Ruth Williams: Commissioner Soon-Shiong ‘needs to wake up and smell the roses’

City founder Ruth Williams spoke during the Public Safety Commission’s Monday night meeting:

What Commissioner Soon-Shiong failed to mention or understand is that our city is comprised of 38 to 39,000 residents.

Population triples in the daytime. Due to the day workforce after 6 o’clock, they leave the city.

And then again the population triples with the workforce that comes here for the night.

People are yelling for more deputies, not less. Since your last meeting I don’t think my phone has stopped ringing. I’ve been a resident of West Hollywood since 1948 and served on the Commission for almost 30 years. and I’m a co-founder of the city, so I think I understand the city.

In a sense we’ve become our own worst enemy because we’re known as the Celebrity City.

So outsiders think we’re all rich. Why else did gangs come down a few years ago from Oakland to rob us?

When you look at the TV and TMZ, the celebrities are always eating at our restaurants, partying at our clubs.

Justin Bieber had his little soiree at the PVC.

And four people were shot. What the heck, let’s defund the sheriff, and let’s get rid of an additional 10 or 12 deputies?

I think Miss Soon Chung needs to wake up and smell the roses.

We need our deputies on the street, and we need more of them.

We need them on foot patrol. We need them on bikes.

We need to bring back whoever was defunded, and even add more. Crime is up. People are yelling for more public safety, not not less.

Day or night doesn’t go by when the choppers are up.Or maybe Commissioner Soon-Shiong would prefer that we just dump LASD and get LAPD.

It was tried and failed in the mid-90s. 

We won the initiative. Steve Martin and Abby land were our spokespersons, and that was a fight.

We need to keep LASD, and I do want to take a minute to thank Commissioners Burger and Balbone for being able to say how they truly felt in voting against that proposal. 

I really wish people would understand the city.

Get to know the city and understand what the residents want.

Not less sheriffs, but more sheriffs. We want to keep the sheriff’s department. Cities that got rid of the sheriffs, they got rid of their own police departments because of corruption, they contracted with the sheriff’s department.

So I want to thank you very much, and it was really nice to see some of you familiar faces, friends, and be well.

Stay safe. and please, please, please don’t defund any more deputies, which put more patrols on the street.