Representatives from West LA College and the City of Culver City agreed they share more than just a boundary at their first joint Liaison Committee meeting Wednesday, November 2, 2016.
“Obviously there are a number of issues we need to move on, like transportation services,” said City Council member and chair of the new committee Gören Eriksson.
“We have signed the Culver City Compact and need programs to get started,” agreed fellow councilor Thomas Small. “There are lots of things to talk about.”
The group found common ground on the initial agenda that included goals, economic development cooperation, facilities use, the 10100 Jefferson Project and My Brother’s Keeper. WLA College is in the city of Los Angeles, but shares projects, utilities and concerns with Culver City.
“The Jefferson project is a major piece of land” said City Manager John Nachbar. It is visible driving up Jefferson as the site of the electronic marquee leading up to the campus proper; there was a pumpkin patch was located there last month. Developers submitted proposals a year ago, but nothing has been heard since. “Its use is outside the parameters of the campus,” said Iris Ingram, vice president of Administrative Services. “It’s been a very closed process. The proposals went to the Board of Trustees, and we may hear something in December.”
Another issue is the communications system. Ingram said the whole telephone system at the college went down a year ago. “There was an explosion somewhere on campus and we had no redundancy backup system, so we were cut off.” The current and future interconnection between the two users will be a topic of discussion.
My Brother’s Keeper, a program created two years ago by the Obama White House as a response to the common violence against young men of color is operating well, said Mark Pracher, VP of Workforce Education at WLA College. There are existing after school programs between the college and Culver City High School, including science, robotics and technology, he said. “We have a fair number of students participating. We are very interested in this…and happy to contribute.”
Eriksson said the committee would be made aware of the programs for discussion.
All present agreed on the need for a committee to smooth projects and maintain relations between the neighbors. The next meeting will be scheduled in December where the topic will be economic development.
“My staff is very entrepreneurial,” LAC College President James Limbaugh said. “They are very interested in this.”
T.S.Owen
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