New in The Planning Report

The February issue of TPR talks to Corbin Smith, project manager of the Getty Villa transformation, and also with Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller and Playa Vista president Steve Soboroff. Miller talks about working with the City Council, this year's priorities and the upcoming review of the neighborhood council experiment by a City Hall commission:

TPR: Do you find a tension between doing your duty for the Council and meeting the needs of neighborhood councils as presently structured?

Miller: I have not found what you would refer to as a “tension.” I would say that how neighborhood councils function and the issues they address and how they relate to the Council office in which they’re located, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, and the mayor’s office really varies substantially across the city. I think that’s one of the things that this commission would be looking at – what has worked, and what hasn’t; how things are functioning in various areas; what could be done globally to help them function better, help the information flow, and to gauge better what the various communities are concerned with.

There's also an interview with Westside developer Ken Kahan, president of California Landmark.