There was a spike in local crime last month, according to Senior Lead Officer Philip Enbody. Most crimes in Brentwood are thefts of items from parked cars. Enbody encouraged everyone to not leave any valuables in cars.
Ramps on and off the 405 will be closed and re-routed for the next several months as road construction continues.
Sol Leibster suggested a left-turn traffic light be made operational at the intersection of Montana and Barrington. Many cars heading northeast on Montana find it exceedingly hard to break through the gridlock on Barrington and have to wait excessively in order to turn left, or north, on Barrington.
Some cars, according to Tom Kalette, cross over Barrington (easier to do, since they’re not backed up in the left turn lane), and then, mid-block, make a U-turn in order to then 
turn right, or north, onto Barrington. The situation is messy – and dangerous – he said. He agreed, an operational left-turn light (from Montana onto Barrington) would be a big plus. The light was recently installed, but is not yet working.
A representative from the new California State Veterans retirement home on the VA campus said 30 out of 396 rooms were now occupied. Several in the audience questioned what was taking so long, but Jeanne Bonfilio of the VA said this rate of intake was considered acceptable, given current staffing limitations.
Hotel Angeleno has voluntarily agreed to “tone down†the use of outside lights to light up its cylinder-shaped structure. Some in the neighborhood had complained of difficulty sleeping, given the brightness of the lights.
Larry Watts described an upcoming p
rocess of redistricting that will take place in coming months, the result of shifting population trends across the U.S. as determined by the recent census. Some states will gain representatives in Congress, some will lose seats, others will remain the same.
At the same time, said Watts, there is an effort underway to take some of the “gerrymandering†out of officeholders’ district boundaries. Some minor changes are expected on the Westside.
Flora Krisiloff offered a sobering report on efforts to reach out to, and treat, hard-core homeless in Los Angeles. She spearheads this effort for LA Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. “Project 50†is underway and showing promise, she said. Project 50 is an attempt to rehabilitate the 50 most difficult cases on Skid Row, Downtown.
A new Project 60 will attempt to reach out to homeless veterans in the area. Project 60 will employ a “housing first†philosophy, which means getting the homeless under a roof, stabilizing their situation, then providing treatment.
Some in Brentwood oppose a “housing first†philosophy, saying individuals should be clean and sober, and in treatment, before they are offered housing.
Three buildings on the VA campus have been identified to be rehabilitated and made ready for homeless veterans, continued Krisiloff. Approximately 300 individuals could be sheltered in these three buildings at any one time.
The idea is not to provide permanent shelter, but rather to get them into treatment with a goal of assisting these individuals to become self-sufficient again. Upon graduation from the program, they would find more permanent housing elsewhere.
Rosendahl is Back
Bill Rosendahl had to slow down his blistering pace for a while after undergoing some minor heart surgery. He was back in the saddle at the last BCC meeting, where he presented outgoing BCC Chair Ray Klein with a certificate of appreciation – and a half dozen eggs laid by Rosendahl’s chickens.
