Meet the Neighborhood Council Candidates: Marcello Robinson

Editor’s note: This is one of several articles in a series of profiles on Westwood Neighborhood Council candidates. Profiles will be published in the days leading up to the Oct. 28 election. Click here for more Patch election coverage.

Westwood Neighborhood Council candidate Marcello Robinson is running for a Business Group seat on the 19-seat board.

Westwood-Century City Patch: What issues have you prioritized during your time on the Westwood Neighborhood Council, and what will you focus on if re-elected?

Marcello Robinson: Recently, I was elected to fill a vacant board seat on the Westwood Neighborhood Council after actively serving my constituents on the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council. During my tenure there, I prioritized several key issues—housing, social and human services, homelessness, and charitable and religious organizations. Through these issues, I focused on providing resources for our working class and low-income stakeholders, most notably through implementing a very successful health as well as job fair.

Patch: Are you involved with any local organizations? Which one(s)?

Robinson: I am actively involved in a number of local organizations, including, but not limited to, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates (as co-chair), the UCLA Alumni Association, the New Leaders Council (as a fellow), and Democracy for America.

Patch: What local issue is most important to you and what’s your position on it?

Robinson: There are several local issues that are of great importance to me. First, traffic in Westwood is and has been an ongoing issue. We can mitigate the impact of traffic in Westwood by holding our city councilmen and city hall more accountable for the delays. In addition, we can minimize traffic in Westwood by adding left turn signals in certain key areas, create better synchronization of traffic lights, and by providing traffic officers during major events in the Westwood community.

Second, I firmly believe that we can build better relationships amongst the Westwood stakeholders, including, for example, the relationships between homeowners and renters, our relationship with the Veterans Administration, and working relationships between UCLA and local businesses. Along these lines, I would also like to work toward creating more opportunities for the UCLA community to interact with local businesses and homeowners.

Finally, as a council, we should take steps to address the homelessness situation in Westwood that has only become worse over the years.

Patch: List one or two things you accomplished or contributed to in your last term on the Westwood Neighborhood Council. Is there anything other issue you would have approached differently?

Robinson: As a council member for the Hollywood West Neighborhood Council, I successfully organized the community’s first ever job fair in the neighborhood council’s ten-year existence. In addition, I also organized the neighborhood’s first community health fair that successfully provided free health screenings for low-income and uninsured families in the Hollywood area.

Finally, I was instrumental in championing and obtaining several grants for nonprofit organizations that catered to the Hollywood community. When approaching similar issues facing Westwood, I will act with the dedication and passion that helped me organize and implement two very successful local community initiatives—the job and health fair.

Patch: What's one thing most constituents don't know about you?

Robinson: I am extremely proactive—not only do I follow through with my agenda but I also make sure to follow up with implementation. Partly due to the fact that I was very active council member, my fellow city-wide neighborhood council members elected me to represent the entire neighborhood council system as co-chair of Council Budget Advocates.

On the Council Budget Advocates, I worked diligently with City Hall every week for two years in order to ensure that the necessary funding and resources were provided to our communities. I can also confidently say that I have volunteered more hours for the neighborhood council system than any other candidate running for office. I am ready to dedicate the same passion and commitment to Westwood’s constituents because I take immense pride in working on behalf of my neighbors and our community.

Click here to read more candidate profiles.

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