Council OKs $100,000 study, first step in push to give reparations to WeHo’s Black community

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City Council eagerly moved forward with a plan to study discriminatory housing practices against the Black community in WeHo’s past, a first step in a potential program to provide reparations for systemic racism.

The agenda item was written by Mayor Pro Tem Sepi Shyne and Councilmember John Erickson, who defended the proposal in the face of objections by the public. 

Shyne pointed out that a reparations program could provide far more than simple cash payouts.

“People say reparations, you think it’s just gonna be cash,” she said. “However, being a creative city, we can do many things such as land use policies, home ownership loans. We didn’t wait for the federal government to give us marriage equality. We created domestic partnerships. We just had a discussion about expanding OutZones. There was not even a blink from anyone. We rushed to it excitedly. We’ve given $1.6 million to our businesses and we’re continuing to give because they’re important to us. That three percent of the Black residents of our city — they need to be just as important to us.”

“There was so much desire to burst out of the 20th century, and it ached in me for the 10 years I’ve been here, and we’re just finally doing it and I’m really super thankful,” said Councilmember John D’Amico. “There have been four council members who owned a house and all of us have in our deeds (antiquated) deed restrictions that are frightening. The deed restriction on our house says if you’re brown or black you have to leave the city, you cannot spend the night, you cannot live in that place. It’s horrible.”

Mayor Lauren Meister was supportive of the overall idea but cautious about spending $100,000 on the study.

“I just think that we’re barely six months into into our fiscal year and we’ve spent well over about 115% of our budget and we have other ways that we can start going about this,” she said, including tapping into the resources of the Southern California Association of Governments, which the city already pays for.

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Councilmember Lindsey Horvath bemoaned the negative response from some in the public.

“I’m heartbroken to hear people be angry about the fact that this community would have this conversation and that we would take time to reflect acknowledge and try to do something because as was said in the comments whatever we do will not adequately address compounded generations of of racism and discrimination and exclusion, but hopefully we can do something meaningful that creates inclusion creates more opportunity.”

The agenda item was passed unanimously, and the city will proceed with the study and other measures contained in the proposal.

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[…] minds seemed obsessed with their own priorities and pet projects — gender-neutral bathrooms, studies about historical racial discrimination, recyclable plasticware, rainbow crosswalks, pronouns and pointless declarations on national […]

Chloe Ross
Chloe Ross
2 years ago

Seriously? Who are these residents? Black Americans are owed far more than reparations. And why West Hollywood? I have neighbors who are black, but I had no clue that WeHo was home to so many other people of a specific origin and color Here is the rub for me. I thought WeHo was an inclusive town. I suspect any group given “reparations” might move on to an even friendlier area. ‘Is it take the pay to stay? ‘ Find a better, more welcoming place to live. Who are these folks? How many? Why now and what prompted this sudden move?… Read more »

Steve Carry
Steve Carry
2 years ago

Stop this insanity now. The prior comments hit the point very well. You liberals just love to play the race card. Shame!

JESS
JESS
2 years ago

$100,000.00 could be used more productively for the entire city. Seems like a colossal waste of money,

J Cross
J Cross
2 years ago

100 years from now historians will be studying how damaging wokism was in the 2015-2025 era. This is all about trying to buy the black vote yet 87% of the country isn’t black. What about reparations for Asians, Indians, Hispanics, Whites? All had ancestors that were slaves. Where’s the outrage for slavery that is … wait for it … STILL GOING ON IN 2021?! CRICKETS Woke idiots have their priorities backwards. Stop modern day slavery, don’t worry about hundreds of years ago. I guarantee these woke idiots won’t stop it and in 2022 there will still be slavery going on.… Read more »

The Last Sane One Left
The Last Sane One Left
2 years ago
Reply to  J Cross

The city should be renamed Waste Hollywood.

Jack Cline “Jackie OMG”

We can all agree discrimination of any kind is bad. The City Council should be fiscally responsible spending Tax Payers money. Have the attorney review all the Policies and make sure they are not discriminatory. Discrimination exist in many forms. Ask the Jews, gays, transgenders, Asians, Irish, Italians, disabled, The City Council is dividing the community. How to you measure discrimination to pay someone for restitution. I like the Motto for Key West. “One Human Family”

Small Pond Residents
Small Pond Residents
2 years ago

Perhaps folks should make every effort to fit into the “one Human Family” and not use discrimination as a life long crutch to be the “other”. That is a hard cross to bare especially if one keeps dragging it around. Most seem unable to step forward because they are not able to embrace the whole or make efforts to be the change they seek. John Lewis and Martin Luther King were exceptional leaders but where are their counterparts today? Certainly not politicking for City Council in WeHo looking for their place in the limelight of the small pond.

Jeff Luna
Jeff Luna
2 years ago

When are you people going to wake up? Ah, never! You voted for them, now you have to live with the consequences. It is astonishing to me that Californians cannot understand that their poor voting choices have led the state and LA county in particular down a path that at this point is irreversible. Cult-like behavior.

Graham
Graham
2 years ago

Lol .. the dementia riddled Biden and his gulag of losers ran on reparations for African Americans and Native Americans. Now he and his gulag have abandoned them for big whopping criminal selfish illegal aliens that want nothing better than to jump the border illegally, take as much free s**t that you and I have to pay for, and turning America into the 3rd world S**t hole they came from. Build back better brain dead Branden! The City Council is just an appendage of a pathetic cesspool of failure.

Spirit & Grace
Spirit & Grace
2 years ago
Reply to  Graham

President Biden is certainly not dementia riddled. Doubtful you could kip up with him until 10:00 am. At least he has the spirit and grace to challenge our citizenry in the sensibility and respectful elements of life. You are free to disagree but it helps no one to be disagreeable and small minded.

The Last Sane One Left
The Last Sane One Left
2 years ago

The Einsteins of the City Council need to allot $100,000 to fund a study of past studies to determine the cost put upon the City of West Hollywood taxpayers to pay for studies since it became a city. And since you can’t fix stupid, how about a $100,000 study to determine the effects of ultra-violet light upon automobile paint in West Hollywood? Or $100,000 to study how many calories are burned walking up Doheny from Santa Monica Blvd to Sunset (although maybe they should only allot $50,000 since the west side of Doheny is in Beverly Hills)? There’s stupid but… Read more »

J Cross
J Cross
2 years ago

Amen

Steve Martin
Steve Martin
2 years ago

The City Council appointed a Social Justice Task force recently which was ultimately supposed to make recommendations to the City Council. It looks like the Council could not resist taking personal ownership of this issue and bypassed their own Task Force, which seems a bit disrespectful of the Task Force. I am not sure why the matter was not referred to the City Attorney for further study because this item will inevitably run afoul of the restriction on “gifts of public funds” that apply to General law cities such as West Hollywood. So it may be that we will take… Read more »

#nomoreSHE
#nomoreSHE
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Martin

Mayor Meister is the only adult in the room. The other four, especially the SHE Shyne, Horvath and Erickson are egomaniacal know-it-all nobodies who should have never been elected to any public office. God help the city of West Hollywood with these moronic idiots in charge.

Last edited 2 years ago by #nomoreSHE
Andrea Reider
Andrea Reider
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Martin

Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Steve. This money could help a lot of homeless and/or mentally ill people who are in need right now. Good luck to Mayor Meister! She is indeed a voice of reason, which is so needed right now.

West
West
2 years ago

Meanwhile the unvaccinated who are disproportionately non-white are banned from businesses, public life, employment and education.

Is the entire City Council suffering from brain clots?

Last edited 2 years ago by West Seegmiller