There’s a lot you or I could do with thirty grand — get a community college degree, buy a brand-new pair of jet skis or lease a shitty one-bedroom apartment in West Hollywood for a whole entire year.
Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and Councilmember Chelsea Byers want to spend $30,000 on a plaque.
This $30,000 plaque would features the names of WeHo’s City Councilmembers past and present, plus dates served and maybe their photos, too. It would be installed in either Council Chambers or City Hall, which already has something similar that shows only the current councilmembers.
“The cost of the ($30,000) plaque will depend on the actual design, materials used, possible wall reinforcement needed, and any other special materials,” the staff report says.
Oddly, the price tag might not be the least popular part of this idea.
Have a look at this sample plaque from Culver City that was included with the proposal:
Notice the overwhelming presence of a certain color here?
Did the progressive gurus in City Hall forget that a monument to West Hollywood’s leaders might also remind people how profoundly white and male* WeHo’s history is?
To most of us, it’s just a boring fact. It doesn’t raise the blood pressure.
But to WeHo’s ruling elite, ever obsessed with the optics of race and gender, it’s the type of history they’d prefer to forget. Or re-write.
So here’s another idea: Start with a simple list of all the councilmembers posted on weho.org.
I couldn’t locate one anywhere on the web, which was kinda surprising. People in 2023 should be able to find out who was on City Council in 1987 without having to track down a “book” or whatever you call it.
Also, a web page won’t attract protests or vandalism. And it’s the perfect place to display all of the gleaming white councilmembers’ faces in full color.
Honestly, WeHo should learn to look at the past without flinching or feeling pressured to apologize for it.
How can we see how much we’ve grown if we’re too embarrassed to look at our baby pictures?
*Former Councilmember John Duran is the only non-Caucasian. Mayor Sepi Shyne identifies as a person of color, although it’s somewhat uncommon for Iranians to do so. Former Councilmember Steve Martin is part Asian.
The WeHo elite should be happy with just changing it (the history).
What makes you think that they aren’t?
Like your idea of a list, though.
Race should have nothing to do with this.
The opposition should be based on useless cost only. There’s no need to bring race into this particular issue. There’s plenty of other problems in West Hollywood that relate to race concerns. This is not one.
I like the rogues gallery at city hall far more than a huge plaque which will be out of date the moment it is hung.
That is sufficient. Once we have plaques the next initiative will be to post photos of their pets. When will it end?
MORE suffering from Georgis Floyditis I see. We sure love to fight and argue amonst oursleves, dont we? China and Russia are def laughing at us.
Why is this article obsessed with the color of their skin of these past CC’s accomplishments? I am so damn sick & tired of people always focusing like a laser on the color of people’s skin (identity politics) rather than what people actually achieve through dedication & hard work! The point of the plaque is to show the people who formed & created this great city! To make this about color shows ignorance & reverse racism. Martin Luther King gave his life for a future that DID NOT SEE the color of someone’s skin! 2023 Brandon is heading an article… Read more »
Me too !
64 x 8×11 photos full glossy – less than 80$ W coupon – On snap fish. Can do 2 walls for $80 – add the frames.
Wow, what a bizarre article of bitterness and envy. Seems that you want to be something you’ll never be and therefore just spewing hate and bitterness. Sorry that you don’t love yourself. I dare you to write an article like this and interject a different color for white. I wake up very happy with a smile on my face every day.
Wikipedia does at least show all Mayors of West Hollywood ending with “Lauren Meister (2021-Present)”……Uh-Oh! That will be updated by this afternoon I’m sure.
Erickson and Shyne are self-promoting creeps.
It’s time to start making cash payments back to the taxpayers of West Hollywood if there is so much surplus money. Or reduce the sales tax rate. There’s too much money being squandered by these fools.
exactly. taxes should be cut in half. they are just p—–ing away hard earned tax dollars.
Did you not sleep well last night?
Blame Erickson and Shyne, then.