2022 City Council campaign is officially off to the races

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West Hollywood’s future will be shaped by what happens a year from now when three out of five City Council positions go before the voters.

Mayor Lauren Meister and Councilmembers Lindsey Horvath and John D’Amico are the incumbents. Each can run one more time before they hit their term limit.

D’Amico has declared that he will not seek re-election, leaving one seat open to a wide field of potential candidates

Horvath is currently running for Sheila Kuehl’s retired position on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. If she secures a spot in the June runoff election, she won’t be able to run concurrently for her seat on WeHo City Council — leaving two open positions.

LAUREN MEISTER

Mayor Lauren Meister has already announced she intends to keep her seat and will run for re-election in her first citywide campaign.

MARQUITA THOMAS

So far, only one candidate has declared their candidacy. Planning Commissioner Marquita Thomas kicks off her campaign this weekend with a fundraiser at the home of Councilmember D’Amico. Thomas ran in the 2017 City Council race and finished in 6th place with 1080 votes. In her previous race her largest contributor was the largest developer in the city, Faring Capital, and the Iloulian family. During that 2017 race Thomas described her discomfort campaigning in WeHo in this June 20 column written by former WEHOville publisher Henry Scott, accusing residents in West Hollywood West of treating African American door knockers differently because they were black.

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ZEKIAH WRIGHT

Zekiah Wright has also declared that they will be running in the 2022 West Hollywood City Council election. Zekiah is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Advisory Board a John D’Amico appointee. WEHOville profiled Zekiah here.

JOHN HEILMAN

JOHN HEILMAN

Heilman 2022? WEHOville has had a draft article titled Heilman 2022 in our coffers for three months. People close to the former Council member John Heilman have said that the founding father of our city, having served from 1984-2020 is disappointed with the direction of the city. But John Heilman was also the largest supporter of both Horvath and Erickson who have steered the course since Heilman’s departure. Heilman has one more term available to him should he decide to run.

MANNY RODRIGUEZ

Manny Rodriguez, City Advocate and current Vice President of the West Hollywood West Resident Association has stated that he has been encouraged by several people to consider a run for city council. When asked to confirm or deny intent Rodriguez replied, “Although I appreciate the encouragement, at this time I have no intention to do so. “

JONATHAN WILSON

The first chairman of the brand new Social Justice Taskforce was rumored to be mulling a run. He told WEHOville he’ll be supporting Marquita Thomas in the upcoming election — but he confirmed he wants to run for City Council in the future.

steve martin
Steve Martin

STEVE MARTIN

Former City Councilmember Steve Martin has also been active. Martin who is in his 60s serve the on the West Hollywood City Council from 1994-2002. Martin has close ties to the Unite Here. Should Martin win a council seat UNITE Here would have a 3-person lock on local policy. Council members Sepi Shyne and John Erickson have also received the support from UNITE Here.

ANTHONY VULIN

Anthony Vulin, a Business License Commissioner and owner of the Collective has also considered throwing his hat into the ring. Vulin has served as the President of the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors.

ROBERT GAMBOA

Robert Gamboa, a member of the Gay and Lesbian Advisory Board and a John D’Amico appointee is also considering a run for City Council. Gamboa is currently a resident of the City of Los Angeles and would have to move to West Hollywood to qualify on the ballot. Gamboa has confirmed he is also considering a run in Los Angeles for the seat left open by Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Larry Block

LARRY BLOCK

Finally, yours truly. I have run for City Council in both 2015 and 2020. In the last City Council campaign I finished 4th. My campaign was mostly self financed with no campaign staff. In the next election it is very important to have somebody with business experience on the dais, and also somebody on the council who is all in for West Hollywood and not interested in higher office. My decision will be made by January 15th, 2022.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Zekiah Wright did not live in West Hollywood, and misidentified their pronouns.

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Graham
Graham
2 years ago

I’ll vote for any Republican that runs against the fascists BLM, ANTIFA, CRT, fake gender pronoun, racist identity crowd.

Sweetzer resident
Sweetzer resident
2 years ago

ANTHONY VULIN and MARQUITA THOMAS would have my votes. Level headed…moderates. Pro business and pro residents first.

Weho Resident
Weho Resident
2 years ago

Why? What has either of them done? You might be smarter to wait and see how the field rounds out unless ur a hack.

Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Prediction: Horvath does not secure a seat in the June run-off, she gets re-elected. Meister gets re-elected, with the most votes. Then either Thomas or Heilman will win the third seat (if he runs again). Love him, or hate him, Heilman still has a ton of political clout in this city.

Weho Resident
Weho Resident
2 years ago
Reply to  Randy

Your so off and it starts with your first line. You seem to want to be this know-it-all.

Randy
Randy
2 years ago
Reply to  Weho Resident

Making a gut prediction doesn’t make me a “know-it-all.” If that is the criteria for being a “know-it-all,” then you must label yourself as one, for saying “I’m so off.” I looked at past election results. Heilman would have easily taken the third seat, if there were more than two up for grabs. He also will have the support of Horvath, and perhaps, Erickson. Of course, this is almost a year away. My prediction might change, depending on who actually files for candidacy, and where the winds blow.

InTheKnow
InTheKnow
2 years ago

Y’all can say all you want about Erickson, but him stipulating that ex-city officials can’t stay in bed with current city officials was MUCH needed. MUCH.

Officials in bed with officials.
Officials in bed with officials.
2 years ago
Reply to  InTheKnow

Walking one’s talk can be a real challenge. Don’t believe everything you hear.

WehoFan
WehoFan
2 years ago

When can weho vote out Erickson?

JF1
JF1
2 years ago
Reply to  WehoFan

Not soon enough. (and hopefully Shyne goes with him)

:dpb
:dpb
2 years ago
Reply to  JF1

I second that!

js2021
js2021
2 years ago

Just a few factchecks here: Zekiah Wright is a current resident of West Hollywood. Zekiah has never been on TAB. Zekiah is former Co-Chair and current member of the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board for the City of West Hollywood (yes appointed by D’Amico. that much was correct).

WehoFan
WehoFan
2 years ago
Reply to  js2021

Thanks for the info Zekiah.

:dpb
:dpb
2 years ago

Block will get my vote for sure. I’m still stinging from Meister’s support for Unite Here and the minimum wage hike + the damn park still is not done – so I’m really iffy there. I will not consider anyone that is aligned with Unite Here or any other union seeking a foothold in West Hollywood. Nor anyone backed by or that has ties to developers. I will gladly open the door for Horvath to exit. No on Heilman as he had his hand in Horvath and Erickson being on the council. And no on anyone that has to move… Read more »

Mark Reese
Mark Reese
2 years ago
Reply to  :dpb

Larry, thank you for your June OpEd on the proposal to form a City of West Hollywood Police Department. In addition to a $26 million price tag, the contract with the LA County Sheriff to provide police services appears to be irresponsible and, perhaps, non-compliant with our practice of building internal checks and balances. The sheriff would normally function as a check on the police and vice versa. Though California has no state police, my home state of Pennsylvania has this Thurs branch of law enforcement as a triple check. How was this not contemplated prior to executing the contract?… Read more »

Robin
Robin
2 years ago

Odd that Steve Martin is the only one to have his age brought up. Guess all the others are ageless

JF1
JF1
2 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Yeah, I don’t know why they felt the need to call out his age and his alone. Who cares?

Jimmy Palmieri
2 years ago
Reply to  Robin

I totally agree. I cannot understand why his age was mentioned and no one else’s was. Seems ageist to me.

Randy
Randy
2 years ago
Reply to  Jimmy Palmieri

Agreed. Especially when Heilman is around the same age. What difference does it make?

JF1
JF1
2 years ago

Lauren Meister ✅ Larry Block ✅ Anthony Vulin ✅ Hell no on Martin. Unite Here already has too much influence on this council. (Manny, please run!!!). God, it HAS to get better than the disaster we currently have! (Would also LOVE Heilman to swoop in and rescue us from the nonsense currently going on. We need grownups with experience that can think rationally and that don’t look at business as evil and care more about public safety than painting crosswalks).

greeneyedguy
greeneyedguy
2 years ago
Reply to  JF1

Didn’t the rainbow crosswalks first appear when Heilman was on the city council? They aren’t new…

JF1
JF1
2 years ago
Reply to  greeneyedguy

I’m talking about wasting money by adding more colors. Where does it end? Especially with crime on the rise. We didn’t have the level of crime we have now when they first painted them -now it’s just a waste of money in light of the fact that that money could be better spent fighting a more pressing issue.

Last edited 2 years ago by JF1
Robin
Robin
2 years ago
Reply to  JF1

It’s worse than a waste of money. Adding colors is a needless desecration of an international symbol of unity, love & peace & especially is all-inclusive. Period. That these 2 new people who took it upon themselves to change the Rainbow Flag to suit themselves, are selfish, ignorant, show bad judgment & should never be on the CIty Council. They actually segregated people of color AWAY from everyone else, creating a meaning that is the exact opposite of what the Rainbow Flag is intended to mean & they should not be allowed to get away with it so easily. For… Read more »

Eric Jon Schmidt
2 years ago

I plan on running too. I have been asked by many people and groups of Residents who feel ignored and neglected by The City to run on the same platform I did last time. Public Safety will be my number one concern. Public Safety is a joke in West Hollywood. I also believe in City Hall transparency and City Budget cuts. Too much money being spent recklessly and too many payroll overlaps, repetitive jobs and not enough City Employee productivity accountability and oversight . Just like last time my platform is A.I.T. : Accountability, Integrity, Transparency. My website will be… Read more »

Little Intergrity
Little Intergrity
2 years ago

Integrity does not appear to be an attribute you can claim no matter how you justify your rationale in addition to other shaded truths you have made.

Michael Dolan
Michael Dolan
2 years ago

That’s uncalled for. Rise above.

Litle Integrity
Litle Integrity
2 years ago
Reply to  Michael Dolan

By perpetrating untruths it seems you may also disrespect the concept of integrity and have on several occasions have offered decidedly unfounded comments.

Eric Jon Schmidt
2 years ago

I meant to say that the City Clerk’s office, not the City Manager’s office violated election law on at least two counts by misrepresenting the rules to me and Jackie O. Quarker and Crowder took it upon themselves to manipulate the rules, regulations and guidelines when meeting with us for the pre-election meeting in their office. The law stipulates that they can meet with only one candidate at a time. They insisted the Jackie O and I meet with them at the same time. I cannot discuss the details of the other “misrepresentations and unlawful influence for the purpose of… Read more »

Enough already
Enough already
2 years ago

You’ve repeatedly bashed the city, city businesses and everyone at city hall. You moved out of West Hollywood but can’t seem to move on. You’ve stated claims of pending investigations and numerous misdeeds as well as a tell all book that you’ve been writing forever. Your obsession is truly exhausting and completely self serving. You received just over 1% of the vote during your last election. Why do you think anyone buys your claims of integrity and will vote for you? Please just stop.

Ruth H Williams
Ruth H Williams
2 years ago
Reply to  Enough already

Thank you for speaking the truth. It also makes me very angry to see that there are others who admitted they don’t even live here but will move here to run for City Council. I will NOT vote for anyone who doesn’t live here but thinks they can run our city. In re: the Sheriffs Dept before you throw the baby out with the bath water – review the cities that had their own PD’s and got rid of them to contract with the Sheriff due to services there were able to get which they didn’t have with their own… Read more »