No Quick Fixes Seen for City Council Chambers' Design Problems

Ongoing acoustic and lighting problems with the new City Council chambers will likely not get fixed until March, at the earliest, according to city officials.

The problems with the room have been evident since the beginning of October, when the council started meeting in the new chambers on the ground floor of the library building. Meeting attendees complained of , as well as an obstructed view of the council members at the dais.

The city is aware of the problems, said Director of Human Services Sam Baxter, but no solutions have yet been found. 

“The design team has been out. The architects [from Johnson Favaro, who designed the building] have been out. They’re in the process of developing recommendations for us to consider on ways to mitigate the problems,” Baxter said. “We want to get it done as soon as we can also, although it may not seem like that to everyone.”

Baxter said it would likely be two to three more months before those problems are fixed. While that may seem like a long time compared to how a private business would handle the problem, Baxter said that is the way government operates.

“Whatever we do, we want to make sure it’s the fix,” Baxter said, explaining that a committee made up of city staff, design team members and construction managers will have to consider the options the architects suggest, then price the material and labor costs before doing any installation.

Lobby noise

The major cause of the acoustic problems is noise from the lobby area that spills into the council chamber whenever the sliding glass doors to the room open. That noise drowns out what is being said by council members and speakers.

“I feel like I’m in a New York subway,” resident Jimmy Palmieri told Patch. “I have to sit in the front row to be able to hear, and then sometimes I still have to read the closed captioning on the TV screen.”

Baxter sympathizes. “I’m there at the council meetings sitting next to the sliding doors, and I cringe every time they open, thinking there’s going to be a blast of sound coming in,” Baxter said.

After the first council meeting, the city reduced the sensitivity of the automatic door sensor and added stanching in front of the doors—both of which helped reduce the number of times the doors opened. But when they are open, the noise still flows into the chamber.  

At one recent council meeting, a sheriff’s deputy threatened to clear the lobby if people did not quiet down. While the crowd did quiet down, at least momentarily, one resident pointed out that they were using the lobby in the way a lobby is intended to be used.

Economic Development Manager Jeff Huffer, who oversaw construction of the library building, told Patch the larger problem is that the lobby area is all hard surfaces that reflect the sound rather than absorb it.

Some of the recommendations the architecture team may make include adding carpeting to the lobby, installing sound buffers in the ceiling or higher up on the walls, replacing the glass doors with wood doors or adding a second set of doors into the chamber. However, Huffer said he does not want to commit to any of those solutions until he sees what the architects recommend.

“We want to keep the integrity of the lobby vestibule as much as possible,” Huffer said. “We’ll have to wait to see what recommendations the architects offer.”

Room acoustics

Even when the lobby doors are closed, there is an echo in the room, making it sometimes difficult to hear the person speaking, especially when the audience is clapping.

Often times speakers are not heard clearly. The microphones in the new chambers do not seem to pick up the voices as clearly as the microphones did in West Hollywood Park Auditorium, where the council previously met.

Huffer thinks that problem may be coming from the fact that the room was designed to have the dual function of serving both as the council chambers and as a performing arts and lecture space. He thinks the architects’ recommendations should also address that issue.

When the LA Opera performed in the chamber in mid-December, Huffer said the acoustics were perfect.

“I’m pleased with how the room performed in its other design function other than the formal public meeting space,” Huffer said. “I think it’s going to be a great benefit to the community.”

Lighting issues

Poor lighting has also been a problem since the room was first used. At the there was no spotlight over the public comment podium, leaving viewers watching on TV unable to see who was speaking. At the same time, lighting over the audience area was dim.

By November, a spotlight was installed over the speaker podium and the lights were turned up over the audience area, but some people want the lights even brighter.

“It’s still too dark. I want to be able to see to read the agenda,” Palmieri said. “Why can’t they turn the lights on bright?”

That problem also seems to come from the dual function of the room. “What we learned was that a set of lights is necessary for broadcast and one for theatrical,” Huffer said. “We’re working with the design team and our other AV consultants to figure out what that is and what solution for it is.”

As they await the architect’s recommendations, some of the existing equipment is malfunctioning. At the , the spotlight over Councilman John D’Amico and City Manager Paul Arevalo was not working, leaving both sitting in a darkened area throughout the meeting.

Moving back to the auditorium?

While lighting and acoustic problems should eventually be fixed, other problems inherent with the room may not be fixable.

Many residents complain of the inability to move around the room easily. They are calling the new chambers claustrophobic due to its small size. They also dislike the fact that food and drinks are not allowed in the room and say the seats are uncomfortable for sitting more than a few minutes.

In a recent Weho News column, former City Councilman Steve Martin called the room “very user unfriendly.” He also pointed out that the room can only hold half the number of people that West Hollywood Park Auditorium can hold.

“The message is clear: we don’t want to encourage the public to attend public meetings,” Martin said in his commentary.

Consequently, there is a movement afoot to get the council meetings moved back to the auditorium. However, the West Hollywood Park Master Plan calls for the eventual demolition of the auditorium.

Resident Allegra Allison says she never appreciated the auditorium until the council moved into the new chambers.

“I always thought that I’d be happy to see the auditorium demolished. It held some years of bad memories, but in comparison, it’s exactly where public meetings should be held,” Allison told Patch. “It’s not a flashy designer room. It’s comfortable, big and bright.”

Baxter says it always takes time to adjust to a new facility. But as far as moving back to the auditorium, that ultimately would be the City Council’s decision.

Allison hopes the council will vote to move its meetings back to the auditorium.

“I hope we can rethink the demo of the auditorium,” Allison said. “If it works, why destroy it? Sometimes progress is realizing that what you’ve got already works.”

Stay up to date on West Hollywood news and events, by following @WehoPatch and “like” on Facebook.