The upcoming meeting has four primary agenda items: WOW, Street Sweeping, Emery Park playground rehabilitation, and Board, Commission, and Committee Reorganization. The first three items may lead to significant discussions that extend the meeting duration.

Item 8: Walk on Wilshire. The agenda packet presents various creative possibilities; however, the recommendation is to take no action, leading to dismantling the current WOW in February. This decision reflects ongoing challenges in the council’s efforts to innovate public spaces encouraging walking, cycling, outdoor dining, and social interactions.

Item 9: Street Sweeping. The council has already approved a change to the street sweeping schedule to alternate sides, which is anticipated to save approximately $175,000 annually and reduce parking inconveniences for residents. However, the transition involves costs for new signage, estimated at $375,000 for production and at least $160,000 for installation, potentially extending over 40 months without parking enforcement. These costs may influence council members’ opinions regarding the changes.

Item 10: Emery Playground reconstruction is proposed for $466,000. It is unclear why this item is not on the consent agenda, except for an option to revise and re-open the bidding process.

Item 11: Board, Commission, and Committee Reorganization. After being discussed in the previous meeting, this item is presented for final approval. The proposal aims to change the size and frequency of meetings for five committees, with justifications including efficiency, effectiveness, reduction of staff workload, and consistency. The specifics of the staff requests prompting these changes are not fully detailed, although there was consultation with the newly elected Mayor. The public response included 22 speakers: 17 opposed the changes, three supported them, and the views of two speakers were unclear. A significant portion of the public, including some council members, expressed a need for more frequent meetings of the Active Transportation Committee instead of the proposed quarterly meetings.

Despite the public input, the council proceeded with the proposed changes without further discussion. Concerns were raised about the implications for transparency and community engagement and the potential reduction in staff workload. The meeting frequency for the Transportation and Circular Committee remained unchanged, while the Active Transportation Committee’s frequency saw a reduction. The lack of changes to the Planning Commission and deferral of Parks and Recreation actions were also noted.

Overall, these decisions may convey to staff that there is limited council support for certain committees, particularly the Active Transportation Committee, which faced several canceled meetings last year. In a related moment, Councilmember Valencia proposed limiting public comments to two minutes instead of three, a motion that ultimately failed but indicated a direction toward limiting public input. Further details will be provided in the link.