Daily Bruin File Photo Councilman Jack
Weiss discusses issues important to UCLA and Westwood.
In a recent interview, city councilman Jack Weiss discussed city
issues pertinent to the UCLA community, including the Intramural
field parking lot and disaster preparedness.
DB: What do you feel your role is as city councilman? JW: The
most important thing I am doing right now is working on emergency
preparedness. A few days after Sept. 11, I put in emergency
legislation establishing a threat preparation task force for the
city of Los Angeles and have been meeting weekly since then in
trying to prepare both short-term and long-term proposals to
address issues of the city’s readiness to respond. The
legislation focuses on intelligence, protecting first responders,
bomb squad and hazmat capabilities. We’re preparing the city.
My number one priority shifted from things during the campaign to
preparing first responders.
DB: Are these initiatives in response to warnings from (Mayor
James) Hahn or even from President Bush to be especially on the
look out for? JW: The reality is no one knows what’s going to
happen next, so all we can do is try to be as well prepared as we
can. The analogy I always use is that there are lots of dangerous
drivers out there ““ drunk drivers ““ but we don’t
stop driving. We drive defensively. We have to go on living these
days but we have to live cautiously and defensively, and that
applies across the board to the city.
DB: UCLA right now is at 115 percent capacity and with Tidal
Wave 2, we will only draw more students. How do you respond? JW:
Well, UCLA is responding and as a graduate of UCLA, I’m very
supportive of UCLA’s efforts in this regard. My role is the
buffer between UCLA and the neighborhood. I have been successful in
that role and I will continue to do that in the future.
DB: Have you met with Chancellor Albert Carnesale recently? JW:
Yes, we talked about UCLA expansion plans, various policy issues
impacting UCLA, and UCLA’s impressive interest in becoming an
even more impressive player in Los Angeles ““ really reaching
out.
DB: Are there currently any plans in the work to
“mobilize” the UCLA campus? JW: There’s nothing
right now, but I’m hopeful we’ll have the chance of
working together on things rather than the typical role as a
development buffer between campus and the neighborhood. The
traditional role has been the go-between as the university wants to
expand, and then the community not wanting the university to
expand. I would take the role one step further.
DB: During your campaign last April, you said you opposed
turning the UCLA Intramural fields into a parking lot … and now
it’s torn up. What happened? JW: The city of Los Angeles
legally cannot tell UCLA what it can and can’t do. UCLA
operates under the state of California. I’m hopeful that once
construction is completed, ultimately the neighborhood will be able
to live with it.
DB: Do you believe the new parking lot wIll be a solution to the
parking problem in Westwood? JW: It’s not designed to be a
solution in Westwood; it’s designed to solve some of the
parking problems in UCLA. And I think to UCLA’s credit, they
are building them under ground. DB: The Westwood Business
Improvement District said last week that Westwood is experiencing a
rough economic time right now. Do you agree? JW: The city is
experiencing rough times now; I’m very concerned. DB: Have
you been contacted by constituents in response to Sept. 11 attacks?
Do they seem more concerned? JW: Yes, I would say constituents have
been more on edge than they used to be, and we’re providing.
At the street fair last week, we had a booth and usually it’s
stocked with knick-knacks, but our booth was stocked with emergency
preparedness material and they went faster than any of the other
booths. People are on edge. There’s no question about it.
DB: You took office in July. For you to step into this disaster,
it must have been very difficult. How have the first four months
gone? I was a federal prosecutor so I’m used to dealing with
significant public safety issues. This is arguably the most serious
one we’ve ever faced. I don’t enjoy the role because
the best case scenario from all the work is that we’ve wasted
a bunch of money on things we don’t need. It’s nothing
that you relish, but it’s important work and I’ll
continue to try to play a role to make sure the city is safe.
DB: Many students aren’t aware that city councilmen exist.
What steps are you going to take to reverse that? JW: I would love
to be in closer contact with the UCLA student body in order to
expose people to interesting intellectual and policy challenges we
face in Los Angeles. I would love to have UCLA students work as
interns and externs, and we’re still hiring. Recent grads and
grad students should come and talk with me.
Reports from Dexter Gauntlett, Daily Bruin Reporter.