BCC Chair Nancy Freedman: 'We Do Good Things'

Nancy Freedman was elected the chair of the board of directors of the Brentwood Community Council in February, succeeding , who had described the position as a full-time job.

Here's how the BCC describes itself:

The Brentwood Community Council is the broadest based Brentwood community organization, representing approximately 50,000 stakeholders of the 90049 community, including homeowner associations, multi-family residential dwellers, business organizations, schools, religious groups, volunteer service groups, public safety, and environmental organizations.

We caught up with the busy blond grandmother poolside at her contemporary north-of-Sunset ranch home Tuesday afternoon. Freedman had just returned from a luncheon with the Brentwood Rotary Club. Here's what she had to say:

Brentwood Patch: What is the purpose of the BCC?

Nancy Freedman: The purpose is to be a forum for the community to talk about issues that are pertinent to the community, in a variety of ways.  It might be a neighborhood issue, it might be a business issue, it might be a traffic issue. Anything that people would like to hear about should be brought to the community council, because we represent all sorts of walks of life in the community.

Typically, the issues we discuss are land-use issues because there is always something going up or something being torn down, so that constitutes a lot of our interaction with the government at all levels and then we have traffic problems…And we do good things: We give awards to students who have done great community service. We recognize the different homeowners groups in our area and if they have a problem we should work on, we address that. And business that want to come to our area, we try to help them to formulate the way their business will be successful.

Patch: Unlike other community councils, the BCC and the Palisades council are not officially recognized "neighborhood" councils. Is that because of the Brown Act and the right to sue, like Councilman Bill Rosendahl said at the last meeting? [See video.]

Freedman: The Brown Act, yes. Actually, when the council was formed years ago, it was to sue the city. I can't say we're doing that now, we've evolved into other things. But there's if you are a [recognized] neighborhood council that I think we are comfortable in our position. I think we have very bright people that are a part of our group and I think we can work through our problems and be successful as a community council without the city's money.

Patch: The council doesn't just represent homeowners and business owners —you have at-large renter representatives too. How do you find them?

Freedman: There's a representation committee that receives applications for a variety of committees and it's posted in the newspaper and online and people can apply to take those positions. Sometimes they're interviewed over the phone or sometimes in person and then the group gets together and chooses various people to represent them.

Patch: Have you made any progress in resolving the speeding, traffic and safety issues on Sunset Boulevard? It's a little more than a year after the  running for a school bus.

Freedman: We're in the process of making progress, and we're finding out more things too that go beyond that. For instance, the motorcyclists who speed down Sunset from here to the Palisades between 9 and 12 at night and weekends. There are a lot of problems with Sunset and they don't necessarily match the school bus issue with the speeding and so forth. It's a dangerous thoroughfare and it's a scenic highway—it sort of contradicts itself. We want to get it in order so that it can become a place we can all appreciate, and cross the street and feel safe.

Patch: We know the city has cut funds for lots of things, including, of course, the . Why have you made coral trees an issue? [See video.]

Freedman: The coral trees have become the defining feature of Brentwood and everybody enjoys their existence from here to the ocean. Santa Monica has a budget and they trim theirs beautifully. Now we once again have to step up and try to raise money to have our trees trimmed properly; not so much for their beauty—they're beautiful regardless—but because of  the danger. People jog on the median, and branches are fragile and break off, as many people have seen throughout the years. It's a danger—cars can get hit. We just want to make it safe.

Patch: You said you were going to be a volunteer for the L.A. Marathon. Did you hand out water?

Freedman: I went down to make sure all the streets were marked properly [for ] I had worked with this gal who put everything together and I went down to make sure everything had gone off as scheduled. But, no, I didn't hand out water. [Laughs.]

There was enough water there already.

§§§