City Manager David Wilson apologized to the community during City Council’s meeting Monday night for overseeing a suspiciously opaque hiring process which allowed a lobbyist for developers to help fill one of West Hollywood’s most senior positions.
Jeff Seymour, a “Development Project Facilitator” who represents at least three major projects pending in West Hollywood, including the Viper Room development, was part of the five-member panel that helped select Nick Maricich as WeHo’s new Community Development Director.
The Community Development Director is a powerful and lucrative role in charge of three divisions involved in building and development — Current and Historic Preservation Planning; Long Range Planning; and Building and Safety. A friendly relationship with the leadership of those divisions is crucial for companies that want to build, say, a new hotel or condominium complex in West Hollywood.
Regardless of Maricich’s qualifications, the hiring process was tainted by its secretive nature and the involvement of a lobbyist, according to Councilmember Lauren Meister, who brought the issue to light in a WEHOville article this past weekend.
“Ask any lawyer (and I did),” Meister wrote. “The potential for conflicts of interest created by this situation is real.”
Despite her position as an elected leader of the city, Meister only discovered Seymour’s presence on the panel after an exhaustive search that forced her to submit public information requests to City Hall.
West Hollywood residents who were incensed by Meister’s revelations spoke out forcefully at Monday night’s meeting.
“The mere fact that (City Manager David Wilson and City Attorney Lauren Langer) actively chose to hide the process and the people involved from both the council and the community means that they knew something they were doing was wrong,” said Lynn Hoopingarner, former chair of the Planning Commission, during public comment. “The person I probably feel most sorry for is the poor guy who was hired and now is going to have their every decision second-guessed. Are they in the developers’ pocket? It sure looks like it from where I’m standing.”
While City Manager Wilson apologized to Meister for her “frustration and disappointment,” he did not admit any specific wrongdoing.
“The recruitment process has been in place for as long as I’ve been at the city, but we can always improve,” he said.
He said he would seek the International City and County Management Association’s guidance in reviewing the city’s practices and crafting revised hiring policies that will be presented to City Council in the near future.
Wilson also disputed the involvement of Langer, the city attorney, and regretted that she was “drawn into this.”
“I never want to be the subject of the community’s discussion as city manager,” Wilson said. “It shouldn’t be about me; it’s about our community.”
[…] in the wake of the recent incident with the nefarious selection of the city’s new community development director with a panel that consisted of developer representatives, the city continues to push an agenda that […]
[…] The revelation drew much scrutiny, compelling WeHo’s City Manager David Wilson to issue an apology over the matter during a city council […]
[…] meeting comes on the heels of the controversial hiring of Nick Maricich as the city’s new Community Development Director, a process which Wilson […]
[…] meeting comes on the heels of the controversial hiring of Nick Maricich as the city’s new Community Development Director, a process which Wilson […]
https://wehoonline.com/2021/07/10/wehoville-exclusive-up-close-with-new-west-hollywood-city-manager-david-wilson/
The city manager David Wilson’s apology was odd as he tried to remove our city attorney Lauren Langer involvement from what happened which does not make sense cause it contradict’s Lauren Meister’s Op Ed article.
Ok, so from a ‘perception’ standpoint it wasn’t a good idea to have a developer rep on the selection cmt. But I would be remiss if I did not add that there are developer reps and there are developer reps. And my experience with Jeff Seymour is that he is a person of unimpeachable integrity. And that he is the kind of person who makes projects better for the community quietly behind the scenes.
I write this as a former land use consultant who has known Jeff since he worked in county gov’t and I worked for LA City.
LOL So fuuuuunnnnyyy. I recall when Seymour refused to answer questions from the little people at a meeting about a development project, saying “I have nothing to do with this project.” When we wondered what he was doing there, he refused to answer that too. unImpeachable integrity?? Not! Besides what does that have to do with a dangerously misplaced car wash??
Thanks for this comment, Kate!
That’s very interesting. Jeff is a slick, personable facilitator. No doubt you had pleasant experiences as you were never in the mix with him. Although he fancies himself to be knowledgable about design he misses and lacks a sophisticated eye to guide his developer clients. That directly involves integrity and the ability to arrive at the best project for developer and community. He had no real value in the position of selecting the new Community Development Director other than being a good schmoozer.
Perhaps you might remember the article you wrote for the LA Business Journal about appointment of Christopher Hawthorne. Unfortunately Mr. Seymour does not understand any of the attributes possessed by Mr. Hawthorne.
https://labusinessjournal.com/commentary/opinion-editorial/gauntlet-thrown-citys-new-chief-design-officer/
We need to clean house at WeHo City Hall starting with a new slate, starting with a new City Manager. They are paid BIG BUCKS they do not need outside influences who who gets what job. Let HR vett the people for each and every job! DEEP background checks!
I agree with this comment. Public service individuals need to have clean hands and come to the city beholden to. NO ONE. I have lived in small towns with town “fathers” and the way I have seen it done was a lesson in nepotism, old family ties and one hand washing the other. WeHo is a metropolitan city and has no excuse for the behavior that has grown into our midst and proliferated.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if John Heilman knew of or was in on this. I think he’s always been a schemer, a backroom dealer & always had a very selfish disregard for transparency & honesty while surreptitiously scheming to get the outcome(s) he wanted Heilman all but begged to get back on the City Council for 3 election cycles, then repeated all the same old propaganda lingo each & every time about what HE was going to accomplish for the city, never mind that he had spent about half his life on this council & had plenty of… Read more »
If you watched Heilman’s body language you would have known he didn’t approve. He will save his thoughts for yhe City Managers review.
What we should be asking of Jeff Seymour is that he have “no contact” with Directors, the City Manager’s office or Counsel members for 6 months as penance for his lack of judgment and as an act of respect to our community.
Everyone doesn’t know how to read body language. But they DO know how to read lips!
Agree w/RJK. Heilman should be sharing his thoughts with the city’s voters & not saving his thoughts – or words – for the City manager’s “review”. The city manager didn’t put Heilman in office. This matter was completely lacking in transparency – and, I think in honesty – Heilman owed the voters something more than “body language”. I think Heilman was twitching in his seat lest ALL the story were to be revealed, as it were. Heilman knows Seymour very well & I absolutely refuse to believe that this was done without their mutual knowledge. And I can’t believe the… Read more »
Oh, and because you don’t like Heilman we should extract nothing from Seymour for his bad judgment? Can’t we hold him accountable? I want more than an mere appology. Stay out of the Directors’ and City
Managers’ offices for 6-9 months. No backroom privileges!
Saying I “don’t like Heilman” doesn’t make it so. U stray off-topic because you have no legitimate argument otherwise. Don’t shoot the messenger because you don’t like the message. That makes your point pointless
The city manager, and all salaries are overpaid, and overblown compared to cities of the same size & budgets across the country. The amount we spend on salaries is shameful.
We should be spending this on services -not high-end jobs for people who have zero to offer, and who never lived here before seeking work because they cannot get jobs elsewhere.
The last West Hollywood city manager was one of the highest paid in the USA and made more money than the mayor of San Francisco (also one of the highest paid). Of course, the former city manager was probably getting the referral commission for the BBB on the side… now most likely being paid to Sepi Shyne. Let’s not forget this is a small town with an over-inflated opinion of itself, driven by political hacks like Shyne, Erickson, and Byers, a tiny city comprising a long strip mall from Doheny to La Brea on Satna Monica Blvd., the Fountain freeway,… Read more »
OOOOOOOOOOh.“Let’s not forget this is a small town with an over-inflated opinion of itself”. Having livied ALL over the place before landing here, the cult of personality is not new to me and we have it in WeHo, in excess. In the past and in the present.And as I have said, much too often, it still looks like The Little Rascals are having a show. Take note: that was a made-up TV show in the earliest days. of television. The players were child actors who comprised a motley crew of street urchins. It was fiction. The City of West Hollywood… Read more »
I have not paid much attention to the paychecks of our city hall Council Members. But I have always assumed that beside their once a month appearances, they all have gainful careers on a full time basis. And I fault myself for not knowing more about the way the this part of our city is compensated. I am not a new resident by any means. Those who work full time for the city obviously make good money and work hard. But perhaps we are too generous and/or expect too little and this may be where the questions. should start. As… Read more »
Alan summed it up, we all only hear back from one you, half of you, and sometimes from you. There’s really one noteable council member, the rest are garbage.
Erickson is such a clown. Wearing pearls and painted nails tells it all.
He should resign in shame.
Sounds like you may be living in the wrong city.
I wish the pearls and painted nails were the only problem with Unethical Erickson. He’s a really bad, bad clown. Very dangerous buffoon.