Around the Halls: July 28 - 31

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It’s Monday, July 28th, and most of the Downtown-related items on this first part of the week’s Council agenda are ones that we’ve mentioned before in committee. It’s a lesson in how City Hall works: once an item gets to Council, it’s basically already over. Committees are where the real action is at.

MONDAY: Budget & Finance committee’s Item 4 pertains to the transfer of interest in the old state building footprint. We mentioned this as it headed to IT & General Services back on July 1st. It goes to Council on Tuesday.

TUESDAY: Council’s in session. Item 17 brings the triathlon contract, at Budget & Finance last Monday, to Council. Item 25 is the Historical Cultural Monument application for 217 E. 8th, at Planning & Land Use this past Tuesday.

Item 32 brings the old state building site to Council. There’s a lot of wording involved in the motion, but basically it states that nothing’s come up that would require changes to the Grand Avenue Project Environmental Impact Report (attached to the Council File Index as a 3,182 page, 138MB PDF). It then approves the de-complication of interests in the old state building site and the parking lot adjacent to it.

Tuesday’s real fireworks are in the afternoon. The Housing Element of the City’s General Plan comes to a joint meeting of Planning & Land Use and the Housing, Community and Economic Development committee. There are several elements in this plan revision that would impact Downtown. Look for a full story by Tuesday morning.

WEDNESDAY: Council’s back, and Item 4 (CF 08-0589) involves the Convention Center Fee Waiver policy. The current rules would be extended, with some slightly stricter modifications.

Item 8 (CF 08-1556) authorizes CRA to grant the Downtown Women’s Center a $3.45 million loan, to help the service provider move to its new home at 434 S. San Pedro.