Nithya Raman’s City Council District 4 will soon implement a staffing shift, with current Greater Wilshire-area Field Manager Su In Lee moving to new duties within the office, and a new Field Manager to be hired for this part of the district.
According to CD 4 Communications Director Jesse Zwick this morning, “I can confirm that Su will be shifting roles within our office and that we are in the process of hiring a replacement for her current role.” But Zwick also assured the Buzz that stakeholders in the GWNC area will not be left without staff coverage. “There will be no period of time in which GW lacks a reliable representative. Su will continue fulfilling that role until a suitable replacement is hired and trained,” he said.
When asked about Lee’s upcoming virtual “neighborhood meetup” event, scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, at 5:30 p.m., Zwick said it will still be held as planned.
The original announcement of this session stirred some local controversy when it was labeled as being for “Koreatown” residents (while Koreatown officially lies east of Western Ave., in CD 10, not CD4), with another meeting to be scheduled at a later date for “Hancock Park.” But that language seems to have been dropped recently, with Lee describing the event at last week’s GWNC board meeting as being for “renters,” with a second virtual meetup for “homeowners” to be scheduled soon. That language, too, caused a bit of a kerfluffle at the GWNC meeting, however, with several board members noting at the time that there are large numbers of both homeowners and renters in many neighborhoods within the GWNC, not just along its eastern edge, and many issues in the district – including crime, sidewalk repair, tree trimming, failed streets, homeless encampments, and more – are of equal interest to both homeowners and renters.
But Zwick told the Buzz today that breaking down large districts into smaller chunks for this new series of neighborhood-based events isn’t unique to Greater Wilshire, and is really more about size than anything else. “Many of our field reps are breaking the areas they cover into smaller groups for these meetings so as to allow for intimate neighborhood-level discussions,” he clarified. “Last week, for example, Rachel Fox and I met with neighbors in Toluca Lake. The following month, we’ll do the same with the rest of Rachel’s covered areas in the Hollywood Hills.”
“While Su may have mentioned that there are a greater number of renters in this eastern portion [of Greater Wilshire], and that it might be a useful forum for concerns around that issue to be addressed,” Zwick clarified, “the upcoming meeting is intended for all the residents within these neighborhoods and anyone is welcome to broach any question or topic of concern that pertains to them.”
I read with great interest you article on CD4 staff changes and Greater Wilshire Area Meet ups.
Just as we are beginning to be familiar with Su she is being moved to new duties.
I do wonder when the council office will change the name of the CD4 Community Meet up area from Korea Town to the correct area of Greater Wilshire. Jesse Zwick was quoted as saying “many of the field reps are breaking the areas they cover into smaller groups to allow for intimate Neighborhood level discussions” and cites Toluca Lake and Hollywood Hills as examples. However Toluca Lake and Hollywood Hills are not in the same Neighborhood Council so his statement doesn’t really apply. The meeting taking place on June 1 is in fact a meeting covering the interests of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. I do hope the council office of CD4 understands this.