I want to express my gratitude for your role as a beacon of integrity within our political landscape. In our discussions, though we often find ourselves on opposing sides, your commitment to the quality of life of our residents and your principled stand against superficiality have always commanded my respect.
In yesterday’s meeting, I felt a strong sense of support and understanding from you, particularly in your interactions with the city staff and our Director of Economic Development. Your pointed critique about the inefficiency of spending significant resources on surveys that fail to yield actionable recommendations or conclusions resonated deeply with me. I wholeheartedly agree that such practices represent a profound waste of resources.
It’s concerning to see David Wilson, the City Manager, possibly being influenced by the Local 11 endorsed city council members, which are the sad majority of our council. They probably bully him as they do every time even with public speakers for exercising them freedom of speech. As Laura works under David, she is likely compelled to follow his direction, which might not always be in the best interests of West Hollywood. This undue influence compromises the integrity of our city’s leadership and impacts our community’s well-being.
It is sad to see the city of West Hollywood destroyed by corrupted politicians without integrity and superficial in making decisions based on directions from them electoral donors, without taking in consideration facts which affects residents affordability and economic prosperity of our city.
Thank you again for your courage in speaking up and for being a voice of reason that truly represents the best interests of our community.
Warm regards,
Lucian Tudor
Lauren is the only member I have any faith or confidence in. She cares about the essentials. If I write about a tree taken down by an Amazon truck within days it was removed and replaced. When I wrote about a traffic issue she replied the same day connecting me with a staffer that resolved it. To me a council member is and should be one of us. They merely need to be resident with a commitment to accomplish a task or tasks. It’s not a career it’s being of service and Lauren is and has been about service. She… Read more »
Thank you Lucian for your leadership and your willingness to spend long hours at City Council meetings, just to be ignored or denigrated by Council members. Lauren Meister is a voice for common sense and her lodestar is what is in the best interests of the residence. Council members and Council candidates could learn a lot about real leadership by watching her.
Present and future Councilmembers should aspire to be as thoughtful, insightful, fair, devoted, etc., etc., etc. as Lauren has been. She will be very sorely missed when her term expires. Who could possibly fill her shoes? Lauren is a true gem !
Lucien Tudor, your commentary is articulate and insightful as regards the motivations and integrity of Councilperson Meister, whose leadership supports both small businesses’ and residents’ best interests in West Hollywood. Councilperson Meister also happens to be the only person on the current City Council who has actually run a small business, can administer a p&l and understands the issues at hand. She is an example of what West Hollywood voters should be able to expect from City governance. I truly hope that the outcome of the November election will better reflect the interests of West Hollywood’s residents and small businesses… Read more »
I see Lauren having coffee with constituents at Starbucks in am. She actually cares about the city and its efficiency. She appears to be the only council member that is actually qualified to do the job. The resumes of most of these people are wildly unqualified. And I think there is a reason for this – they don’t actually want the city to run efficiently because if things work properly then they and many others in the city government won’t have a job. There is a street closure and power outage all day tomorrow on Laurel Ave. There will be no… Read more »
Bureaucrats and elected public servants rely on creating problems to solve and then do a terrible job of even attempting to solve them. They manufacture a nanny-state mentality that manipulates the electorate into thinking things are more complex than they are. Common sense is in short supply for organizations that have zero responsibility to run efficient and cost-effective operations. None seem to have practical, real-world experience. Government is not real-world experience.
I may not always agree with Lauren, but I admire her consistency. I’ve had wonderful conversations over the years on any given topic. I consider her a friend first, politician second.
Ditto, Jimmy!
I agree that Lauren is the best we have, but that’s still not saying too much. In order to get elected in west hollywood, everyone needs to make a deal with the devil and pretend you support rent control There is no way I could believe millionaire property owning Councilmembers could truly believe in rent control. You either believe in property rights, or you don’t. There is no middle ground. But because the founders of the city set things up in such a way that there would always be more renters than owners here, it is a requirement to pander… Read more »
No one is forcing you to live or own property here. We have enough unemployed slumlords.
Despite what you fantasize about, I make great money here cause there are no shortage of people who made bad life decisions and need to rent. What evidence do you have to think I’m a “slumlord”? Please cite convictions, fines paid etc. Despite being against a lot of the bad laws, no one follows the laws better than I do. Even the bad laws. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve never even been cited.
So, from your response above that you “make great money here”, I gather that you’re nothing more than another greedy landlord wanting to charge more and more and more. True, that is the basis of our free market economy. Why don’t you just be happy with what you’ve got and shut up?
Bad life decisions like not having a colonoscopy and getting cancer which results in medical treatment that costs an exhorbitant amount of money which you can’t fully pay and may end up leaving you homeless. That kind of bad life decision? I have more examples if you’d like. Wouldn’t it be ironic if a bad life decision that you made caused you to go bankrupt, finding you among the homeless. I will save you a room at the Holloway Motel – just in case.
Couldn’t agree more! Lauren has been our only sanity. She will go down as one of, if not greatest CC Weho member and Major. True Gem.
Thank you Lauren. Everything said about you in this article so far is correct.
Lucian!
what a wonderfully articulate and honest, “dear WeHo” letter you wrote!!
I am thrilled and proud to know you!
It is true that Lauren is the only one up there with any honesty, intelligence, decency, and loyalty to the residents and businesses of West Hollywood! Thank you for pointing that out to the readers of WEHOonline! ♥️
Thank you Councilmember Lauren Meister. You epitomize how an elected official should act. Ask the questions and listen to the constituents concerns. And mostly be compassionate to all. You always come prepared to council meetings and willing to question the inaccuracies. Many of your constituents come to city council meetings without an open mind. Even last night I was told that 3 of the council members had already made up their minds with regards to the minimum wage ordinance and that it was not worth waiting around since public comments do not matter to them. BTW, this was mentioned by… Read more »
That Director of Economic Development is USELESS. I mean, come on! That person and her staff are hired by the city to give their expert opinion to the council…guidance..so they can make informed decisions. The city spent thousands and thousands of dollars on this survey that was done, and then the economic development staff did nothing with it. Council member Meister was the only one to speak truth. I sat there thinking to myself, this economic development person is absolutely useless and should be removed and get somebody in there that actually can do the job. Hell I could even… Read more »