Jack Weiss

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Jack Weiss, is a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 5th district. Weiss was elected in 2001 and reelected in 2005. The 5th district includes parts of the Westside and the San Fernando Valley.

Previously, Weiss was an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he worked in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section. Prior to that, Weiss was an attorney with the Los Angeles law firm of Irell & Manella LLP.

He graduated with honors from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and received his law degree from UCLA, where he was editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review.

"Before returning to law school, he worked as a foreign policy adviser on Capitol Hill and as an arms control researcher in Washington, D.C. He is married and has two children.

Jack Weiss is active in numerous civic and professional organizations. He serves on the Southwest Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League. He is a founding member of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Westside Urban Forum, Heal the Bay, and Los Angeles County Young Democrats, and has served on many local bodies and bar committees." (Council District 5 Biography)

As Chair of the Council's Public Safety Committee, Jack Weiss has focused much of his legislative program on public safety. He is a major proponent of red light cameras, which automatically issue tickets to the registered owner of a vehicle crossing an intersection during a red light. He is also dedicated to improving the city's emergency preparedness. He wrote a Ten Point Plan to Protect Los Angeles and has visited Israel for an emergency preparedness conference. He worked with the Mayor to create the city's official Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Plan and was a major advocate for the Mayor's proposal to expand the police force by 1000 officers. Recently, he worked with Councilman Dennis Zine on a proposal to make housing more affordable for the city's police officers. He also wrote a motion to require individuals who lose a gun to report that loss to the police. He continues to introduce motions regarding police and fire services, homeland security and emergency preparedness, domestic violence, gun control, and other related issues.

Jack Weiss has also been a leader on several other issues. He has worked to clean up the Santa Monica Bay and has been a consistent yes vote on pro environmental causes. He also led the effort to require all billboards to be registered to crack down on illegal billboards which blight neighborhoods. He passed a Neighborhood Protection Package to make developers friendly neighbors and keep neighborhoods in tact. Like other councilmembers, he and his staff focus a great deal of their time on planning issues in the district and responding to constituent requests.

Jack Weiss is a major advocate for the State of Israel. He has demonstrated this by visiting Israel several times throughout his term, speaking at Los Angeles' major pro Israel rally which attracted thousands during the summmer of 2006, writing opinion pieces for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, and appearing on the annual Chabad Telethon, among other causes.

He recently announced that he would run for Los Angeles City Attorney in 2007 if current City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo was successful in his bid for California Attorney General. Since he was not, Weiss has announced he will run for the office in 2009, when both he and Delgadillo will be termed out. It has been suggested by many that Weiss requested the chairmanship of the Public Safety Committee so that he could develop a strong public safety record to run with in his future campaign for City Attorney.

Recently, Jack Weiss has been targeted by a recall measure due to his failure to effectively curb traffic and overdevelopment within the 5th district. Also, many constituents feel that he is pursuing his ambition to become City Attorney at the expense of those who he is obliged to serve.