USG debates street safety, LA housing
The senate tabled a resolution to support a South Central housing project.
By NICHOLAS CORRAL
At their Tuesday night meeting, the Undergraduate Student Government senate passed a resolution in support of safer streets and Measure HLA, which is on the March 5 ballot.
Measure HLA, also known as Healthy Streets LA, gives Los Angeles residents the ability to sue the city if it fails to implement road safety recommendations from its 2015 Mobility Plan when repaving streets. These recommendations can include bus lanes, bike lanes and wider sidewalks.
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In introducing the resolution, chief of staff David Martinez pointed to high levels of pedestrian deaths on Vermont Avenue and the Mobility Plan’s recommendation for Jefferson Avenue to have a bike lane.
“On Vermont Avenue in 2022, there were more pedestrian deaths than in the state of Vermont,” Martinez said. “This is a really big deal.”
The senate debated tabling the resolution due to concerns that the bill lacked a specific demand for USC, but amended the resolution to urge the University to sue the city if L.A. does not implement elements of the Mobility Plan around the University Park Campus.
“There isn’t a call to action in this resolution and there are going to be important resolutions coming down the line, and I want to make sure that we’re not diluting the power of that resolution,” said senator Brandon Tavakoli.
Martinez said the resolution would allow him to work with student governments at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA, which passed similar resolutions.
The senate also voted to table Senate Resolution 143-25, a resolution to oppose the University’s appeal of a mixed-use apartment building at 3851 South Grand Ave.
The project, which includes 11 housing apartments and one reduced rent unit, received approval on Dec. 11. On Dec. 26, the University, which owns an electronic billboard which would be obstructed by the construction, appealed the decision on the basis of insufficient environmental analysis.
The bill evoked pushback from senators and audience members. Senator Christian Shaw said USG should act to support the University, which could gain significant revenue amid the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Our role as the USC student government should be looking at the best benefit of the school,” Shaw said. “I think this could be a huge loss to the school’s revenue because this is a huge billboard that is digital that could be bringing a lot of revenue to the school.”
Chief of staff David Martinez presented a road safety resolution, and said he will work with student governments from other universities. (Britney Zhou / Daily Trojan)
Audience members also spoke in opposition to what they perceived as the gentrifying potential of the development. In tabling the resolution, the senate agreed to solicit input from the South Central community.
“There needs to be more engagement with the South Central community before we go ahead and approve or decide not to approve this resolution, and I think that would be really great for all the senators,” said speaker of the senate Rudra Saigal.
The senate also approved the nomination of Shaleez Razavi as assistant director of media and heard reports from president Divya Jakatdar, chief communications officer Mustafa Ali Khan and Shaw.
In his presentation, Shaw discussed obstacles in his efforts to get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits accepted at Seeds Marketplace.
“Seeds doesn’t carry enough items that are considered staple food items. Staple food items are ingredients such as bread or turkey — stuff that you can build groceries with. You have to have a minimum of 36 staple food items,” Shaw said. “Seeds carries … about 20.”
Jakatdar said USG was looking for local artists for a community art display at USC Village. She also announced that the RestSC location at the Library for International and Public Affairs had opened and restated the launch of the medical supply vending machine at USC Village.
At the end of the meeting, vice president Michelle Lu said within the first eight days of the vending machine installations they had been used 120 times. Lu also corrected a statement she made last week, clarifying that there are no current measures to prevent students from buying excess amounts of emergency contraceptives.
