Randy Matthews 1973-2023

Say it isn’t so. Randy Matthews passed away earlier this week.

Randy Matthews moved to the WeHo area in 1999. His first apartment was on Larrabee just above Santa Monica Blvd, later moving to Alfred St, just a few steps over the border in Los Angeles. Matthews grew up in Roseburg, Oregon, and was passionate about West Hollywood, its politics, and the issues of the day.

WEHOville reached out to Patricia Matthews, Randy’s mom. to send our condolences.
“He was not only my son but also my best friend. I am extremely broken. He had been here in Southern Oregon in July. He loved to float in the North Umpqua River. He was very opinionated about a lot of issues. He did not commit suicide; he did not take care of his health.”

Although the cause of death is not yet known, Patricia added, “I don’t think there is going to be an autopsy. I was told it will be six months before they have the cause of his death. He loved animals, especially his cat named Calvin.”

Randy and I had a long acquaintance. He wrote to me in 2018 to say hi and to talk about issues. He defended John Duran, saying, “I think he’s a good man. I think he’s done great things, and I hope people don’t forget it. I don’t think he deserves to be thrown off the council. It’s up to the people at this point.”

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Randy wrote, “I think this is going to last about 18 months while they work on a vaccine. Meanwhile, you and I are going to lose people we love and care about. “We’ve mistreated the world, and now it’s mistreating us back.” “Wear your mask and stay out of the store.”

Randy knew the other WEHOville commenters well. On the day Gay Starbucks closed, he messaged me, saying, “So, 11:30, Gay Starbucks before they close. I’m going to scooter there; please take a picture and send it to Manny for me. I will be on a ‘joyride.” Randy was referring to anti-scotter activist ‘Manny’ who is also a frequent WEHOville commenter.

‘Randy,’ as he was known to WEHOville readers, was a frequent commenter on our message boards. Our records show over 2,000 comments with opinions on most issues of the day.

Here are a couple of Randy’s thoughts as written on the WEHOville message boards.

In a recent WEHOville article about a new drug Tranq, Randy wrote:

“Overdoses occur, when somebody is so messed up, that they take it too far. It also occurs when fentanyl is laced into methamphetamine, cocaine, heroine, etc. Once again, this is a disease. It’s hereditary. Addiction. I’m sure it sounds simple to you, saying that people should take responsibility for their actions. But I know well too many people, who got started, and could not stop. Even with treatment. Even with counseling. Even with anti-addiction pills.”

On a recent article “Heilman: We must not rush bike lanes” Randy wrote: “As an avid, very pro-cyclist, even I think that throwing $22 million of taxpayer money for protected bike lines, just on the west side, is ridiculous.”

On the inaugural Edward Levin Award given to Faring Capital Randy wrote:”So we are giving out awards to projects that aren’t even completed yet? Or did I miss something? This is like giving an Academy award to a film that is released in nine months, and is still in production. If they are going to hand out this kind of award, maybe they should make sure that the project is completed first? Or am I crazy?”

Randy’s zest and passion for life and WeHo will be missed.

Rest in Peace, Randy Matthews.