The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council will host a virtual town hall on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. in lieu of its regular monthly meeting. The Council, like most in the city, has not met since the stay-at-home orders were issued last month by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“Since the stay-at-home began, we have been diligently trying to work on the technology and coordination with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to organize a meeting,” explained GWNC President Caroline Moser. “Until we can convene a business meeting, we thought we could perform a public service by holding a teleconference town hall, using Zoom to share information from the government officials who usually report at our monthly meetings.”
The telephone call will be an informational forum for constituents, to hear Greater Wilshire specific information. Representatives from Mayor Garcetti’s Office, Council Districts 4 & 5, Supervisor Kuehl’s Office, LAPD Wilshire & Olympic Divisions, and LA Metro have been invited to participate in the call.
Questions can be asked in advance by sending an email to www.greaterwilshire.org/townhall (Google Form) or email to [email protected]. Questions may also be asked during the call by using the chat line. Questions will be moderated by the host.
Moser stressed this will not be a business meeting (in other words, not votes will be taken) because the GWNC hasn’t worked through all the Brown Act compliance issues to the satisfaction of DONE.
“We are trying not to violate the Brown Act which prohibits a majority of the quorum of the board from meeting and we don’t have a public venue where anyone without a computer would be able to participate, but we are doing the best we can,” explained Moser.
Most neighborhood councils have not been able to meet during the past six week, explained Moser, who said she is frustrated that the city had not planned for operation of the neighborhood councils during an emergency.
Moser told the Buzz she is mostly concerned about the activity of the Land Use Committee.
“The City Council is meeting but the City’s HPOZs and Park Mile Design Review Board are not meeting,” said Moser. “People are applying and the planning department is moving ahead on projects without any public scrutiny.”
Moser said the council is trying to post links to local projects on its website, so the public can at least look up the projects and see what is being proposed. In addition, she said CD4 Planning Deputy Emma Howard has also been trying to put together a consolidated list of projects in the district.
Moser said she is also concerned about the council’s two part-time employees. She’s hoping these issues will be resolved shortly and the council will have a means to meet going forward and get back to work that complies with the Brown Act.
“It’s just unfortunate that the City had not planned a system for keeping the neighborhood councils going during an emergency,” said Moser. But she did have some good news.
The GWNC has been give $5,000 in emergency funds. Though she has to get approval from the board after the fact, Moser has used the $1500 of the funds to help out local groups trying to serve the homeless during the pandemic. One $500 grant was allocated to the LA Parks Foundation to help with water, towels and daycare costs for the staff at the Pan Pacific, which is now operating a shelter for the homeless. Another grant of $500 was given to the YMCA, which is now serving 40 homeless people a day offering showers and food. The funds will be spend on clean towels, toiletries and food. And finally a $500 has been given to Alexandria House, which is now feeding people that are not residents.
Please consider calling to the virtual town hall and showing your support for the GWNC. Below are the details on the meeting:
GWNC President Caroline Labiner Moser will host a Virtual Town Hall with Government Reps for Greater Wilshire:
- Wednesday, April 15, 2020, 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
- https://us04web.zoom.us/j/848982068
Here’s how to Connect to the Town Hall:
- PC or Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android: visit https://us04web.zoom.us/j/848982068
Test your system in advance at https://zoom.us/test. You may be prompted to download the Zoom app. Â Web browsers (Mac/PC) are also supported. - One tap mobile (audio only): +16699006833,,848982068#
- Other telephone/landline (audio only): dial (669) 900-6833, and enter Meeting ID Number: 848 982 068
New to Zoom? Find helpful videos and tutorials at: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials.
If the meeting is full, or if you prefer to use an alternate platform, we will attempt to livestream the town hall on the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GreaterWilshireNeighborhoodCouncil.
In addition to reading the Buzz, you can follow the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council social media for updates and check their website for more information.
- Website:Â https://greaterwilshire.org/
- Instagram: @greaterwilshire & @petsofgreaterwilshire
- Twitter:Â @greaterwilshire
- Nextdoor:Â Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council
- Facebook:Â https://www.facebook.com/GreaterWilshireNeighborhoodCouncil/
- Early Notification System:Â https://www.lacity.org/your-government/government-information/subscribe-other-meetings-agendas-and-documents/neighborhood-councils
Even though our HPOZ board is not meeting, Carthay Circle, Carthay Square, and South Carthay HPOZ property owners still need to contact Office of Historic Resources when making changes to their properties, per their respective Preservation Plans. We’re not part of Greater Wilshire NC, but appreciate Ms. Moser’s concern about land-use issues and the need for public scrutiny and participation. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Their Zoom townhall is a good idea under the circumstances!