AEG Execs Attempts to Woo Brentwood Community Council Support on Downtown Stadium

Council members and residents received updates on several issues including a possible NFL football stadium, the upcoming 405 Freeway closure and next month’s Brentwood Grand Prix, but no votes were taken during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Brentwood Community Council.

John Semcken, vice president of Majestic Realty Company, attempted to sell Brentwood residents on the NFL stadium planned in the City of Industry, since moving a football team to the Los Angeles area will affect the entire region.

“Our project has been approved, so when the owners are ready to talk to us, we’re ready to talk to them,” Semcken said, adding that the current lockdown has delayed the NFL’s decision. “Once the season starts, I think they will start to have the committees meet with us.”

The stadium is centrally located in order to benefit everyone equally, he said.

“It’s equidistance from Laguna Beach or from Brentwood,” Semcken said.

Ellen Isaacs, who attended the meeting as a representative of Assembly member Mike Feuer, reminded the group that the 405 Freeway will be shut down between Interstate 10 and Highway 101 July 15-17 as construction workers demolish half of the Mulholland Bridge.

“Just stay home is all I can suggest,” Isaacs said.

For those who decide to venture out, Isaacs recommends checking the map available at www.metro.net for onramp and road closures.

“Plus there will be free buses and the metro trains will be running throughout the weekend,” she said.

Jay Slater, chairman of the Los Angeles Bicycle Committee, updated the council on the fourth annual Brentwood Grand Prix. The bike race will be held Aug. 7 and will cause some road closures between Gorham Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

“We are more than aware of the inconvenience it causes for the automobile traffic, but we feel that it is more than compensated by the size and success of the event,” Slater said.

The event brings revenue into the community of Brentwood, particularly for the local restaurants, and this year there is a chance that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will ride in the pace car, he said.

“The mayor is very supportive of cycling in the city,” Slater said.

According to Joseph Hari, who represented the mayor’s office at the meeting, Villaraigosa will be in Brentwood Sept. 12 for a town hall meeting.

“It’s basically to have a conversation with the mayor, so he can see what people are thinking here on the West side,” Hari said