Jacob Wasserman

White House Suggests Jailing the Homeless “The White House on Tuesday said homeless people in the nation’s capital could be subject to fines and jail time as the administration cracks down on crime,” The Hill reports. Said press secretary Kar...

This is no different than 41.18 in Los Angeles:

For Homeless Cyclists, Bikes Bring an Escape From the Streets People living in homelessness who rely on bikes are part of the ranks of “invisible cyclists” in US cities. A program in San Diego helps bring these riders out into the open.

In June I joined a San Diego cycling group w/a dozen homeless men & took a 20-mile ride to Ocean Beach. I learned how bikes can offer the unhoused not just mobility but a sense of freedom & companionship that’s often missing. My latest for @bloomberglp.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

For Homeless Cyclists, Bikes Bring an Escape From the Streets People living in homelessness who rely on bikes are part of the ranks of “invisible cyclists” in US cities. A program in San Diego helps bring these riders out into the open.

"Bikeshare passes are dirt cheap compared to giving people cars....But it requires getting over that stigma of thinking every unhoused person on a bike must have stolen it."

A smiling student wearing a “UCLA Bruins” shirt and large earrings stands outdoors, with text on the image reading “Learn more at its.ucla.edu/prospective-students.” The UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies logo appears at the bottom.

At UCLA ITS, students aren't just doing research — they are making an impact.

Learn more about studying transportation at UCLA here www.its.ucla.edu/pro...

85-year-old LA woman still waiting for sidewalk repairs eight years after notifying city An 85-year-old woman who lives in the Fairfax District says she's been waiting eight years for the city to fix the sidewalk in front of her home.

A fundamentally broken system where sidewalks get worse and we pay out more in liability claims than fixing them.

“In roughly the past five years, the city has paid out more than $86 million because of lawsuits relating to sidewalks.”

abc7.com/post/la-side...

In fairness. I'll admit that I don't love that it would apply to bodies as significant as LA City Council committees. But I'm still disappointed to see Common Cause opposing a bill that would broaden participation in government, rather than work to improve the bill.

I—and I'm sure many others—have declined to apply for roles on groups like LA Metro's Public Safety because in-person attendance conflicts with responsibilities like childcare. Remember that these bodies are solely advisory, so anything will get an in-person hearing after.

Virtual meetings often allow for greater participation. While hybrid meetings are great, many advisory bodies only have capacity for either all-virtual or all-in-person. The former is more accessible to a wider range of both public attendees and people wanting to serve on boards.

Designating a neighborhood as a mobility community could come with streamlined permitting for streetscape projects, including exemptions from CEQA, ministerial approval, and banning appeals.

Westwood is already one of the most transit-rich neighborhoods in Los Angeles, yet it is currently a mess of stroads and vacant retail fronts. With the subway opening before 2028, funding for bus lanes on Wilshire and Westwood, and UCLA next door, this community is the perfect showcase.

What could a car-lite #LosAngeles look like?

Our current approach isn't working. We invest in expensive transit projects, but fail to build the infrastructure around stations needed to create riders. What could a transit-first community look like?

I present to you, a Westwood for the future:

SMPD Stats Show Shocking Drop in Traffic Enforcement - Santa Monica Next Statistics released in an email from the City Manager show a shocking drop in the amount of traffic stops made by the Santa Monica Police Department over the last decade. In 2015, the department issue...

Less than 800 citations in 2021? What the heck were they doing?

santamonicanext.org/2025/08/smpd...

My neighborhood council is on pace to offer red cards to every single service business in Reseda. Every restaurant, every mechanic, every beauty store, every grocery store, every gas station. And we did this within a week.

This neighborhood council has distributed red cards to every storefront in Reseda. They say it's a model How one group of hyperlocal officials are responding to ongoing concern about immigration raids.

laist.com/news/politic...

Amazing work, @resedaforall.bsky.social!

Study transportation at the #1 urban planning program in the country.

Learn more about research and support opportunities the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies www.its.ucla.edu/pro...

The devil's in the details on Neighborhood Council reform. Giving NCs more power to obstruct, especially without changes to ensure NCs are more representative, would be a step backwards.

Thank you Professor Enrico Castillo of @uclahealth.org!:

"Dr.…Castillo…said [41.18's] dispersal tactics are 'ineffective and harmful.'

Castillo added that the NWWNC's statement was 'a brave stand' against measures across LA…shown to be unhelpful toward people experiencing homelessness."

2 People Got Permanent Housing After LA Spent Over $3M Clearing Encampments Under 41.18 Law, New Report Finds The report finds 39% of people at encampments returned after officials ordered them to leave.

"Wasserman also pointed to a 2024 study that shows 41.18 dispersal tactics had led to only two people being permanently housed out of the 1,856 who had been displaced."

LA City Council adopts anticamping resolution despite NWWNC pushback - Daily Bruin The Los Angeles City Council adopted an anticamping resolution in May that seeks to limit homelessness in Westwood, despite pushback from the North Westwood Neighborhood Council.

Proud that the North Westwood Neighborhood Council stands against the ghastly 41.18 anti-homeless policy: dailybruin.com/2025/07/31/l...

"We don’t want them on the streets as much as anybody, but we would rather they'd be somewhere visible where they can get help."

Bittersweet: I've stepped down from the Board of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council. From getting a new bike lane & bus benches installed to opening Broxton Plaza to being one of the first NCs to hold hybrid meetings open both virtually and in person, I am so proud of what the Council has done.

Using a mixed-methods approach, Casey Chung examined the restorative justice principles of three projects meant to redress harms caused by freeway expansion projects. [2/4] 🛣️

We have a LIFE update!   | The Source Attention, LIFE participants! We’ve made some UX enhancements to our LIFE program, a fare discount program designed to help qualifying riders save on

Kudos to LA Metro for implementing this improvement that enhances the way free transit fares are provided to individuals in the LIFE program

Before, recipients had to go into the app and manually load their 20 free rides every month. Now, it's done automatically! thesource.metro.net/we-have-a-li...

UCLA Luskin Graduate Student Capstone Project Solicitation Form UCLA Luskin School Academic Departments and Research Centers invite organizations to submit ideas for graduate student capstone projects. All capstone projects are supervised by a UCLA faculty member. Please submit your 2025-26 project idea by Friday, July 18th, 2025 for the first distribution to students. Ideas submitted after Friday, August 22nd, 2025 will not reach students. The responses submitted through this form will be published for students to review. Students interested in your project will reach out directly to the contact information you provide. Academic Departments and Research Centers at UCLA Luskin will review the submissions and note project ideas that may be eligible for Center and/or Department in-kind and financial support, based on the project idea's alignment with the Center or Department's priorities and mission. A Research Center may or may not have a role in the outcomes of each project selected by students. You may reach out directly to contacts at UCLA Luskin Academic Departments or Research Centers for additional information.

The deadline to submit a proposal for a 2025-26 student capstone is THIS FRIDAY.

Don't miss the opportunity to receive graduate level analysis and recommendations for your organization.

Learn more and submit today docs.google.com/form...

Graphic announcement for capstone project submissions from Luskin School graduate students. Text reads: "CAPSTONE PROJECT SUBMISSIONS for Luskin School Grad Students. Professional-level analysis and recommendations to drive action at your organization. All capstones supervised by UCLA faculty member." At the bottom, a yellow bar reads, "Deadline to submit is Friday, July 18." A graphic of a laptop with a clock and cursor icon is shown on the right.

🔉Calling all nonprofit organizations, community groups, government agencies, planning and design firms:

You have ONE WEEK left to submit a proposal for a 2025-26 graduate student capstone.

Learn more and submit by July 18: docs.google.com/form...

Just Now: Federal Judge Hernán D. Vera has granted a temporary restraining order on LAPD which, among other things, prevents LAPD from using “less lethal” weapons against journalists who are “not posing a threat of imminent harm.”

Contributor: How could ranked-choice voting reshape California politics? The system shook up the recent New York City mayoral primary. But it wouldn't work the same way in most of our state.

Contributor: How could ranked-choice voting reshape California politics?