LA City Controller Speaks at Brentwood Community Council Meeting

City Controller Wendy Gruel spoke for about 30 minutes to the Brentwood Community Council and attendants about her job as controller and about the city's budget crisis.

The meeting also covered a variety of business, including rules for board member dues, requests for help from the Pacific Palisades Community Council and the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils and a government update from councilmember Bill Rosendahl's office.

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Gruel, speaking about the process of auditing various city departments and helping them run better on less money.

Pointing to the audit scorecard posted on her website, Gruel said that while there's little she can do to get departments to implement her office's recommendations, she can use publicity.

"I use that bully pulpit to make changes," she said. "It's important to look at how the city operates."

Gruel is currently a candidate in the 2013 mayoral campaign.

Following Gruel's talk, the council board discussed the new dues being charged for members to sit on the board. Out of the 25 seats on the council board, 13 are reserved for representatives from the various homeowners associations in Brentwood, and the new dues rules will allow the board to bill the associations directly for their representatives at $200 per year (for the representative and an alternate).

Council representative John Givens questioned why individuals needed to pay when they are being asked to serve. Other members were concerned that the homeowners associations might not like the new dues.

"They've all told me that they talked with their boards and they're okay with it," Council chair Nancy Freedman said.

The new dues passed.

Joaquin Macias, field deputy for Rosendahl, reported that security cameras had been installed at Barrington Parks basketball courts to discourage after-hours games there. He also reported that the Urban Forestry Department is working on a solution to balance the over-watering of the Brentwood Coral Trees against the need to keep the grass green in the medians where the trees are located.

Amy Kalp, of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, requested help from the council board to abate the problem with motorcycle speeding in the Palisades—a problem that also affects Brentwood.

"Is there a point person from Brentwood to work with us?" Kalp asked, mentioning that the Pali council was developing a plan to deal with the problem that they could not talk about in public yet.

Finally, Freedman introduced a motion from the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils to support a request from the Venice Neighborhood Council that the county file an Environmental Impact Report regarding a series of developments in Marina Del Rey. After questioning whether the county could avoid filing the EIR in the first place, board members agreed not to vote on the motion until more specific language was available.

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