Bored with Reality TV? Come See Tonight’s WeHo Council Meeting

Dear Readers: Henceforth WEHOville will publish a summary of major events on the West Hollywood City Council agenda in advance of each of its twice-monthly meetings. This summary starts with a little guide to what to expect beyond a discussion of the issues you might care about.

If you’re over the catty behavior on Lisa’s “Vanderpump Rules” and tired of seeing the same (botoxed) faces on Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens: Live,” consider a night at West Hollywood’s twice-monthly City Council meeting. It’s civic engagement wrapped in fun (but, to be honest, with waves of boredom).

First, know that parking is free in the five-story structure across from the West Hollywood Library’s parking structure, accessible from El Tovar Place or by driving down the driveway separating the Library to the north from the City Council Chambers building to the south. Just remember to bring your ticket inside, where you can validate it in the lobby. There you also will find copies of the Council’s agenda and other documents offering comments by residents like you on particular agenda topics.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m, although that is a closed session attended by Council members, the City Manager and the City Attorney to discuss legal and personnel matters. This Monday the subject will an evaluation of City Manager Paul Arevalo’s performance. Whether Arevalo is smiling or frowning when he walks into the Council Chambers may tell you how that went, although the City Manager is quite skilled at not revealing his emotions.

The public meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. You’ll have to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance (although no one will shame you if you don’t mention God).

Then the fun begins.

The City Council’s public comment period, which lasts a maximum of 20 minutes, gives anyone the opportunity to speak for two minutes about anything he or she wishes. That period usually is dominated by the “regulars,” a group of four or five people who show up and speak at every Council meeting and many of the other city commission meetings each month. Michael Wojtkielewicz, with his dog by his side or over his shoulder, complains about the maintenance of the West Hollywood Housing Corp. building in which he lives. Cynthia Blatt argues why West Hollywood doesn’t need more housing. Stephanie Harker and Cathy Blavis offer their thoughts on a variety of topics, mostly focused on the Eastside, where they live. Dan Morin often addresses the Council wearing his dramatic pink overcoat and always wearing a debonair trilby.

But if you’re really lucky Nil Zilberman will show up to talk (loudly) about his latest issue (he’s shifting from homelessness to meth addiction), sometimes gesticulating and shouting in a manner that draws the Sheriff’s deputies down the aisle near the speaker’s podium. You can call Zilberman crazy because it’s a term he proudly embraces, saying he’s crazy for the right causes. Ivy Bottini, the 89-year-old Lesbian activist, just might talk about the youth of her vagina. Richard Eastman, the skinny marijuana activist whose body and ever-present hat are covered with pro-marijuana buttons and badges, likely will speak to remind everyone that he has AIDS and that we should all smoke more weed. From time to time there are other speakers, such as the man who announced to the Council recently his plan to rename the planet Earth (for which he expects to win a Noble prize).

If you want to speak, fill out a speakers slip, found on the table in the lobby of the Council Chambers, that will be given to the City Clerk. When your name is called and you stand at the podium, state not only your name but where you live. No, that’s not required by law. But if you don’t do it you’ll hear a loud scream from Jeanne Dobrin, 95, sitting in the front row. Dobrin, who is hard of hearing, may also scream at you if you don’t speak directly into the microphone. Keep a close look at the screen behind the Council members’ dais, where a timer shows how much of your two minutes of speaking time you have left.

Things get slow again during the Council comments section of the meeting. You’ll have to listen to one Council member read a list of all the members of the U.S. armed forces who died while on duty since the last Council meeting (God only knows why). The Council will “adjourn” multiple times in honor of local folks who have died recently and occasionally in honor of a celebrity or a public figure like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Then the Council members will make their own often lengthy speeches, with one telling us about all the meetings she’s attended in the last few weeks, another calling out those events already listed on the city’s online calendar and others musing on who knows what. There also are proclamations honoring local residents or organizations that benefit West Hollywood. These can consume 30 minutes or more with brief speeches and photography. The good news is the WiFi is excellent, so you can bring a laptop or your cell phone and catch up on email during periods that bore you.

Next the Council will take up its Consent Calendar, a long list (22 items this session) of items likely to be approved by all of them. One quick vote gets those items approved without discussion. However Council members are likely to “pull” one or more items for further discussion.

The Council then shifts to public hearings, none of which are listed on tonight’s agenda. Those hearings are held on items such a development projects that need the Council’s approval to move forward or other matters where Council members want public input.

Then the Council jumps into the real business of the night, at which time it might be as late as 8:30 pm.  Those attending the meeting can speak on these issues, if they fill out a slip and present it to the City Clerk.

Here are the top items on tonight’s agenda, in the order they appear:

1) PUBLIC SAFETY. Public Safety Director Kristin Cook; Capt. Holly Perez, head of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, and Anthony Williams, assistant chief of the L.A. Fire Department, will present the annual report on public safety in the city. It also will include an update on the city’s study of organization of the Sheriff’s Station and

2) MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE. An increase in the minimum wage that West Hollywood businesses must pay their employees from the current state-mandated $10 an hour to $15 an hour by 2020. This is likely to be one of the most contentious and debated subjects to come before the Council tonight. The big backer of the minimum wage increase is Mayor Lindsey Horvath, supported by Councilmember John Heilman. It’s unclear as yet where the other Council members stand. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a friend of Horvath’s, will show up to support it. Friends of Horvath also have organized West Hollywood Action Committee, a group that has tried to pull together community support for the increase.

On the other side is the business community, represented by the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. While the Chamber has not officially opposed a minimum wage increase, it argues that more study needs to be done to determine the impact of such a measure on local small businesses.

3) ETHICS REFORM. Many months after receiving recommendations from its Ethics Task Force, the City Council is scheduled tonight to implement some of them. A proposal on the agenda would require Council members who solicit donations of $1,000 or more on behalf of charitable organization to report those donations to the city. State law requires reporting such “behests” of $5,000 or more, something no Council member other than Abbe Land has done in recent years. The ethics proposal would require independent political committees to identify their top three donors on any political material sent to the public. It also would increase the campaign contribution limit from $500 to $550 per person, with another $50 increase every 10 years. Finally, it would recommend that city staffers come back with a proposal to require lobbyist to report expenditures of $5,000 or more on a quarterly basis.

4) OUR NEW MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEM. Now the Council will make its annual selection of West Hollywood’s mayor. The role is largely ceremonial, although there are legal documents the mayor must sign and meetings he or she must attend. Some occupants of the role such as current Mayor Lindsey Horvath have leveraged the position by representing the city at countless local and regional events. Traditionally the role of mayor goes to the mayor pro tem. That means that Lauren Meister is all but certain to be named mayor. The more interesting question is who will be named mayor pro tem? John D’Amico is out of the running because he was mayor before Horvath. So John Heilman and John Duran are the choices. Duran was in line to become mayor when Horvath was named to the position. Council members told him privately that he had to step back because of his involvement in the “Deputygate” scandal. Heilman was mayor pro tem when he lost his re-election bid in March last year.  But he won in the June special election, so that is an argument for putting him in that position.

Given the city’s recent settlement of a lawsuit by Duran’s Council deputy and Councilmember John D’Amico’s public castigation of his colleague for “trolling for men on Grindr” while at the Council dais, it’s unclear whether Duran will win support for the role this time.

5) SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS IN WEHO. Councilmember Lauren Meister is bringing before the Council a host of recommendations for city support of small businesses. They include establishing a registry for vacant businesses, requiring that new commercial establishments set aside small spaces for small businesses and providing mediation services for landlord-business tenant disputes. A controversial Meister proposal would have the city require a special review of proposals for new “formula” retail businesses, such as 7-Eleven.

6) UNDERWRITING LA PRIDE. Christopher Street West, the non-profit organization that stages LA Pride each year in June, is asking West Hollywood to increase its subsidy of the event — both in cash and waived fees — by $140,000 and shut down Robertson Boulevard for five days for CSW events. CSW also wants to expand the event to include Friday.