DEAR WEHO 📬 A city of West Hollywood employee’s fight for reasonable accommodations

Two weeks ago “Whistleblower 3,” sent a letter to the City Manager and City Council identifying herself and claiming protection under the cities Whistleblower policy.   Their name is not knows to her co-workers so we are keeping their name private.  We waited to give the City of West Hollywood an opportunity to respond.  This article is the final in this series by Whistleblower 3.  The city’s rebuttal can be found here.   A listing of whistleblower sources can be found on the bottom of this article.   

Whistleblower 3 has worked at the City of West Hollywood since 2008.   In 2021-2022 they were battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and thyroid cancer.   The two were not related and they took one leave of absence for chemotherapy in October 2022 to April 2023.  

While working at the City of West Hollywood I have witnessed the corruption, corporate greed, classism, retaliation, and disregard for human life by a government that has failed to protect its employees.  

Since 2008, I have been an employee at the City of West Hollywood and have recently identified myself to my employer as a whistleblower.  

CORRUPTION, LIES & ENTITLEMENT 

As previously published through WEHOonline.com, the City of West Hollywood is known for their nepotism and favoritism toward well-connected Staff members.  Sadly, City Staff are not the only ones affected by the city’s unethical behavior.  Although they may not know it, WeHo establishments and residents are also affected.   

An example of this occurred a few weeks ago (2024) when the city received numerous complaints regarding the exceptionally loud music emitting from a Sunset venue.  I later found that the venue hosted a private LASD party without the required Special Event Permit (bypassed), and the music was never lowered.  It turned out that the event was attended by City Manager, David Wilson, Director of Administrative Services, Janet Jimenez, and Director of Public Safety, Danny Rivas, who were observed happily drinking.  

It is important to understand this conflict of interest.  Danny Rivas, being the director in charge of the division that oversees the issuance of Special Event Permits and Code Enforcement, is notified of every request and complaint received through the Code Enforcement Hotline at (323) 848-6516 and emails sent to code@weho.org.  This signifies that he not only chose to disregard protocol, but also ignored the WeHo resident’s complaints received during his gathering at said establishment while bypassing the requirement to have the venue obtain the mandatory Special Event Permit for the private gathering that he attended.  Much like he allowed PUMP, TOMTOM, and BEACHES to bypass multiple requirements, Danny Rivas seems to have the authority to pick and choose who gets to bypass protocol.  

This is also true for Janet Jimenez, Director of Administrative Services, overseeing HR.  It seems like yesterday Janet Jimenez was boasting about her personal (not professional) ties to Oscar Delgado, who is her friend and mentor (pre-WeHo).  I vividly recall when she approached us (she knows who) and proudly announced that Oscar Delgado had called one of the Sunset hotels to book a room so she could host her best friend’s bachelorette party.  Shamelessly, she boasted how it only took one phone call from Oscar Delgado to ensure they would be treated as VIP.   She then obtained several free Visitor Parking Permits (something for which an ex Staff member, Brendan Rome, was previously fired for 🡪 City hall employee sues West Hollywood – Beverly Press & Park Labrea NewsBeverly Press & Park Labrea News) to accommodate parking for her and her friends on the day of the bachelorette party.  How was this done?  Oscar Delgado, at the time, was the Director of Public Works, overseeing the division in charge of issuing these Visitor Parking Permits and Janet Jimenez’ word was as good as Oscar Delgado’s.  How do I know?  I was the staff member directed to issue those visitor parking permits to Janet Jimenez.  If Janet Jimenez received such kickbacks while being a Code Compliance Officer (without repercussions), imagine what she gets now being a director…  

Furthermore, as published on here, on October 2023, Director Janet Jimenez presented West Hollywood City Council with an item to re-hire and bypass the 180-day policy for the “retired Assistant City Manager Oscar Delgado to perform temporary specialized services.” City Manager Wilson spoke in support of this item by explaining that Oscar Delgado was the only suited candidate for said position (how this was determined remains unknown). West Hollywood City Council passed the item and a resolution authorizing Oscar Delgado to become a consultant with the salary of $27,622.66 monthly or hourly equivalent of $159.36.  Since Mr. Delgado was City Manager Wilson’s right-hand man, and Janet Jimenez’ mentor, it seems probable that, although the city had ample time to hire another “expert,” these individuals chose to wait for Mr. Delgado to retire so he could be the oneearning the $27,622.66 monthly wage in addition to his retirement.  Could having Oscar Delgado re-hired as a consultant be the reason why the City of West Hollywood has yet to fill the Assistant City Manager position?   

CITY HALL CULTURE     

When the nepotism allegations came to light, City Manager Wilson excused and defended his choice of promoting the unethical and incompetent Director of Administrative Services, Janet Jimenez and known micromanager, Director of Public Safety, Danny Rivas, by stating that they worked hard to get where they’re at” but, not surprisingly, failed to give examples. What better way to dismiss Staff’s concerns than to imply employees have not worked as hard as those that have been handed and gifted promotions?  

During an All-Staff meeting, Staff were encouraged to submit all complaints through Human Resources.  The pathetic attempt to encourage Staff to submit complaints through the city would have been comical had we not realized that David Wilson and the City of West Hollywood are convinced they have done nothing wrong.  Why would anyone come forward to Human Resources when they have built a reputation of sweeping complaints under the rug?

The mandatory All Staff Meeting only served to confirm the following:  

• Nepotism and favoritism are encouraged and applauded, just ask David Wilson who could have patted his own back for handing out promotions to iexpert and unskillful individuals.   
• Unethical and gossipmonger behavior is rewarded with multiple promotions, just ask Janet Jimenez who bypassed all the hiring steps and now oversees the Human Resources Division. 
• Charisma is better than experience and having the right connection guarantees promotions, just ask Danny Rivas who was handed the Director ofH Public Safety position. 

From a Staff point-of-view, seeing City Manager Wilson, Director of Public Safety Rivas, and Director of Administrative Services Jimenez happily drinking together at a favored establishment shortly after this article was published, gives the impression that they believe to be invincible.  

Additional links regarding the City of West Hollywood’s corruption and scandals, can be found at:

• LAUREN MEISTER: Community Development Director search leaves out ‘community’ – WEHOonline.com
• DEAR WEHO 🔹 Oscar Delgado retired, let’s keep it that way – WEHOonline.com
• City Hall Whistleblower policy explained
• Whistleblower: City Hall let TomTom and PUMP operate without required licenses
• DEAR WEHO 📬 I work in City Hall. Change is needed, written by me.
• City Hall calls ‘All-Staff’ meeting to deal with whistleblower complaints

WHO ARE THE WHISTLEBLOWERS

This past week, Whistleblower 3 wrote to the City Manager and City Council, revealing their identity and seeking protection under the city’s whistleblower policy. Despite disclosing their identity and seeking protection, their name is being kept confidential.

The first time a city staffer approached me with a grievance, we did not publish a story. Instead, I contacted the City Manager David Wilson, and the City Attorney Lauren Langer, informing them of the issue and requesting they speak with the Councilmember who was overstepping their bounds. We refer to this individual as Whistleblower 1.

The second instance involved a former city employee seeking help for an Asian individual who claimed he was bullied out of the lifeguard staff. A senior city staffer, Corri Plank had two of her children in positions at the pool.  We refer to it as Whistleblower 2.  

Whistleblower 3 is an employee who has been working at City Hall since 2008. This employee has been battling thyroid cancer throughout 2022 and 2023. Whistleblower 3 is central to recent stories regarding PUMP and TOM TOM operating without business licenses, along with other allegations of nepotism and favoritism.

Whistleblower 4 is a current employee of city hall who has supported the claims of Whistleblower 3.

Whistleblower 5 is an ex-city hall employee who is in the loop of current city hall activities.

Whistleblower 10 is an anonymous person who self identifies with that name in their emails to WEHOonline on subjects unrelated to the above matter.

— Larry Block