Michael Feuer

Los Angeles City Council

Age: 39

Specialty: Negotiating compromise solutions to development-related disputes

Recent Deal: Leading the efforts to reach a plan for a commercial project to be built in Westwood Village that would satisfy both the developer and area residents.

Finding creative solutions to real estate dilemmas has been Feuer’s strong suit. But not everyone sees it that way some critics call his style of compromise an unwillingness to take a stand.

He openly talks about what he thinks is his own downfall impatience. “I am the kind of guy who likes things done like, yesterday,” Feuer said.

His real estate philosophy is simple revitalize commercial areas so as to improve the quality of life in those areas.

In Westwood, rather than make an immediate decision himself, he appointed a working group to study the proposed retail/entertainment complex. Supporters were disappointed that he wasn’t more strongly supportive once the project had been scaled back to placate nearby residents.

He is now pressing the developer to include a public library. The scaled-down version of Village Center Westwood could break ground next year.

A Harvard-educated lawyer, Feuer served as president of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, a Jewish legal aid group, before his election to the City Council in 1993. He has a reputation as a stickler for ethics, and some council members have taken to calling him “St. Michael” and they don’t mean it as a compliment.

Even so, Feuer represents the same politically active Westside-Valley district that hatched County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s career. The district serves as a powerful political base, and Feuer is considered a possible candidate for mayor when term limits force him off the council in 2001.

Julie Sable