The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s land use committee (also known as Urban Design & Preservation) is failing because it doesn’t represent the neighborhood it serves.

Silver Lake is 64% renters and 61% people of color.(LA Neighborhood Demographic Explorer) Yet the Silver Lake Urban Design and Preservation Committee — the name gives you a sense of the committee’s priorities — is composed of almost entirely white property owners, myself included

Committee members seem unwilling or incapable of addressing this disconnect. They have threatened lawsuits and used procedural maneuvers to repeatedly silence conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

When asked to reflect on its lack of diversity, member Scott Plante said, “I've encouraged people I know and work with, minorities, women, whatever, to join the Committee. But they are just not interested in 1—the material or 2—spending the time to listen to it every month.”

A Neighborhood Council land use committee’s job is to review construction projects and land use matters and then advise the Council on whether to support or oppose each project; NCs then write recommendation letters to City Planning.

Representation matters, and the Committee’s lack of representation is perpetuating substantive problems for the people most affected by land use decisions.

Last month at the Committee’s regular public meeting, several Silver Lake stakeholders questioned a developer about a pending project and advocated for increasing the number of affordable housing units—a vital issue for the neighborhood and City in the midst of a housing crisis.

In response to stakeholders' advocacy for affordable housing, committee member Anne-Marie Johnson said, “This is not the committee to have that discussion…talking about it here is a waste of time.”

This attitude is nonsensical and harmful. A Neighborhood Council’s land use committee, where developers come to dialogue with the community and seek approval from a Neighborhood Council, is *precisely* the place to advocate for affordable housing.

We shouldn’t be surprised that such an insular group repeatedly misses the bigger picture.

It is insular in part because of its restrictive membership requirement: a potential Committee member must attend three months of evening meetings in a four month period before becoming eligible.

The restrictive membership requirements make it very difficult for people in the service industry, people with young families, or people who go to school or work at night to become members. (This rule is unique to Silver Lake among area NCs.)

In effect, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council's restrictive land use committee membership rules disenfranchise stakeholders who are impacted by developments that the Committee reviews.

Ms. Johnson’s “not here, not now, not this committee” rhetoric proves the point: the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council desperately needs to reform the Urban Design and Preservation Committee’s membership rules.

If we’re ever going to solve our housing crisis, people impacted by displacement, development, and lack of affordable housing need a vote at every level of local and City government.

The next meeting is tomorrow at 6:30PM. Join us? https://silverlakenc.org/documents-for-4-14-21-udp-committee-meeting/