Former Council member John D’Amico is considering whether to enter the 2024 City Council race. “There is lots of work to do” the former council member said with permission to publish.
D’Amico’s revelations come after the announcement that Council member Sepi Shyne would not seek re-election. Council member D’Amico spoke with Shyne and welcomed her to the ‘former council members club’.
“Our capital projects are behind schedule and we need to speed that up to be prepared for the 2028 Olympics.” D’Amico works as a Senior Project Manager at UCLA and is scheduled for full retirement at the end of June 2026.
John D’Amico was first elected to the city council in 2011 defeating former Council member Lindsey Horvath in her first bid to become an elected member of the West Hollywood City Council. Horvath served on the City Council from 2009-2011 after being appointed to the position following the death of Council member Sal Gueriello. Horvath ran again in 2015 and was elected to her first full term on the Council.
In 2015 D’Amico played kingmaker supporting the election of Lauren Meister. Meister joined Horvath and D’Amico on the city council dais winning her first term in public office. In 2019, Sepi Shyne challenged D’Amico for a city council seat falling just over 100 votes shy of the incumbent council member. In 2020 Shyne came back to win a city council seat in the first city-wide November election. D’Amico opposed Shyne and wrote this critique. https://wehoonline.com/2020/08/13/councilmember-damico-posts-a-scathing-critique-of-candidate-sepi-shyne/
D’Amico wrote: “For some reason Ms. Shyne thinks she gets to choose who’s welcome here … believes that her sex negative ‘dog whistle,’ attacking gay men is a way to divide us and to make inroads to the WeHo electorate. It’s not … it seems Ms. Shyne doesn’t understand that you don’t have to tear down gay men to do other work, you only have to do that if you think small and have no vision. Seems she sees herself and can’t see much beyond that, and projects her own failures on the city.” D’Amico and Shyne eventually built a working relationship including co-chairing the WeHo Pride sub-committee which led to founding of new WEHO PRIDE events.
After Shyne’s election in 2020, D’Amico joined Shyne and Horvath along with Council member Erickson to pass some of the most controversial policies including ‘scooters’, ‘outzones’ and ‘the minimum wage and benefit package intended for hotel workers but then rolled out to all businesses citywide.’
“The city does not have a vision right now.” said D’Amico. “In eighteen months the city can no longer answer the question ‘What is West Hollywood?'”
A final decision or announcement is expected in June.
Oh GOD!
If our number one priority is to get rid of Erickson it is less likely to happen if we keep getting more candidates who will split the vote. Erickson’s name recognition and status as an incumbent already gives him an advantage to people who don’t know anything else about him. This is how we have ended up with George Gascon as one of the two candidates for DA; there were so many challengers running they cancelled each other out. So even though 80% (I think) of voters cast their vote against him the votes were spread so thin we may well get another term… Read more »
Let’s not forget who helped “megaphone” D’Amico’s win on to the Council-killer Ed Buck! Re-electing D’Amico would be the equivalent of choosing a psycopath to pick a narcissist for Council.
I hope John does run.
If our number one priority is to get rid of Erickson it is less likely to happen if we keep getting more candidates who will split the vote. Erickson’s name recognition and status as an incumbent already gives him an advantage to people who don’t know anything else about him. This is how we have ended up with George Gascon as one of the two candidates for DA; there were so many challengers running they cancelled each other out. So even though 80% (I think) of voters cast their vote against him the votes were spread so thin we may… Read more »
Well said, I say very hypocritical too. Flip Floper is an understatement. He says he cared for renters rights however he alleged that gentrification and higher income peoples and higher rents were to be expected. He never expressed solutions for where fixed income and disabled people displaced by this would go. Jeffrey Prang did the same thing and said he only assesses properties now but he enabled wealth driven and wealthier residents to thrive with lower income residents sent packing. Do you know John didn’t want to talk about affordable housing with me in 2011 after getting elected to city… Read more »
Can we please get Larry to ask Heilman and D’Amico to shake hands again?
Lol…take a break your working too hard!
Is this a bad time to mention giving the keys to the City to Stormy Daniels? Looks like this trial balloon got shot down.
Wasn’t that also John Duran?
John D’Amico needs to pack his inflated ego back into being a private citizen and enjoy his upcoming retirement. John D’Amico is not a man of his word. John D’Amico lacks principles. John D’Amico let his petulance shine through too many times. Just say no. No more Johns.
Are you kidding me? Whatever he may say now, do NOT forget D’Amico was basically in lock-step with Shyne, Horvath and Erickson (the SHE) on almost every vote that hurt residents to favor other interests or personal agendas. That was the loneliest of times for Councilmember Meister who was the ONLY one on Council who seemed to care about residents at all. D’Amico may have had residents’ concerns in mind at the beginning of his first term, but once the deputy system went away he became completely unreliable and unpredictable. He more or less went along the new SHE gang.… Read more »
What did he say when JH ran again?
John, you hurt our city in so many ways. We don’t want you back.
Recycling incompetent and corrupt city council members hurts everyone in West Hollywood.