Councilmember Jack Weiss Presides Over Dramatic Changes on the Westside of L.A.

One of the most distinctive features of CD 5 is the federal complex in Westwood, including the Veterans Administration and Federal Building. What is the status of the long-simmering efforts by the federal government to develop the VA site and to locate a new FBI building there?

A month ago the people of the United States decided the future of the VA without realizing it. Because the country has returned a solid Democratic majority to Congress and Henry Waxman is now one of the most important officials in Washington, I don't expect the Veterans Administration to move an inch on its plans to develop the federal complex.

The Veterans Administration has long wanted to maximize the value of its assets-not just in L.A., but nationwide-for the benefit of veterans. That is good public policy, but when it comes to complex land-use issues, the central concern that those of us in office in West Los Angeles have expressed was to include local officials, local leaders, and local concerns in a bona fide planning process. That is where we have felt stymied.

The second issue concerns the FBI building in West Los Angeles. The FBI has legitimate needs both locally and nationally. But many of us have felt that the Westside was not necessarily the smartest place to locate its L.A. headquarters. I sit here, not as a NIMBY, but as someone who has spent countless working hours in that building as a former federal prosecutor.

The FBI agents, whom I still know quite well, have often wondered whether Westwood is the best place for them to be. I expect, with Congressman Waxman now being part of the majority, that our Westside concerns will be heard more loudly and more clearly than ever before.

TPR has interviewed you before about the future of Westwood's built environment, which has been evolving for decades. What is the status of Westwood's revitalization plans?

Westwood has been changing during my tenure. And it will continue to change, principally as a result of private investment and private decisions. I've never believed that government can catalyze the change that Westwood needs. Now private ownership is making the catalytic decisions. In the next year or so the Casden project will come to completion. I am proud of that project because the site that it is located on has been the political equivalent of a toxic waste dump for two decades. I was able to broker a compromise that the neighborhood, the developer, and professional planners all embraced. We will have mixed-use development and several hundred ownership units in Westwood; it is under construction as we speak.

Another development in Westwood that I am quite bullish on is the significant investment that John Anderson and Topa have made on Westwood Boulevard properties and other properties. John Anderson is one of the premier investors in our community, and he is betting big and long on Westwood. He has hired a very capable associate in Jim Rosenfield, who is responsible for the redesign of the Brentwood Country Mart. I think they will spur some great changes.

Since I have been in office, I have changed the structure of the city parking lots in Westwood to provide for two hours free parking. Whole Foods and several new restaurants have opened. And the Ralph's Fresh Fare and Best Buy complex has been a success. We've seen many new world-class developments on the UCLA campus as well.

Century City is also changing, with a large number of residential units in the pipeline. What will Century City look like by decade's end?

Century City was planned two generations ago as the ultimate single-use environment. Uses were kept separated by design. My office has been very hands-on in remaking Century City as a mixed-use environment. I've been supporting several proposals to build high-rise residential structures in Century City, which will bring hundreds of new units to Century City and activate the area on an around-the-clock basis.

I'm also supporting Westfield in their $500 million renovation of the mall in Century City, which will make the Century City shopping mall again the premier mall in Southern California. And I will support their proposal for a high-rise, truly mixed-use building, which will have residential on top, commercial in the middle, and hopefully several stories of retail on the ground floor along Avenue of the Stars. Ten years from now, Century City will look and work quite different, which is exciting.

Let's turn to your role on the City Council with respect to the ACLU lawsuit over the rights of the homeless on Skid Row. As a former federal prosecutor, what is your opinion on the suit, and how can the city best address the situation on Skid Row?

I have supported the mayor in his efforts to settle the lawsuit. I believed we had a viable legal settlement, but unfortunately that was scuttled. I don't believe that the answer is fully or even significantly within the ambit of the law or law enforcement, although I do support Chief Bratton's efforts to rid Skid Row of core drug dealers and narcotics users.

I also support his efforts to crack down on parole violations in the area. There is no question that we need a significant public investment in the area of treatment and transitional facilities for these people. I hope to participate with the city and the county in making those investments.

Another legal issue in the city surrounds the Fire Department and the council's processes for reaching prudent settlements in suits against the city. How well has the council handled that issue?)

This morning I was proud to be with the mayor as he announced the appointment of interim Fire Chief Doug Berry, who will be a very strong leader while the mayor looks for a permanent head of the department.

With respect to the Tennie Pierce lawsuit, if I had known at the time that the settlement was presented to the council what the city attorney himself knew, I would not have voted to settle the lawsuit. The city attorney's office had significant adverse evidence in their possession, about which they did not inform the council.

Having said that, you move on. I do hope that there is a way for the suit to be resolved in a way that does not do greater damage to ethnic relations in the city. I also want to see a new type of leadership at the head of the Fire Department: leadership that seeks to motivate firefighters with positive means and not negative means.

Most firefighters are good people who don't engage in hazing. And all the firefighters in question do outstanding service, rescuing people and saving lives. While discipline is important, I don't think the emphasis should be on discipline and the negative, it really should be on a positive stand of leadership.

You chair the City Council's Public Safety Committee, and you've been outspoken-not only in TPR but in forums throughout Los Angeles-about the need to protect L.A. from terrorism. How safe is L.A. today?

L.A. is a huge target, and if and when there is a catastrophic attack in L.A., it won't reflect on the region's preparation as much as it will reflect on the ingenuity of the terrorists who attack us. The most important thing that we as a region can continue to do to prevent this attack is to invest in intelligence resources and improve our intelligence capabilities.

L.A. government has done a better job in the last year-and-a-half in terms of getting response agencies prepared. Chief Bratton and Sheriff Baca have been very strong in supporting investment in local counter-terrorism intelligence capabilities. I have supported those efforts, such as the new Joint Regional Intelligence Center (JRIC), the LAPD Archangel Project, and so on. When you look at the Torrance case that broke about a year ago, it broke because of police work. If we are to catch the next terrorist attack before it occurs, we will have to rely on the police, and not the feds.

With the passage of November's state infrastructure bonds, what opportunities arise for improving security at the ports?

I don't really believe that the answer for the ports is going to come in state or even local programs. The answer is going to come at the federal level. I am hopeful now with the Democrats in Congress; Congresswoman Jane Harman, while not the chairperson of the Intelligence Committee, will have a significant role on the Homeland Security Committee, and Congress will move toward the kind of investment in port security that she has been talking about.

The Mulholland corridor, which bisects your council district, just received scenic corridor status from the county. What does that mean for motorists and residents along Mulholland?

I am not aware of any impact that that would have above and beyond the status already granted Mulholland through our Mulholland Design Review Board. Which is to say that, anyone who develops on the hillside is put through a very rigorous process by the city Planning Department and my office. We don't want development that impacts the viewshed on Mulholland. That is part of the reason I worked so hard last year to pass a new law restricting the size of retaining walls that can be built for hillside homes. That will cut down on the level and type of development on Mulholland as well.