George Urch (left in photo) is an Orange County longtime political consultant for former Council member John Duran. Duran is the Chair of the WEHO PAC. ,the political action committee of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Two weeks ago, the WEHO PAC held interviews with candidates who answered questions and revealed the most sensitive details of their campaigns. The PAC has yet to make any endorsements.
The photo above was taken by a resident who witnessed Urch directing a photo shoot with West Hollywood candidate George Nickle. The resident noted Urch’s hand gestures, guiding Nickle to put his head down or up to make him look credible. As the political consultant for the WEHO PAC, Urch is prohibited from coordinating with any candidates or revealing any other candidate information. 
George Urch along with John Duran are well known the negative mailings distorting candidates views and positions.
The coordination of the WEHO PAC consultant and George Nickle is illegal. Upon reciving a copy of the photo of Urch alongside Nickle, the Chair of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce replied, “I will have to investigate this.”
A copy of the photo was shared with a number of elected officials and political consultants who pondered at the stupidity of Candidate Nickle and Weho Pac consultant standing in the middle of Santa Monica Blvd working together against both the WEHO PAC rules and the Federal Election Laws. One politico surmissed Duran’s intent on sabataging the WEHO PAC by diverting money to an Independent Expenditure Committee on behalf of Nickle. It is illegal for an independent expenditure committee to coordinate with any candidate or campaign and Duran seems to playing election games.
At the behest of Duran and on behalf of the WEHO PAC, Urch also commissioned a survey on issues by ‘Research Poll’. One question caught readers off guard. First, it asked the favorability rating of Mayor John M. Erickson, respondents could choose from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Then it asked, “What is your favorability rating on John Duran?” Duran is not a candidate in the race and appears to be spending WEHO PAC donations to learn about himself. Duran has allegedly given the survey results to Jordan Cockeram, another violation of federal election law.
Wood later denied any knowledge of the events on behalf of the WEHO PAC or the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “That photoshoot was done without the consent of the PAC board and is being dealt with.”
One elected official who spoke on the condition of anonymity commented, “Very sad and unfortunate. I mean that photo is PRETTY BAD. I bet they didn’t think anybody saw them. It needs to be reported to the FPPC. www.fppc.ca.gov.” Another commented “Its just sleazy politics”.
[…] Nickle, another candidate in the race, was recently photographed at a photo shoot directed by George Urch, a consultant with ties to Duran and the PAC. As such, Urch is prohibited from coordinating with […]
I note that George Nickle is tresspassing on Sheriff’s Department property, not on the public sidewalk but stomping over where grass could grow. Just awful.
Why don’t you report him to the sheriff and waste even more of our tax dollars on stupid things.
I believe you meant where the unhoused could camp with adjacent transportation stop.
THIS is what concerns you?
WOW
I suspect it means Larry block realizes he is not going to win yet another city council election. This despite the fact he pushed the term limits law to prevent people who were good at running the city from holding office. Very antidemocratic. Very trump like.
Clearly all that’s done is enable incompetents like sepi and our current mayor. Great job.
Do you think it’s reasonable John Heikman has been ruling west holkywood, in office, almost FORTY YEARS? That’s not a misprint. That’s ten years longer than Stalin was in office. Property owners and those who pay the bills around town have had enough of career politicians.
George, don’t let someone tell you to put your head down. Always have your head up, way more flattering!
There must be more to this. I cannot believe he would intentionally do something illegal.
I suspect this means Larry did not get the Chamber PAC endorsement.
What you should be saying is that Larry does not compromise ethics in order to get the chamber endorsement.
Did you interview for the Chamber PAC?
Yes. And George Urch sat there and listened to my entire campaign theme and plans and the other candidates plans and strategy just days prior.
You have been very up front with your campaign themes and the issues you care about; you have shared your campaign strategy with your readers. Your an open book. But even if the Chamber does not endorse you, why would they attack you? Keep focused on the issues as that is what voters want to hear.
Who took the pictures? Where’s the photo credit? This seems way convenient.
person chooses to remain anonymous does not want photo credit.
There is way too much anonymous b/s going on at Wehoonline and WehoTimes. All the anonymous articles and postings is undermining credibility and integrity.
It stinks.
Why on earth would it matter who took the photo? Don’t shoot the messenger.
Credibility matters
Are you implying that the photo is in any way staged? It seems to me that having your photo shoot in front of the METRO building on SMB in the middle of Boys Town in broad daylight might just be noticed. It would have stuck out less were he photographed go-go dancing on a table at Micky’s
I do not imply. I state. If someone is accusing a candidate of illegal behavior and substantiating with a photo, a photo credit would substantiate the authenticity and responsibility of that photo. I have been a Larry Block supporter in each of the last three election cycles whether he was running of not and I am again this time around. I was at his kick off town hall Saturday and made an unsolicited donation to his campaign in addition to purchasing a campaign T-Shirt. That he is making the accusations himself with a byline and substantiating with a photo I… Read more »
The photo and quote from David Wood speak for itself. The person who took the photo insists on not being outed, they are well known person in this city. The photo was sent to us with a suggestion for a story, ‘how a candidate preps’, neither brandon nor I paid any attention to the email or photo and the person kept insisting we look closer it is funny. with the hand gesutres.. When I wondered who is that person in the white shirt and sent out texts to many people to identify the person. When the man was identified at… Read more »
Your answer really fleshed out the story.
WeHo deserves all the garbage maneuvers by dirtbag Duran. They should have made him pay for his sexual harassment settlements, not have us tax payers cover it for him.
Can’t wait to see this photoshoot!
Delicious expose’.
At this point it seems John Erickson will win a second term. Other candidates don’t seem to have an organized campaign in place. Every day a new thing is revealed.
Larry, if you are running for city council you should not be writing these articles.
George is welcome to write any article and submit it too. Another publication posts hit pieces on me without merit. Everybody has a social media page to speak their mind. The above was not only illegal, it violated the law and the rules of the WEHO PAC. They have not made their endorsements, so some can say I’m hurting myself. But im not hear to make friends Im here to clean up the dirty city and fill the vacant storefronts.
Somebody has to do something about filling the vacant storefronts. Our city looks rundown and derelict because the incompetent city Council does not get tough with these vicious greedy filthy miserly self-serving commercial landlords and landladies who allow urban blight to dominate our city Because somehow, some way they save money by having Daryl empty storefront rather than renting them for anywhere near a reasonable price. The city council needs to pass laws that charge a $150,000 per month fee for any storefront that is vacant for more than 30 days. The filthy stinking greedy landlords can either afford it,… Read more »
Are you on drugs? What a ridiculous diatribe.
If Wehoonline is a 501c and you are using it to promote your candidacy or attack other candidates, there are many issues you can face regarding election and tax law. You need the ask your attorney to review your current and future activities on the site.
Larry, it’s called showing good judgement. You have someone else who is capable of writing these types of stories. If you want people to vote for you then you need to show you have good judgement. We have enough problems already in this city when it comes to people using good judgement. Just make your case and don’t get caught up in the dirty politics. We really don’t need it here.
I dont put words in people’s mouths and brandon is his own person. Im exposing the dirty politics and not afraid of the consequences.
That’s fine Larry but then don’t run for city council. Then you can do and say as you please and expose all of the dirty politics. Right now you are most likely violating campaign finance laws and giving people on other sites fodder for criticizing you and filing complaints. Maybe you are better off being an advocate and not being on the city council. You can’t just do as you please when you decide to run for public office. Otherwise you are no better than the people you are complaining about.
With all due respect every city council member has a social media page to broadcast their views to thousands of people and there are other news sites.When you log on to these pages your coming to this site to see what we have to say. Atter you run the payroll and file the taxes you can tell me what to do. Otherwise Im interested in developing policy and filing the vacant storefronts. And Im not going to stop because George Nickle was caught in the street red-handed.
I agree 100%. Let Brandon write these articles. Additionally make sure bylines are credited and provide photo credits. Larry, we want to win; facts and policy. Stay above the fray whenever you can.
Larry’s campaign has just imploded with all this nonsense. He should focus on his businesses so he can afford to pay his employees and his bills.