John Duran, who served on the West Hollywood City Council from 2001 to 2020, is close to joining his former colleague John Heilman in running to regain their former seats. Both were defeated in 2020 but are still eligible to serve one more term due to the Term Limit Initiative that was passed in 2013.
Duran has told close friends and some former supporters that it is time to get back to basics and he is weighing a run. Should he decide to join the race, an announcement would be made in mid-June.
Duran, who declined to confirm his intent to WEHOville is able to raise funds quickly and has deep roots in the West Hollywood community.
If Duran joins the race he will face a field of candidates which currently includes Mayor Lauren Meister, former Councilmember John Heilman, and City Commissioners/Boardmembers Marquita Thomas, Zekiah Wright, Robert Oliver and Chelsea Byers, all competing against one another to be the top three vote-getters on the 2022 ballot. Councilmember John D’Amico has announced his retirement leaving one open seat. Mayor Meister is running for re-election, defending the second open seat. If Councilmember Lindsey Horvath is able to secure a place in the June 7th primary for Los Angeles County Supervisor she will vacate her position on City Council, leaving one additional open seat.
Although Duran would not comment on his decision to enter the race, he gave WEHOville his pros and cons of running:
Pros: Get city back to the basics, Public Safety, Human Services, Economic Development
Con: Working with those who are long on political ideology and short on pragmatism.
From the Los Angeles TImes:
“In 2016, West Hollywood agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city and Duran.”
Duran’s behavior cost taxpayers half a million dollars.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-john-duran-weho-council-misconduct-allegations-20190212-story.html
He’s got to be kidding.
He had his chance and blew it.
Absolutely not. His incompetence and philandering led us to this crisis moment. To consumed with the next hookup and not about gaining allies.
We need to bring on Roy Orbison…..”It’s over ………….!
I, for one, have my fingers crossed that John Duran does decide to run for another term on our City Council. What our City sorely needs is a Council comprised of experienced people whose focus and drive is directed toward the well-being of our town, not the advancement of their future political ambitions or self-aggrandizement. I imagine that Lauren Meister is feeling left out in the cold as the only current member who seems to operate from this vantage point. Agree or disagree with John’s stance on various issues (and we have and do), I believe his focus and drive… Read more »
Ben, Lindsey Horvath whom you vehemently criticized is the same person as John Duran they are simply dressed differently.
I couldn’t disagree with you more whomever you are. I’ve worked with both and am friends with both. Their passions and goals could not be aimed in more opposing directions.
Au contraire. Their goals are central to promotion of self via any means possible. Whatever idea they had about public service for the public good has radically changed and their preoccupation with self has distorted their vision. There is a litany of specific instances.
Same story which has repeated itself through history if that subject interests you.
Well, one thing is amazing about his intent, he should knows how to unite this town behind a single issue….HIM!
Why doesn’t this awful person just GO AWAY.
Weho doesn’t want or need you back on city council!!
Duran is superior to the five dreadful political hacks on the city council. Especially the dreadful SHE.
Wake Up! Duran’s accomplishments far outway perceived wrongdoings. West Hollywood is the gay mecca of the world. So many of our own have forgotten our struggle.
????? I think you’re forgetting the majority of people who live here.
From an insular and limited point of view you may be correct. That is a primary flaw with West Hollywood, which appears to think it exists for its own wants, grievances, needs and standards or lack thereof. West Hollywood believes too much of its engineered press and seems perpetually on the defensive.
That makes me sad that West Hollywood is the gay Mecca of the world. Not sure that is accurate though, maybe it was in 2002? Update: they closed Rage! Can you believe it???
You are living in a fantasy that simply DOES NOT exist. West Hollywood is not even predominantly GAY anymore nor is the West Village in NYC. And, I hate to break it to you honey, but West Hollywood is FAR from being the “Gay Mecca” of the world. For us big boys who grew up here, lived here BEFORE it became a city, HELPED it become a city…places like Sydney, San Francisco, and many others have a far larger gay population than our town.
Jose, Thanks for putting the record “straight” as it where… WeHo was incredibly influential as it was born in the glare of television cameras when we created our own City with a gay majority and the first lesbian mayor in the galaxy. But we have come a long way from those heady days. The view from outside the Rainbow City is that of a little town beset by crime, scandals and pay to play politics that is nominally “gay” and retains an outsized opinion of itself. Unfortunately the City Council still plays for the cameras rather than meaningfully engaging the… Read more »
Accurate Description but you forgot to mention how their greatest tool is division as opposed to a welcoming and united community. Better to drive the wedge issues, gain victim support and become the savior to the oppressed.
What a deal!
well put
There is absolutely no room nor should there be any tolerance for an individual who has been accused of multiple sexual harassment claims, has evaded taxes and has his pockets filled with dirty commercial real estate back onto the council. This city may need to get back to basics but going backwards with Duran or Heilman is not the answer. GO AWAY.
Check out the ads Atty Duran has seeking clients: “Arrested in Coachella?” “Arrested at White Party?” at end of column on Wehoville.
Tells you everything .
I’m just wondering if it’s going be entirely left up to me to be elected☑ as the First Socialist Mayor of the Great City of West Hollywood❓🤷🏽♂️
It’s never a good situation when one’s ego surpasses one’s brain.
That’s never stopped any of you for voting for politicians in the past❗🤣
Sounds great. Your first task can be to make Emojiese the official language of West Hollywood.
Brain farts!
Like I said before, that’s never stopped any of you from supporting candidates in the past.🤣
More like we should seek to be multilingual as opposed as having poor English as our first & only language.
English ain’t going nowhere, it is great that people speak other languages. But you know the old saying, don’t like it, it’s a free country, hit the road.
Reality ✅ poor English is taking over the planet 🌎 like a bad weed (destructive invasive species) with many other indigenous languages going extinct. Here in occupied Aztlán Tongva that West Hollywood is in, the Tongva language an Uto-Aztecan language of Southern California is only understood by a few Paleolinguists.
We have enough cartoons in West Hollywood politics.
Yes but, we need one like Woody Wood Pecker that’s really good at shaking things up, especially that they do need shaken up❗✊🏽