West Hollywood City Councilmember John Heilman ‘has been endorsed for re-election by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization that works to get LGBTQ people elected to office.
Heilman is one of six LGBTQ candidates from around the country whose endorsement by the Victory Fund was announced today. It has endorsed a total of 282 candidates in the 2020 election cycle. Heilman has been engaged with the Victory Fund since its founding in 1991 and with the International Network of Lesbian and Gay Officials, which merged with the Victory Fund, since its founding in 1984.
Heilman has attended every annual conference since 1984, with the city paying the cost of his travel and housing, which last year was $3,262.
The city reimburses Council members for travel to a number of events hosted by organizations whose missions have nothing to do with management of the City of West Hollywood but do have a connection to a particular Council member’s political interests. For example, it has paid for Councilmember John Duran’s trips to Victory Fund events and for his travel to events hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. Councilmember John D’Amico’s attendance at the Victory Fund event last year also was paid for by the city.
Both Heilman and Duran are running for re-election on Nov. 3. Heilman has served on the City Council since the city’s founding in 1984 except for a few brief months after losing his seat in the March 3, 2015 election. He returned to the Council after winning the June 2, 2015, special election to fill a seat vacated by Jeffrey Prang, who became Los Angeles County Assessor.
He and Duran should have been gone long ago with (currently non-existant) term limits.
Congratulations!
Well, I guess there’s one more charity I won’t ever donate to again!
The Victory Fund is not a charity.
It is a political organization that trains & funds LGBTQ cadidates for public office who support equality, support safeguards to protect privacy & reproductive rights, & show community support & a viable plan to win their election. John Heilman is champion of all three (equality, privacy & reproductive rights), has unquestionable community support & certainly has a viable plan to succeed in being reelected.
I’d call that money well spent, even if I don’t get a tax write-off.
For years people have embraced these values and more on their own. There was no need for a political schooling organization to educate forks in political speak devoid of any authenticity and originality. It is all manufactured and disingenuous and attracts folks the want to fluff their ego’s and sharpen their elbows.
Better to spend money on becoming informed about ethics, civics, history and effectively interacting with many people of diverse persuasions. It’s far more useful than becoming a phony politico.
If John Heilman is so ethical and such a big national political star, why doesn’t he ask John Duran about his $325,000 history of tax liens? They’ve been in WEHO pay for play politics together since the year one. Along with Lindsey Horvath, the two famous gay John’s makeup the crooked Townscape Three!
Frankly, so many people in West Hollywood are fed up with the two John’s, I don’t believe if Oscar Wilde came down from heaven and pleaded for the John’s to be re-elected … most people wouldn’t vote for them.
Of all the boondoggles paid by the city for council members, the most egregiously inappropriate are those trips to affinity group meetings. It amounts to the city subsidizing the power of incumbency. No legitimate city interests are furthered by taxpayer-funded attendance at Victory Fund, NALEO, and others.