] happening because 27,000 trips
[1:48:52] are an awful lot of trips, um,
[1:48:55] And then, uh, separate from the
[1:48:56] Melrose Triangle. Uh, so thank
[1:48:58] you for that. Separate from the
[1:49:00] Melrose Triangle, I just, I, I
[1:49:02] had asked to have the developer
[1:49:05] names, uh, included in our, in
[1:49:08] this, in this report and I
[1:49:09] specifically asked for it
[1:49:11] because, as you know, there are
[1:49:14] several There are some
[1:49:16] developers that have multiple
[1:49:18] projects, and I think it
[1:49:18] s
[1:49:21] important for the public and
[1:49:24] for counsel to, uh, to be aware
[1:49:26] of that. So when we look at
[1:49:29] these and we see that projects
[1:49:33] are sitting there for 123, 12
[1:49:36] years, um, that, that when they
[1:49:38] come back to us to ask for a
[1:49:41] development agreement or a
[1:49:41] public benefits project, uh,
[1:49:44] where they
[1:49:44] re getting more and
[1:49:47] more and more over and above
[1:49:49] our zoning ordinance that we
[1:49:52] consider You know, it
[1:49:52] s
[1:49:53] discretionary that we consider,
[1:49:54] are they ever going to build
[1:49:57] anything? And so I think it
[1:49:57] s
[1:49:58] really important. That
[1:49:58] s why,
[1:49:59] and I thank you for adding the
[1:50:00] names. The one thing I would
[1:50:02] say though is there are a
[1:50:04] couple that are like, um, you
[1:50:07] know,,,, 8920 Sunset Boulevard
[1:50:08] llc and it
[1:50:10] s not really the
[1:50:11] owners or the developer
[1:50:12] s name,
[1:50:13] and this was something that I
[1:50:16] talked to John Kiho about, uh,
[1:50:18] the former community
[1:50:19] development director or
[1:50:21] developer whatever services
[1:50:23] development services, uh, that,
[1:50:25] that they would that they would
[1:50:28] collect the. Actual names of
[1:50:30] the developer versus just llc
[1:50:31] because that doesn
[1:50:32] t really
[1:50:37] tell us anything because You
[1:50:39] know,, 8500 whllc, the same
[1:50:41] developer could be 80, you know,
[1:50:41] I
[1:50:43] m just making this up, but
[1:50:45] 8800, you know, Santa Monica
[1:50:46] Boulevard llc, and we wouldn
[1:50:46] t
[1:50:49] know. So I think it
[1:50:49] s important
[1:50:51] for us to have the actual
[1:50:51] developer
[1:50:53] s name, in addition
[1:50:55] to the whatever the official
[1:50:58] name is, um, and then Um,
[1:51:01] lastly, I would like to, um,
[1:51:03] Ask about construction art
[1:51:04] fencing, what
[1:51:04] s happening with
[1:51:06] that? There are certain
[1:51:08] projects that are sitting there
[1:51:09] and not being developed even
[1:51:11] though they have their
[1:51:13] entitlements, um, But they
[1:51:14] don
[1:51:15] t have their construction
[1:51:17] art fencing yet. So, um, and
[1:51:20] they, and just by the way, the
[1:51:21] the Melrose Triangle
[1:51:23] construction art fencing is not
[1:51:24] being maintained. Um, but I
[1:51:26] know that there are other
[1:51:27] projects that have started, you
[1:51:30] know, demolition, etc. I think
[1:51:32] I think actually the one on La
[1:51:33] Cieca and Santa Monica
[1:51:34] Boulevard. I don
[1:51:35] t think I
[1:51:35] ve
[1:51:36] seen construction art fencing,
[1:51:40] and they have They have started
[1:51:43] work there, um, So I think it
[1:51:43] s
[1:51:45] important that we, uh, you know,
[1:51:47] follow up on that construction
[1:51:49] art fencing and make sure that
[1:51:50] even though they
[1:51:50] re doing
[1:51:52] nothing that, you know, that we
[1:51:54] get our construction on fences.
[1:51:56] Thank you. Thank you,
[1:51:57] Councilmember Meister. Do, are
[1:51:59] there any other comments or
[1:51:59] questions from my colleagues,
[1:52:03] Vice Mayor Hellman. Thank you
[1:52:07] for Thank you for the update on
[1:52:08] the projects. I really
[1:52:12] appreciate it. Um. I, I share
[1:52:13] some of the frustration. I know
[1:52:15] you have frustration, we have
[1:52:17] frustration that some of these
[1:52:17] projects haven
[1:52:20] t been built, um,
[1:52:22] obviously the financial
[1:52:23] conditions have changed
[1:52:24] interest rates have changed
[1:52:27] since some of these projects
[1:52:29] were approved, um, market
[1:52:30] conditions and market demand
[1:52:32] has changed and and that
[1:52:33] s, um,
[1:52:34] so it
[1:52:35] s understandable that
[1:52:36] sometimes projects don
[1:52:36] t go
[1:52:41] forward. But I also think that
[1:52:43] um we need to have some kind of
[1:52:46] strategy as a city, and I think
[1:52:48] maybe, um, you know, your, your
[1:52:52] role is really to process the
[1:52:53] applications and evaluate them,
[1:52:56] and maybe we need to be looking
[1:52:58] at bringing in somebody, um,
[1:53:02] who has, um, some real estate
[1:53:04] development expertise who can,
[1:53:06] uh, from a city standpoint,
[1:53:10] help us figure out uh How to
[1:53:12] navigate these challenges, um,
[1:53:14] You know, turning to the
[1:53:19] Melrose Triangle, I, I hear my
[1:53:20] colleagues very frustrated and,
[1:53:23] but I also know that I don
[1:53:23] t
[1:53:25] really want the hole filled in.
[1:53:29] I want the project built, um,
[1:53:29] and it
[1:53:30] s not likely going to be
[1:53:32] built. Obviously the permits
[1:53:35] have lapsed, um. So that means
[1:53:37] that the hole does need to be
[1:53:38] filled in until they figure out
[1:53:38] what
[1:53:40] s going to be done. I
[1:53:40] don
[1:53:42] t want to make it more
[1:53:44] onerous for them, and, you know,
[1:53:48] we can widen the, the, um,
[1:53:48] noticing to the neighborhood,
[1:53:50] but the neighbors are the ones
[1:53:52] saying we want this hole filled
[1:53:52] in. It
[1:53:53] s ugly, it
[1:53:53] s, it
[1:53:54] s
[1:53:55] terrible. It
[1:53:57] s an eyesore, so
[1:53:57] I
[1:53:59] m not, I think sometimes
[1:53:59] we
[1:54:01] re being a little bit
[1:54:03] inconsistent in terms of how we
[1:54:06] deal with these. Situations. I,
[1:54:09] I do think we also have to be
[1:54:13] realistic that some of our own
[1:54:15] actions have impacted the
[1:54:17] ability of some projects to
[1:54:20] move forward, um. You know, I,
[1:54:20] I
[1:54:23] ve heard from some people
[1:54:26] that have hotel projects that
[1:54:28] getting hoteliers to sign off
[1:54:31] on it is challenging because of
[1:54:34] the the wage ordinance and
[1:54:36] because of the demand and in
[1:54:40] this area. So It might be
[1:54:42] helpful for us as some of these
[1:54:45] projects are being looked at to,
[1:54:47] to have somebody who can come
[1:54:49] in and provide us and provide
[1:54:54] our staff with some Expertise
[1:54:56] almost from a development from
[1:54:57] a developer
[1:54:59] s, uh, viewpoint as
[1:55:01] opposed to from the staff
[1:55:01] s
[1:55:02] viewpoint, uh, and I don
[1:55:02] t know
[1:55:04] who that person would be or who
[1:55:07] that entity would be, but I, I
[1:55:10] just think, I think we all want
[1:55:12] these projects to get built, uh,
[1:55:13] at least the ones we voted for,
[1:55:15] the ones we voted against, we
[1:55:17] might be happy they aren
[1:55:18] t
[1:55:18] aren
[1:55:20] t built, but I, I, I worry
[1:55:24] that that, uh, obviously, I
[1:55:26] think we get played sometimes
[1:55:29] by developers. I think we, you
[1:55:31] know, and I think sometimes
[1:55:33] they come forward with projects
[1:55:36] to get approval. And they don
[1:55:36] t
[1:55:37] know themselves whether they
[1:55:38] can actually be built because
[1:55:38] they
[1:55:40] re kind of doing it on
[1:55:44] spec, hoping that some, uh,
[1:55:45] hotel or some housing developer
[1:55:48] we partner with them. So anyway,
[1:55:51] those are my comments, but I, I
[1:55:52] really appreciate the update.
[1:55:54] It gives us a greater awareness
[1:55:54] of where we
[1:55:56] re at with all
[1:55:57] these projects, Councilmember
[1:55:59] Erickson. Yes, thank you so
[1:56:01] much. I, I agree with what Vice
[1:56:03] Mayor Heilman was saying, and
[1:56:05] and then on the flip side is
[1:56:06] why aren
[1:56:07] t certain buildings
[1:56:08] that are approved being
[1:56:11] demolished. I look at Robertson
[1:56:12] Lane continuing to be an
[1:56:13] eyesore, the old buildings that
[1:56:15] are just going to be demolished
[1:56:17] anyways, and I
[1:56:17] m wondering why
[1:56:19] those buildings are just still
[1:56:21] even there. Why haven
[1:56:21] t we
[1:56:23] demolished them? We passed an
[1:56:25] ordinance. I mean, my
[1:56:26] understanding is they meet all
[1:56:27] the requirements. Maybe I
[1:56:27] m not
[1:56:29] hearing. Other sides of the
[1:56:30] story, but those buildings
[1:56:31] should just be demolished and
[1:56:33] we could add temporary parking
[1:56:35] for the businesses in that
[1:56:36] district at this time being,
[1:56:38] which I believe the developer
[1:56:42] has offered to do to help
[1:56:44] offset that the building not
[1:56:45] being built yet, I think
[1:56:46] personally some of these
[1:56:47] buildings might not want to
[1:56:48] fill in the hole. I totally
[1:56:51] understand um. You know,
[1:56:52] opening up Pandora
[1:56:53] s box there
[1:56:54] with having to redo the whole
[1:56:56] project, but there are projects
[1:56:56] we
[1:56:57] re waiting on and I won
[1:56:58] t go
[1:57:00] into depth anymore about about
[1:57:01] them, but why isn
[1:57:02] t or why
[1:57:03] haven
[1:57:06] t, uh, the items along
[1:57:07] Robertson between Melrose and
[1:57:08] Santa Monica been demolished
[1:57:09] yet. I know the developers
[1:57:13] requested it. I believe with
[1:57:15] respect to that issue, I don
[1:57:15] t
[1:57:16] think we
[1:57:18] ve received a new
[1:57:20] request from the property owner
[1:57:21] since the council enacted those
[1:57:24] changes, so if they sent you a
[1:57:25] request tomorrow to demolish
[1:57:27] the property. Would you be ok
[1:57:29] with that? We would it
[1:57:30] consistent with the code as it
[1:57:33] exists now. Yes, thank you. And
[1:57:35] they would have to improve the
[1:57:36] property for parking or
[1:57:37] something they couldn
[1:57:37] t just
[1:57:39] put dirt, yeah, no, I
[1:57:40] understand there was a dirt
[1:57:41] conversation before, so I get
[1:57:44] that. And I see I would never
[1:57:45] go against Jennifer. I see her
[1:57:47] shaking her head, but these are
[1:57:48] the types of things where I
[1:57:50] think we could add some
[1:57:51] benefits to the community,
[1:57:52] parking, whatever it needs to
[1:57:55] be there, space for pride, once,
[1:57:56] uh, some of these bigger
[1:57:58] projects happen in the next few
[1:58:01] years, so look for that email.
[1:58:02] Thank you, uh, Councillor Mur
[1:58:08] Hang. Thank you, Mayor. Um,
[1:58:11] just, I just had one. Quick
[1:58:14] question, uh, for 9200 has, I
[1:58:15] know that since the last
[1:58:17] council meeting we gave clear
[1:58:19] direction to bring it back to
[1:58:20] the planning commission and to
[1:58:23] back to the council, um. Do we
[1:58:24] have any movement with the
[1:58:26] developer? Are they keeping
[1:58:29] that design or Yes, we
[1:58:29] ve had
[1:58:30] conversations with them, and
[1:58:30] they
[1:58:31] re coming back with a
[1:58:34] revised design. It was very
[1:58:37] exciting. Thank you. Ok, are
[1:58:40] there any other comments,
[1:58:41] questions, terrific. Um, yeah,
[1:58:42] that 27,000 trucks number will
[1:58:44] be sitting in my head all night,
[1:58:45] um, but thank you all so much
[1:58:47] for your work on these updates.
[1:58:51] I guess I do have questions and
[1:58:51] um and understand there
[1:58:51] s
[1:58:54] conversations going about our
[1:58:54] inclusionary zoning ordinance
[1:58:56] changes to that. I
[1:58:57] m concerned
[1:58:57] that it
[1:58:58] s an amazing program
[1:58:58] and there
[1:58:59] s costs that get
[1:59:00] added there. I don
[1:59:01] t know how
[1:59:02] realistic that slice of the
[1:59:05] cost pie is in terms of all the
[1:59:06] other costs underground parking
[1:59:07] when we build. Underground I
[1:59:08] know costs rise and if we
[1:59:08] re
[1:59:10] filling holes in the long run
[1:59:11] anyhow, so I just, you know,
[1:59:12] have some, so many different
[1:59:13] things on my mind about what
[1:59:14] else is contributing to costs,
[1:59:15] and if we
[1:59:16] re having honest
[1:59:17] conversations about that,
[1:59:17] there
[1:59:18] s probably a lot of
[1:59:19] things that we need to be
[1:59:20] looking at, um, but that
[1:59:20] s not
[1:59:20] for now, it
[1:59:22] s for later. I
[1:59:23] appreciate this conversation
[1:59:24] and thank you all. I think
[1:59:24] we
[1:59:25] re all set. We can move
[1:59:26] forward and there
[1:59:26] s no need for
[1:59:28] direction, just lots of
[1:59:30] conversation, so thank you. Um.
[1:59:33] We can move on to a new
[1:59:37] business item f1. Right? Yes. A
[1:59:38] request for a commitment letter
[1:59:39] for a ground lease and
[1:59:41] authorization to issue a loan
[1:59:42] from the Affordable Housing
[1:59:44] Trust Fund in the amount of $1
[1:59:46] million for development of an
[1:59:47] affordable housing project at
[1:59:50] 1047, 1057 Crescent Heights
[1:59:52] Boulevard and $200,000 for
[1:59:54] associated plan check fees.
[1:59:57] Perfect timing. Good evening
[1:59:58] council members. I have a brief
[1:59:59] presentation if you want it or
[2:00:01] if we have questions, I
[2:00:01] m I
[2:00:01] m
[2:00:02] seeing we
[2:00:03] ve got one comment.
[2:00:05] Ok, and I think we also have
[2:00:10] some public speakers maybe So
[2:00:12] no presentation, just ok. I
[2:00:14] think we can allow our public
[2:00:15] speaker, public comment speaker
[2:00:17] to come up first, Tara
[2:00:17] Barasskis, so I sing that?
[2:00:20] Sorry. Thank you for coming out
[2:00:28] tonight. Good evening, Mayor
[2:00:29] Byers and members of the city
[2:00:31] council. My name is Tara
[2:00:31] Barauskas. I
[2:00:33] m the executive
[2:00:34] director of Community Corp.
[2:00:34] We
[2:00:36] re very excited to be here,
[2:00:37] um, to get started with the
[2:00:39] first step in this exciting
[2:00:41] affordable housing project at
[2:00:43] 10:47 at 10:57 Crescent Heights
[2:00:44] Boulevard. So just to give you
[2:00:46] a quick update, we
[2:00:46] ve currently
[2:00:48] started working on our
[2:00:50] conceptual drawings with our
[2:00:52] architect Koenige, uh,
[2:00:53] Eisenberg architects and, um,
[2:00:54] we will be conducting our
[2:00:56] community outreach in the
[2:00:57] coming months. Um, so with that,
[2:00:57] We
[2:00:58] re hoping that you
[2:00:58] ll be
[2:01:01] supportive of this, um, ground
[2:01:02] lease and loan commitments so
[2:01:03] that we can keep our project
[2:01:04] moving. So we
[2:01:05] re happy to
[2:01:05] answer any questions you might
[2:01:08] have. Thank you so much,
[2:01:09] Councillorm Meister, I believe
[2:01:10] you had one comment. Yeah, I
[2:01:10] don
[2:01:10] t, I don
[2:01:11] t know if it
[2:01:11] s a
[2:01:13] question. I, I just want to
[2:01:15] make sure that we have
[2:01:16] something in the commitment
[2:01:17] letter like we
[2:01:18] ve done in the
[2:01:20] past that there is
[2:01:22] collaboration and communication
[2:01:25] with our, um, with that, with
[2:01:29] Udas with our urban design and
[2:01:30] architecture studio because
[2:01:32] especially because this is our
[2:01:32] property. It
[2:01:33] s not like it
[2:01:33] s
[2:01:34] another, you know, it
[2:01:34] s
[2:01:35] somebody else
[2:01:36] s property, um, I
[2:01:37] would like to see that in the
[2:01:38] letter, so it
[2:01:39] s in Section 7 of
[2:01:40] the commitment letter. It
[2:01:40] s the
[2:01:42] same language, so it
[2:01:42] s
[2:01:43] architecture design section on
[2:01:45] page of the commitment letter,
[2:01:47] which is attachment b. It
[2:01:47] s
[2:01:48] page, it
[2:01:49] s the 3rd page, and
[2:01:49] it
[2:01:51] s the same language that
[2:01:51] we
[2:01:52] ve refined. We pulled it
[2:01:54] from our last project, and I
[2:01:55] know that specifically we did,
[2:01:56] we went line by line with the
[2:01:58] city attorney and I went with
[2:01:59] you and we pulled the same
[2:02:01] language, so so long as you
[2:02:01] re
[2:02:02] comfortable with that and
[2:02:02] they
[2:02:03] ve reviewed this as well,
[2:02:05] and so at this point in time
[2:02:05] everybody
[2:02:06] s comfortable with
[2:02:09] Section 7. Thank you so much.
[2:02:10] Thank you so much. I think
[2:02:10] we
[2:02:12] re all set on this item then
[2:02:12] tonight we
[2:02:15] ll, thank you. All
[2:02:28] right, thank you. Fantastic.
[2:02:30] Item f2, f3, f4 went to consent.
[2:02:32] . 0, f5 did as well. Wow, I
[2:02:33] think we
[2:02:34] re on item f6. We do
[2:02:36] have one public commentary. I
[2:02:37] know you had questions,
[2:02:40] comments, vice mayor. I believe
[2:02:40] she
[2:02:41] s left. She did say it in
[2:02:43] her comments earlier. So we
[2:02:43] ll
[2:02:45] start with you, Vice Mayor. I
[2:02:46] can present if you
[2:02:46] d like, no,
[2:02:48] no, thank you for bringing this
[2:02:50] forward. I think it
[2:02:51] s a great
[2:02:54] suggestion and I just have
[2:02:57] concerns about how the Weeho
[2:03:00] loves locals program, um, Uh,
[2:03:03] existed or how it was
[2:03:04] implemented last time. Last
[2:03:08] time we got a poster, postcard
[2:03:10] in the mail with no really
[2:03:12] indication of who it was coming
[2:03:15] from or what it was about and
[2:03:17] it was just Weeho loves local
[2:03:20] go on a website. I just think
[2:03:20] it wasn
[2:03:23] t very effective in
[2:03:26] terms of getting people to
[2:03:28] patronize local businesses, so
[2:03:31] I just wanted to, to Uh,
[2:03:32] emphasize that, and I
[2:03:33] m hoping
[2:03:35] that as this program is
[2:03:36] implemented, it
[2:03:37] ll be
[2:03:39] implemented in a much different
[2:03:43] way where we actually are, um,
[2:03:43] communicating with our
[2:03:46] residents in a way that will
[2:03:48] encourage them to patronize
[2:03:49] local businesses as opposed to
[2:03:51] what was done last time, which,
[2:03:54] again, and and I heard from a
[2:03:56] number of businesses who said
[2:03:58] they got no business whatsoever
[2:03:59] from it. They, they didn
[2:03:59] t even
[2:04:01] know about. The program. So I
[2:04:02] appreciate that feedback.
[2:04:03] That
[2:04:04] s great. Councilor Meister,
[2:04:05] yeah, I, I would, I would
[2:04:09] wonder. If we were, if we were
[2:04:11] able to figure out metrics for
[2:04:13] that last program so that we
[2:04:15] could see how it, if it did
[2:04:17] increase or not increase
[2:04:18] business. I think that would be
[2:04:19] important and it would be
[2:04:21] important for this as well. Um,
[2:04:24] I actually just wanted to see
[2:04:26] if uh my colleagues would be
[2:04:28] interested in under this
[2:04:30] program to give residents and
[2:04:31] visitors free parking on small
[2:04:35] business Saturday. One day, you
[2:04:39] know, let, let people just come
[2:04:42] and park wherever and uh and
[2:04:44] now not park wherever park at
[2:04:45] meters for free right in front
[2:04:47] of your house is what you
[2:04:47] re
[2:04:48] saying meter for free. They
[2:04:52] have 2 hours. Um, but pocket
[2:04:55] meters for free and um and give
[2:04:57] our small businesses an
[2:04:58] opportunity to to see those
[2:05:00] people come out. Yeah, I, I
[2:05:02] love that idea. Sorry, there
[2:05:04] you go, I, I think you know if
[2:05:04] that
[2:05:05] s feasible, I
[2:05:05] m happy to
[2:05:07] support it. Um we love parking.
[2:05:09] I was just having this
[2:05:11] conversation, we love parking,
[2:05:14] not parking minimums, but in my
[2:05:16] opinion, but I was also um when
[2:05:17] I was passing the lot at
[2:05:18] Crescent Heights in Santa
[2:05:20] Monica Boulevard, which Helen
[2:05:22] made so sure got done so
[2:05:24] quickly, you know, it
[2:05:24] s it
[2:05:24] s
[2:05:25] fairly empty, and the reason,
[2:05:27] you know, I know people want to
[2:05:28] have other things built there,
[2:05:28] but if there
[2:05:29] s any outreach, we
[2:05:31] could specifically due to that
[2:05:32] community and those businesses
[2:05:32] too. I don
[2:05:32] t know if they
[2:05:33] re
[2:05:34] aware of it. I know it
[2:05:34] s a big
[2:05:35] empty parking lot, but it
[2:05:36] s
[2:05:38] another way to promote their
[2:05:39] abilities to have that be in
[2:05:42] that, that busy area too. Uh,
[2:05:43] Vice Mary, did you want to make
[2:05:47] a comment? Well, one, the issue
[2:05:48] of free parking isn
[2:05:48] t on our
[2:05:49] agenda, so I don
[2:05:51] t think we can
[2:05:54] really address that tonight. I,
[2:05:57] I am very skeptical of it, um,
[2:05:58] particularly on Saturdays,
[2:06:00] which are already very popular
[2:06:04] in West Hollywood, but What,
[2:06:04] what we
[2:06:05] ve seen happen if we
[2:06:05] re
[2:06:07] talking about parking meters,
[2:06:07] that
[2:06:08] s where people are going
[2:06:11] to park who are not turnover
[2:06:13] customers, so if we
[2:06:13] re talking
[2:06:16] about doing something in our
[2:06:17] parking structures that might
[2:06:18] be something that we could ask
[2:06:21] our staff to look at, um, and
[2:06:24] so I, I, I have concerns about
[2:06:25] us just doing it tonight. One,
[2:06:26] it
[2:06:28] s not on the agenda, and 2,
[2:06:29] we don
[2:06:30] t, we don
[2:06:31] t know the
[2:06:33] full impact of it. So Uh, I, I
[2:06:34] think we should avoid any
[2:06:36] discussion. Yeah, I appreciate
[2:06:38] that. And just to bring back to
[2:06:39] the program as this is, I
[2:06:39] didn
[2:06:41] t, you know, invent the
[2:06:42] Weeh Ho Locals program. It
[2:06:43] existed and I think it
[2:06:44] s a
[2:06:45] great model that needs to be
[2:06:47] built on. Um, I know it did
[2:06:49] give some businesses
[2:06:50] opportunities to connect and
[2:06:51] using that framework that
[2:06:53] existed already. I thought this
[2:06:54] gift card program, which, as
[2:06:56] you saw in the staff report is
[2:06:57] a program that a number of
[2:06:59] other cities have run. It was
[2:07:00] the city of Concord, California,
[2:07:02] and a conversation I had with a
[2:07:03] councilmember last summer. It
[2:07:04] got me really excited about
[2:07:05] what this opportunity could
[2:07:06] look like. I knew then that we
[2:07:09] were in the middle of our
[2:07:11] economic study that um and soon
[2:07:12] later learned that the
[2:07:13] lunchtime hours and what we
[2:07:15] were experiencing here as a
[2:07:16] city, um, was that there was a
[2:07:18] lot of decline in business and
[2:07:20] so many of our own residents
[2:07:22] are people who can better
[2:07:23] participate in our businesses
[2:07:25] with maybe a little leg up, and
[2:07:26] I recognize that many of our
[2:07:28] residents are living on fixed
[2:07:30] or limited incomes that often
[2:07:31] precludes them from being able
[2:07:33] to participate in the
[2:07:34] incredible business scene that
[2:07:35] we have here, um, because of
[2:07:36] some of that. Economic divide
[2:07:38] that does exist in our
[2:07:39] community, so my hope was in
[2:07:41] delivering a gift card program
[2:07:43] that could be sort of of the um
[2:07:44] you know, purchase buy in and
[2:07:47] then the city contributes an
[2:07:48] additional percentage and that
[2:07:49] way people have a, a, you know,
[2:07:51] tab that goes a little bit
[2:07:52] further at one of our local
[2:07:53] businesses, um, so I
[2:07:54] m really
[2:07:55] grateful to visit West
[2:07:56] Hollywood for their willingness
[2:07:57] to be a part of this. I spoke
[2:07:59] with Tom Keeley last week,
[2:07:59] grateful for the chamber and
[2:08:01] their help in getting this out,
[2:08:03] but as Vice Mayor Hellman said,
[2:08:03] it
[2:08:04] s key that our residents
[2:08:05] know about this. One thing that
[2:08:05] wasn
[2:08:07] t. Included in this and I
[2:08:08] believe would be essential as
[2:08:09] this comes back and gets
[2:08:11] implemented and goes out to the
[2:08:12] community is especially stops
[2:08:14] at our boards and commissions.
[2:08:14] I
[2:08:16] m thinking about the older
[2:08:17] adults advisory board first and
[2:08:18] foremost because again it was
[2:08:19] sort of targeted with those
[2:08:21] folks in mind, people who
[2:08:21] haven
[2:08:22] t maybe felt that they
[2:08:22] re
[2:08:24] the businesses in our city are
[2:08:26] accessible to them, um, and by
[2:08:27] way of starting there and
[2:08:28] helping everybody feel like
[2:08:29] this is a community in a space
[2:08:31] that you can be a part of that
[2:08:33] we can start to invest more
[2:08:34] deeply into our business
[2:08:35] community. So that was the
[2:08:36] mindset I approached this. I
[2:08:37] deal with, although it
[2:08:37] s
[2:08:39] clearly open to everyone, um,
[2:08:40] and I would hope that as this
[2:08:42] comes back, staff also brings
[2:08:44] maybe a cap or an investment
[2:08:45] total that we could um put this.
[2:08:48] I see that some cities started
[2:08:50] with like $20,000 and once it
[2:08:51] reached that threshold, they
[2:08:52] were able to invest again. I
[2:08:54] think that will also help us
[2:08:55] understand some of the data
[2:08:55] that we
[2:08:57] re asking for, but I
[2:08:59] also understood was that in the
[2:09:00] gift card model, we
[2:09:01] re able to
[2:09:02] actually see which businesses
[2:09:03] are using that and so I think
[2:09:04] it
[2:09:05] s a good opportunity for
[2:09:05] businesses to further
[2:09:07] communicate. Their services and
[2:09:09] resources to our residents in
[2:09:10] new ways too as part of that,
[2:09:10] so that
[2:09:12] s not our job as a city
[2:09:13] to promote businesses, but I
[2:09:14] hope this helps close the gap
[2:09:16] and get people connected in new
[2:09:17] ways. I saw that there was
[2:09:18] another speaker that popped up
[2:09:19] while I was going to
[2:09:20] Councilmember, Hang, do you
[2:09:21] want to jump in? Thank you,
[2:09:23] Mayor. I think this is a great
[2:09:23] item. It
[2:09:25] s going to support our
[2:09:26] local businesses. It
[2:09:26] s, you
[2:09:27] know, they
[2:09:28] re suffering.
[2:09:29] Everyone is suffering. So
[2:09:31] anything we can do as a counsel
[2:09:32] to promote within our city. I
[2:09:32] think it
[2:09:34] s a great idea. The
[2:09:35] card will provide metrics like
[2:09:37] you just said to our local
[2:09:38] businesses as well in terms of
[2:09:39] their services, so I
[2:09:40] m in full
[2:09:42] support of this item. Thank you.
[2:09:44] Thank you. Are there any other
[2:09:45] questions, comments? Great,
[2:09:45] we
[2:09:46] ve got a motion on the table.
[2:09:48] No, no, it
[2:09:49] s all great. It
[2:09:49] s
[2:09:50] nice other people supporting it.
[2:09:56] Terrific. Thank you all so much
[2:09:56] and great news. That was the
[2:10:04] last item tonight. Woohoo. Um,
[2:10:04] We don
[2:10:05] t have any items on
[2:10:06] excluded consent. Do we have
[2:10:07] any final public comments
[2:10:09] signed up for the evening? One
[2:10:10] individual signed up, but
[2:10:11] they
[2:10:12] re not in chambers anymore.
[2:10:13] All right, um, then we
[2:10:13] ll move
[2:10:16] on to councilmember comments
[2:10:17] and meeting attendance reports,
[2:10:21] who would like to begin? Ok,
[2:10:21] we
[2:10:22] ll start with Councilmemb
[2:10:24] Erickson and then over to
[2:10:24] Councilmember Hang after. Thank
[2:10:27] you so much, MADAM Mayor. Um,
[2:10:29] in terms of meetings I attended
[2:10:30] the subcommittee ad hoc
[2:10:31] committee non-Brown Act
[2:10:33] Committee of the Commission and
[2:10:35] Advisory Board meetings with
[2:10:36] Councilmember Meister. I
[2:10:37] attended the liability Trust
[2:10:38] Fund board and oversight
[2:10:39] meeting. I attended the West
[2:10:40] Side City
[2:10:41] s cag meeting where I
[2:10:42] was appointed the voting
[2:10:44] delegate for the cag to the
[2:10:46] Santa Monica Bay Restoration
[2:10:47] Commission and congratulations
[2:10:48] to our own mayor, who is now
[2:10:50] the vice chair of the West Side
[2:10:52] Cities coc. Um, and then
[2:10:53] additionally, I know that we
[2:10:56] are going to be prioritizing
[2:10:58] some infrastructure updates in
[2:10:59] the coming meetings and I just
[2:11:01] wanted to highlight some facts
[2:11:03] to make sure that the record is
[2:11:04] reflective of some things that
[2:11:04] we
[2:11:06] ve talked about in the past
[2:11:08] in terms of paving history
[2:11:09] Fountain Avenue was last paved
[2:11:12] 20 years ago and sealed 4 years
[2:11:13] ago. Santa Monica, the
[2:11:14] streetscape was completed in
[2:11:16] the year 2000. I was a freshman
[2:11:19] in high school. 60% repaved in
[2:11:21] the last 3 years. Beverly is
[2:11:23] Concrete street only patched
[2:11:26] since cityhood, meaning 1984.
[2:11:27] Melrose was paved last year
[2:11:28] from croft to San Vicente and
[2:11:30] only patched from San Vicente
[2:11:33] to Doheny since cityhood. Major
[2:11:33] infrastructure improvements.
[2:11:34] This is something that I would
[2:11:36] like us to focus on later as we
[2:11:37] talk about what we should
[2:11:40] prioritize. Fountain Avenue. No
[2:11:42] recent major improvements ever.
[2:11:44] In terms of the street. Santa
[2:11:47] Monica. Streetscape project in
[2:11:49] 2000 bike lanes added from
[2:11:49] Doheny to King
[2:11:51] s Road, Beverly,
[2:11:52] no major recent improvements.
[2:11:54] Plans for a streetscape with
[2:11:55] bike lanes and utility
[2:11:56] undergrounding are in
[2:11:58] development. Melrose, a
[2:11:59] streetscape plan completed from
[2:12:00] Croft to San Vicente and the
[2:12:02] next phase includes San Vicente
[2:12:04] Rohini. Um, these are just
[2:12:05] important information that we
[2:12:06] should keep on the top of our
[2:12:08] mind as we talk about how our
[2:12:09] infrastructure is lagging and
[2:12:10] outdated, and these are just
[2:12:11] the facts to support that.
[2:12:13] Thank you, City staff for
[2:12:14] helping provide that
[2:12:14] information. That
[2:12:16] s all. Thank
[2:12:17] you, Councillor Marrickson.
[2:12:19] Councilor Maur Hang. Thank you,
[2:12:21] Mayor. Um, I have nothing to
[2:12:23] report as far as meeting
[2:12:24] attendants, um, I just wanted
[2:12:28] to say that, you know, last
[2:12:30] week there were signs that were
[2:12:31] posted in West Hollywood in the
[2:12:34] Rainbow District. That
[2:12:36] indicated a ice as well as
[2:12:36] ice
[2:12:38] s phone number. I spotted
[2:12:41] those signs. I reported them
[2:12:43] immediately to our director of
[2:12:45] Community safety who then had
[2:12:46] Coke complis who took swift
[2:12:49] action to have code compliance,
[2:12:51] walk Santa Monica Boulevard to
[2:12:52] remove all those signs. Um,
[2:12:54] those signs were put up with
[2:12:55] the intention to intimidate
[2:12:58] people, to intimidate certain
[2:13:00] members of our community and um
[2:13:02] we will not be intimidated here
[2:13:03] in West Hollywood. Thank you,
[2:13:06] Mayor. Thank you account number
[2:13:08] Ha. Councilormer Meister. Thank
[2:13:11] you, Mayor. Uh, attendance, I
[2:13:13] participated in the joint
[2:13:15] policy committee meeting and
[2:13:17] scag Regional council meeting.
[2:13:21] I attended uh Virtually uh as a
[2:13:25] as a just a Visitor and uh
[2:13:27] Public speaker, uh, the West
[2:13:30] Side Cities cag meeting. Um, I
[2:13:32] was wondering uh if maybe the
[2:13:34] city manager could answer a
[2:13:34] question about what
[2:13:35] s happening
[2:13:36] with the lighting in West
[2:13:42] Hollywood Park. Trailers. Helen,
[2:13:44] come up and answer that. Um. I
[2:13:45] know we
[2:13:47] ve been waiting on the.
[2:13:48] New lights to be installed
[2:13:59] there. So just to give you a
[2:14:02] brief overview, um, the light
[2:14:05] base in on all the 41 light
[2:14:07] structures in the park, um, we
[2:14:08] saw deterioration on those
[2:14:10] light bases, so we removed them
[2:14:13] for safety, um, during the last,
[2:14:13] it
[2:14:15] s been about a year actually
[2:14:15] we
[2:14:16] ve been in conversations
[2:14:18] with the manufacturer going
[2:14:21] back and forth on, um, getting
[2:14:23] replacements. Um, we haven
[2:14:23] t
[2:14:24] come to a mutual agreement on
[2:14:26] what would be a suitable
[2:14:27] replacement that we would agree
[2:14:27] that wouldn
[2:14:28] t. Deteriorate over
[2:14:31] time, like the initial base. So,
[2:14:34] um, we are. Currently in uh
[2:14:36] final discussions with them and
[2:14:36] we
[2:14:37] re looking at other options
[2:14:40] to move forward. Um, so in the
[2:14:40] interim, we don
[2:14:41] t have a, a
[2:14:45] solution, but we are looking at
[2:14:47] possibly either finding a new
[2:14:48] base or looking at different
[2:14:49] types of lighting in the park.
[2:14:50] So we
[2:14:51] ll be coming back to
[2:14:53] council in the near future with,
[2:14:54] um, our options to move forward.
[2:14:57] Thank you, Helen. Thank you,
[2:15:00] Vice Mayor Hellman. Thank you,
[2:15:03] Mayor. Um, I attended the Weh
[2:15:06] Hope Pride subcommittee. I also
[2:15:07] attended various community
[2:15:09] events including the winter
[2:15:10] sounds. I did have some
[2:15:12] comments on the sister cities
[2:15:15] program, and I want to thank
[2:15:18] you and uh councilmemb Hang for
[2:15:19] bringing this forward, as you
[2:15:22] noted, there was a previous
[2:15:25] initiative to try to establish
[2:15:26] a sister cities
[2:15:27] relationship,
[2:15:28] um, I, and I
[2:15:29] ve asked staff to
[2:15:31] try to retrieve. The files so
[2:15:33] you can have access to it or
[2:15:35] staff can have access to it. I
[2:15:36] think it
[2:15:37] s very important as we
[2:15:40] move forward with this
[2:15:42] initiative that we have clear
[2:15:44] understanding of what our goals
[2:15:47] are in establishing this, um,
[2:15:51] are we trying to create an
[2:15:53] economic relationship with
[2:15:55] tourism and trade. Are we
[2:15:58] trying to establish more of a
[2:16:02] political relationship and
[2:16:04] Expressing our alliance with a
[2:16:07] community that MAY have similar
[2:16:09] political leanings or be under
[2:16:12] attack. Are we trying to
[2:16:15] establish relationships where
[2:16:18] we have uh local torchbearers
[2:16:20] who could champion this
[2:16:22] relationship. Part of the
[2:16:24] reason, last time we were
[2:16:27] unable to move forward, there
[2:16:28] were people who had different
[2:16:31] views of what a sister. Cities
[2:16:33] relationship should be. There
[2:16:35] were certainly people who were
[2:16:37] associated with the Visitors
[2:16:40] bureau who wanted to have a
[2:16:41] sister cities
[2:16:42] relationship
[2:16:45] with Mexico City or a city in
[2:16:47] Mexico because of the the
[2:16:49] tourist possibility. There were
[2:16:50] people from the Russian
[2:16:54] speaking community who were
[2:16:56] advocating for communities from
[2:16:57] their home country or there
[2:16:58] s a
[2:16:59] particular arts district in St.
[2:16:59] Peter
[2:17:01] s. Pittsburgh that would
[2:17:04] have been a great partner,
[2:17:04] obviously that
[2:17:06] s not on the
[2:17:08] table anymore. Um, and then
[2:17:11] there, there were also people
[2:17:14] who had advocated for the Mora
[2:17:17] district of Paris because of
[2:17:19] the high concentration of arts
[2:17:21] design and the lgbt community,
[2:17:24] so I hope that as we move
[2:17:26] forward, there will be some
[2:17:28] thought about that and also
[2:17:30] thought about those within the
[2:17:32] community who are not part of
[2:17:34] the city who will be part of
[2:17:36] this initiative because it
[2:17:36] can
[2:17:39] t just be the city. It
[2:17:39] s
[2:17:41] got to also engage the business
[2:17:44] community and the residents, so
[2:17:47] those are just my suggestions
[2:17:49] for thought as we move forward,
[2:17:49] but I
[2:17:51] m very excited about it
[2:17:52] and you know, I
[2:17:53] ll have some
[2:17:56] free time in 2 years, so I, I
[2:17:58] might want to be part of that,
[2:18:01] yeah. I know you
[2:18:02] re just trying
[2:18:05] to send me away right now. I
[2:18:08] got your comments earlier. I do
[2:18:10] just want to follow that up and
[2:18:12] say it has been in my time on
[2:18:14] council and just the few short
[2:18:16] years, a real honor and
[2:18:17] inspiration to be a part of
[2:18:19] some of the small conversations
[2:18:20] and delegations that have come
[2:18:23] to the city, mostly for some of
[2:18:25] the political purpose and in
[2:18:25] the exchanges we
[2:18:26] ve had with
[2:18:27] the Australian consul general,
[2:18:28] you know, I know that they
[2:18:29] re
[2:18:30] looking to invite us as a pride
[2:18:31] speaker in the month of JUNE to
[2:18:33] go speak at their private event.
[2:18:33] That
[2:18:35] s a place where we have
[2:18:36] multiple sort of relationships,
[2:18:36] so there
[2:18:36] s just so many
[2:18:39] different opportunities. There
[2:18:39] and with the Olympics coming
[2:18:41] and the Pride House coming, it
[2:18:42] felt all the more important to
[2:18:43] really plant this seed and as
[2:18:44] you said, sort of build
[2:18:45] intention to what we
[2:18:45] re really
[2:18:46] trying to do. So just thank you
[2:18:48] and thanks for sharing the
[2:18:48] history. It
[2:18:49] s really important
[2:18:49] and I
[2:18:50] m looking forward to
[2:18:53] growing this in a bigger way. I
[2:18:54] wanted to, and I just got a
[2:18:55] note that we do have the old
[2:18:55] staff reports, so we
[2:18:56] ll get
[2:18:57] them shared very soon. Thank
[2:18:59] you so much. I
[2:19:00] ll continue with
[2:19:02] my attendance and then wrap up
[2:19:04] with my comments, my meeting
[2:19:04] attendants included the
[2:19:06] National League of Cities
[2:19:07] Transportation Ad advocacy
[2:19:09] meeting, which was Very
[2:19:11] frustrating look at how things
[2:19:13] are changing very rapidly in
[2:19:14] relationship to the cities, and
[2:19:17] I also attended the lgbtq
[2:19:18] elected leaders, local elected
[2:19:20] leaders meeting the West
[2:19:21] Hollywood Pride subcommittee
[2:19:21] meeting. It
[2:19:22] s crazy. We
[2:19:23] re back
[2:19:25] planning again for this year.
[2:19:26] The Metro Service council
[2:19:28] meeting and the la County City
[2:19:29] Selection Committee meeting, as
[2:19:30] well as the West Side cdc cog
[2:19:31] meeting where, as Councilor
[2:19:33] Erickson said, I was elected
[2:19:34] vice chair, very excited to
[2:19:35] serve that term and represent
[2:19:38] our city in that capacity, um.
[2:19:40] I was a speaker at Troy Masters
[2:19:42] celebration of life this past
[2:19:45] week and was just so honored to
[2:19:47] reflect the many stories and
[2:19:48] relationships that Troy shared
[2:19:50] with our city and the many
[2:19:51] staff members and members of
[2:19:53] this council whose lives he
[2:19:55] touched, so just really a
[2:19:56] special night in celebration of
[2:19:58] a very incredible human who we
[2:19:59] all MISS Very deeply. I want to
[2:20:01] give my thanks to the residents
[2:20:02] of the domain apartments for
[2:20:03] hosting my first meet and greet.
[2:20:03] There
[2:20:05] ll be more to come. Look
[2:20:05] forward to continuing to
[2:20:06] connect with folks in the
[2:20:08] community in that capacity. And
[2:20:10] just in terms of my comments, I
[2:20:12] have to say I was very moved by
[2:20:14] the equity statement read
[2:20:15] earlier tonight and our city
[2:20:15] s
[2:20:16] ongoing commitment, especially
[2:20:17] in these times, to the values
[2:20:19] of diversity, equity, and
[2:20:21] inclusion, and it happened very
[2:20:23] quickly, but we did approve two
[2:20:25] items tonight, one in
[2:20:26] recognition of Junetee
[2:20:27] Juneteenth with an expanded
[2:20:28] budget for that social justice
[2:20:29] advisory board to get to work
[2:20:30] with. We
[2:20:31] re very excited to see
[2:20:33] what happens there as well as
[2:20:35] new programming for Black
[2:20:36] History Month in 2026 brought
[2:20:37] with my councilmemb Erickson,
[2:20:38] so thank you for that. That
[2:20:41] idea, um, uh, just wanted, uh,
[2:20:42] you know, reflect how important
[2:20:43] it is these continued
[2:20:44] investments and just thank the
[2:20:46] city for our ongoing commitment
[2:20:48] to this work, um, I want to
[2:20:50] also recognize that the 22 of
[2:20:52] the adjournments I read tonight
[2:20:54] for the transgender community
[2:20:56] members who were killed because
[2:20:57] of who they are, where a
[2:20:59] request that I received from
[2:21:00] several members of the
[2:21:02] community. I had multiple
[2:21:04] people reaching out requesting
[2:21:06] those that both of those
[2:21:06] individuals be recognized, and
[2:21:08] I deeply appreciate. The
[2:21:09] recognition of our city
[2:21:09] s role
[2:21:12] in voicing and naming and
[2:21:13] uplifting those individuals and
[2:21:14] their stories in this way and
[2:21:15] we
[2:21:17] ll continue to be here to do
[2:21:20] that work. Um, I want to just
[2:21:21] also recognize as councilmemb
[2:21:23] Hang said the I signs we were
[2:21:25] quick to respond and spent a
[2:21:26] long day of media responses and
[2:21:28] making sure that people knew
[2:21:30] what our city is truly all
[2:21:31] about the sanctuary city that
[2:21:32] we have long been. I look
[2:21:34] forward to the Know your rights
[2:21:35] campaign information that will
[2:21:36] come out and in the meantime
[2:21:38] encourage people to be more
[2:21:40] familiar with your rights and
[2:21:41] share this information, the
[2:21:42] county Office of Immigration
[2:21:44] has an incredible resource page.
[2:21:44] They
[2:21:46] re also beginning to host
[2:21:46] events throughout the
[2:21:49] communities, um, specifically
[2:21:50] starting in East la, but
[2:21:50] they
[2:21:51] re making their way around
[2:21:52] the county, and I believe it
[2:21:52] s
[2:21:54] really important that all of us
[2:21:55] take time to understand our
[2:21:57] rights and help empower those
[2:21:59] around us with that full
[2:22:00] information and just finally I
[2:22:02] said it really quickly at the
[2:22:04] end in my in the last item on
[2:22:06] the Weeh Ho Locals program, but
[2:22:07] I also would be remiss if I
[2:22:07] didn
[2:22:09] t. Think Laura and Paulo
[2:22:11] specifically for your help um
[2:22:12] both in researching this
[2:22:14] initiative early on, but also
[2:22:15] spurring my own encourage
[2:22:16] enthusiasm and excitement for
[2:22:18] this program. It really takes
[2:22:19] all of us. I just want to thank
[2:22:20] you both and recognize your
[2:22:22] hard work behind the scenes in
[2:22:23] support of our business
[2:22:24] community, so unless there
[2:22:25] s
[2:22:26] anything else, I said a lot to
[2:22:27] wrap it up. I think we
[2:22:27] re all
[2:22:29] set. Ok, so we have one more
[2:22:31] special meeting adjournment. We
[2:22:33] are adjourning this city
[2:22:35] council meeting to this joint
[2:22:36] study session of the city
[2:22:37] council and planning commission,
[2:22:39] very exciting meeting which
[2:22:41] will take place here on Monday,
[2:22:43] FEBRUARY 24th at 6 P.M. At the
[2:22:45] West Hollywood Park Public
[2:22:46] public meeting room council
[2:22:46] chambers. We
[2:22:47] ll see you all