Jill Olofson, Westwood resident (Zoe Ward)

Name: Jill Olofson 

Neighborhood: Westwood 

Job: Lawyer

Age: 48

What are the top issues facing Los Angeles, and why?

Education is a major one. Public school is an important part of any vibrant city. My kids initially attended a wonderful public elementary school, but we switched to private near the time of junior high because the public junior high school was so underfunded and underrepresented by people who live in our area. Many families who are of significant means cannot afford private schools, so we need to make public schools better -- especially at the junior high and high school levels.Transportation is another big issue in Los Angeles. LA is such a spread-out metropolis without a well-planned transportation structure. We need to re-think allocating resources for repairs and upgrades.  

Homelessness:  Like any big city, LA has an increasing number of homeless. Not only for humanitarian reasons, but for the safety of all, we need to address this issue very thoughtfully.

What could Mayor Garcetti do to address your top priorities?

The mayor needs to increase funding for homework workshops, tutoring, afterschool activities, things like that. Many of the lower or middle performing kids need assistance with test prep and homework, which they cannot get at home. They need a place to provide this for them. This will increase scores and then more higher performing kids will start attending. Also, resources are needed for teachers of higher end classes, like AP and Honors classes, in high schools.

In terms of the transportation issues, Garcetti needs to allocate resources to fix the streets up, many are in such bad condition. The lane widening project on 405 is good example of good use of funds. He also needs to really think through light rail systems -- make sure that they are being used and that extensions of lines to LAX and Santa Monica make sense for LA.

Did you vote in the May election? Who did you support?

I did vote for Eric Garcetti. I felt that he had the experience over Wendy Gruel to deal with City Council and issues facing Westside, where I live.

So transportation sounds like a huge area of concern for you. Tell me a little more.

For any large commuting city like Los Angeles, there is going to be traffic, but I think there are ways to minimize the time people sit in their cars, especially during rush hour. Maybe the mayor needs to work on timing traffic lights better or have a study of timing on Sunset Blvd and Wilshire Blvd, which are so heavily congested that it can take 1 hour to move 10 miles at rush hour. And improving the public transportation would also take some stress of the roads. It's hard when I need to be able to get around my part of town and the commuting traffic is so bad that it takes so much longer than it should to get places. 

Reach Guest Contributor Zoe Ward here.