Westwood : Council Candidate Announces

Ryan Snyder, leader of the drive for an elevated “bicycle freeway” through Westwood and parts of West Los Angeles, has announced his candidacy for the 5th City Council District seat. Incumbent Zev Yaroslavsky is expected to run for mayor in 1989.

Snyder, 32, a planning consultant, said his campaign will stress the importance of community involvement in the planning process and the need for a more efficient transportation system in the city.

Since 1979, Snyder and a group of local politicians, residents and UCLA professors have been promoting the idea for a two-mile elevated bike path, called the West L. A. Veloway, that would connect UCLA with West Los Angeles. A county-funded environmental impact report on the project, whose cost is estimated at $7 million to $10 million, is nearing completion, and Snyder said construction could begin in the next three years.

The only other announced candidate for Yaroslavsky’s seat is Laura M. Lake, president of Friends of Westwood.