During the first November CC meeting, when David Wilson gave his staff report about the Halloween Carnaval, he bragged with a smile that Carnaval was a big success, that it was safe and that everybody had a wonderful time.
Give the man a pat on the back for his good job!
When Danny Rivas gave his November staff report to the Public Safety Commission, he also boasted about how very safe the Carnaval was this year.
Give him a pat on the back too!
That was pretty much all both of them had to talk about in their reports.
I’m sure that all the people in West Hollywood, including myself, are very happy and relieved to hear that the Carnaval was a huge success, and that it was safe, (even though the majority of us 36,000 WeHoans probably didn’t attend.)
But…in their their reports, do they ever also brag about keeping US safe? Or do they only celebrate keeping all the people who came to party in West Hollywood from other places safe? Do they work harder for the publicity and the money coming in to WeHo than they work towards the safety of the people who actually live here? And…are they willing to spend more on protection for these events than they are for protection for us?
These are questions which we must ask!
Where are their self-congratulatory reports on WeHoans’ safety issues…ya know, the folks who just live quietly in West Hollywood? Why are they not piping up on their own how they are protecting us from, for example, dangerous, empty, unsecured buildings that are inhabited by “the unhoused?”
Where are their self-praising reports about how safe they have made us from events like the abandoned house fire that just occurred?
Are they talking about how they will be helping residents who, through no fault of their own, now have to find a new place to live because their place, next door or down the street from the torched vacant property, also burned down?
Why is it that when Commissioner Eramian and Rick Watts, brought up and asked questions about these dangerous vacant buildings, they were not given answers? Why did they only get excuses, rationalizations, and evasion from our city staff?
And why are city council members not demanding answers on our behalf?
And, of course, I, being who I am, also have to ask… Why is it that Mr. Rivas and Mr. Wilson never bring up on their own how they are solving the problem of all the scooters that are left lying around for people to trip over? Or solving the problem of the illegal riders putting pedestrians in jeopardy?
It’s not as if they don’t know about it! Are they not giving us answers on that because they’re just not working on it?
Priority number one for the people who are running, West Hollywood should be OUR safety!
Yes, it is important to bring money into the city so that we can have lots of social programs, but if they are not working just as hard to keep us safe, and bragging about THAT, then no matter how much money they bring in, they have failed at their jobs.
Mikie Friedman
A figurative tip of the hat to Mikie FRIEDMAN for her commentary. We residents of North Sweetzer Avenue near the abandoned, derelict-infected, fire-potentialed 1280 N Sweetzer Avenue are in the same situation as the fire-adjacent buildings were to the Sierra Bonita Avenue fire of several days ago. The City Council minority that could/would do something about such hazards are out-numbered by those Council members that act to provide “bread and circuses” to fill the City’s treasury. They neglect the residents of this City. That Council indifference is also reflected in the pending approval of a 7 story apartment building with… Read more »
As I commented in the Sierra Bonita article re:Rivas meeting with the residents, he appears unprepared, over his head and is espousing the same rationale expressed last year regarding 1280 N. Sweetzer when he first took the position. Why he was unaware of these issues as a Code Enforcement Supervisor or ignored the issues is unknown. He apparently has little situational awareness or ability to make timely decisions putting residents at risk and facilitating the developers bad behavior.
While I completely fault Danny Rivas for being an ineffectual bureaucrat (while being a lovely chap, indeed), the ultimate blame is with the captain of the ship! Where is David Wilson???? I encourage ALL residents impacted by the ongoing public safety crisis in West Hollywood to show up at council chambers on Monday and voice your concerns. Danny will be there. David will be there. The entire council will be there. You have the right, and indeed the obligation to speak up and speak out. They all work for us! It’s our city. Let’s take it back.
Although David Wilson is ultimately responsible, apparently the information is not traveling from Rivas to Wilson. Have the neighborhood residents not alerted any council members in all this time? What should be simple logistics & direct communication seem really off here. Time to make every serious issue an “APB in writing”.
I want to vote the person who wrote this article to be WeHo’s new leader. Makes sense through and through.
Listening to Danny Rivas talking to the residents of Sierra Bonita, is actually painful!
Great reporting Brandon!
All wonderful points. However, since we live in WokeHaven, the only people that matter are the ones who don’t live here.
There is no concern for the residents and true stakeholders of WeHo, only for those who take their instagram photos and then go home.
The moment you disingenuously use the term “woke” is the moment your comment becomes irrelevant.
We need more residents like Mikie Friedman who are not afraid to hold bureaucrat’s feet to the fire to perform in the jobs we pay them to do. Same holds for politicians at all levels. Too often they are more interested in self-congratulatory bullpucky (like awards, plaques, honors, titles and press) than in actually getting shit done like those of us who work in the private sector are expected to do. Wilson and Rivas are remarkably pleasant chaps, but they suffer from a bureacrat’s communication grandiloquence, i.e., conflated, confused, and often indecipherable double (and triple) speak. If I took a… Read more »
On Halloween evening, Santa Monica Blvd from Poinsettia Place to La Brea Ave smelled like sewer. Does the city have a plan for upgrading the sewer system before the 34 story tower is built across from the Gateway?
Wilson and Rivas are posturers, they take victory laps, but didn’t do a damn thing to deserve the lap. Both, like some on the council, are strutting for the next job, bigger bucks and using us as they’re stepping stones.
When I moved to West Hollywood 20+ years ago, I felt lucky to live here.
In 2023, the streets are overwhelmed by scary and degraded people, and our laws designed to protect residents are not being enforced by the few police that we have left.
The ridiculous decisions and antics of rank amateurs like John Erickson, Sepideh Shyne, and the absurd Chelsea Byers have destroyed our once-proud city.
I’m with you. I’ve lived here for 25 years and the city’s devolution is stark. Homeless people were a rarity and empty storefronts were almost non-existent. Sure, businesses turned over but as soon as one closed another opened in its place. And robberies at gunpoint during the day NEVER occurred.
Never, ever, ever be nice to a politician. A gtipof the hat tom some city hall denizen or their work. Cary your Mac with you at All times.
I see far more scooter riders on the sidewalks than on the streets. And I see way more bicyclists on the sidewalks than I should.