John D’Amico has confirmed to WEHOville that he will not seek re-election and is serving out his final term.
D’Amico’s retirement will leave at least one open seat in the 2022 election. Mayor Lindsey Horvath has also announced that she will be running in 2022 for Los Angeles County Supervisor, a seat currently held by Supervisor Kuehl who has announced she will be retiring. If Horvath is able to claim one of the top two spots in the June 2022 primary runoff she will be ineligible to also run in the West Hollywood City Council election. The move opens up the possibilities of two open seats in the West Hollywood 2022 City Council election.
John D’Amico was elected to his first term in 2011. He ran against the establishment forces of John Heilman, Abbe Land, and newly appointed Council member Lindsey Horvath. In his first bid for office D’Amico finished first with 2876 votes, followed by former Council member Abbe Land with 2834 votes and John Heilman was third with 2626 votes. Steve Martin finished 4th with 2320 votes and incumbent Lindsey Horvath finished 5th with 2124 votes.
In that 2011 City Council election D’Amico was endorsed by then Council member John Duran. But D’Amico ran and came in first place without the support of the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood Democratic Club or the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
The term limits Measure C was passed by the voters in 2013. The term limits initiative limits Council members to 12 years in office. The measure was not ‘retroactive’ and took effect after the 2013 election. D’Amico was re-elected in 2015 and then again in 2019. He has one more term available to him.
With the defeat of former Council members John Heilman and John Duran in 2020 both former Council members are eligible for one more term in office.
D’Amico became a kingmaker when he supported Lauren Meister in her first successful run for office in 2015. Meister was able to win after serving as a community advocate for many years. But the establishment was firmly against the anti-development Meister. Despite the obstacles Lauren Meister was able to secure a seat on the West Hollywood City Council without the support of the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood Democratic Club or the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
With D’Amico out of the 2022 race, and the potential that Horvath will not be eligible to run in the West Hollywood City Council election that would leave Meister as the only incumbent in the race.
Meister ran the term limits campaign Measure C in 2013 and rolled that popularity into a council seat. If Meister succeeds in 2022, she would then become the first council member to ‘term-out’ of office.
I have watched and listen to councilmember John D”Amico for a while now and thought he seemed disengaged and disinterested during council meetings.I am not surprised he decided to take this action.I think he is ready to go elsewhere.
Is he moving into the real estate field???
Your article failed to mention that John D’Amico endorsed Prop. C the West Hollywood Term Limits ballot measure. He was the only Council member to embrace term limits which did not sit well with his colleagues. John certainly shook things up at City Hall in his first years on City Council and raised the level of debate. While many of his insights seemed quirky at times, he was not afraid to think outside the box and was never afraid to question staff. While he demonstrated leadership on a number of issues, perhaps the most endearing was his efforts with Lauren… Read more »
Perhaps John D’Amico might rethink his position. While I agree some of his ideas were off, he was not mean spirited. Reconsidering a final term could be the right ending to his original commitments and not inadvertently leaving the city in the lurch or Lauren Meister.
God help us.
Lauren Meister is the only adult in Weho City Council with DAmico leaving as millenials have all but stripped the balance consciousness and integrity from Weho long ago with their lil Millenial Mafia Click games & they are trapped in self absorbed ego beyond words. Sepi Shyne has a good head on her shoulders but a city run by ego loses its integrity and unfortunately Weho was ruined long ago. Anyone over 45 is now in the way of very immature know-it-alls.The city is ruined. You will never see those of us from the 80s and 90s who led many… Read more »
Ok Anonymous, take a deep breath. In all due respect your comments sound a lot like the accusations of the Chamber of Commerce back in ’85 and ’86, when our very inexperienced City Council made a lot of mistake. But somehow they also managed to pass rent control and get the City off the ground. The current City Council has only been in place for eight months. Our new City Manager has not really established himself. Zoom meetings have been a real challenge in creating respectful working relationships and I think resuming public meetings will soon bring a dose of… Read more »
Erickson’s race has nothing to do with it. Arrogant, immature, obnoxious know-it-alls come in all colors. Stop.
Now we are rewriting history?! Lauren Meister ran for Council several times unsuccessfully before being elected. Only two Councilmembers in the 21st century have won on their first run – John D’Amico and John Erickson.
Abbe Land, Paul Koretz and Jeff Prang just to cite ancient history back in the 20th.
Everybody is jumping ship while the city sinks!
We’ll be in sad shape with Meister the only adult left in the room and Erickson and Shyne in control. God help us.
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