OpEd: The Chamber sold me out

It was the call that turned my world upside down. Genevieve Morrill, President and CEO of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, called to say the endorsement of the WEHO PAC would be going to George Nickle and former UNITE HERE 2022 candidate Zekiah Wright. And she continued…

“I adore you, but “you fucked yourself,” her voice elevating. “You fucked yourself when you wrote that letter in support of John Erickson.” For the record, I wrote a letter to the PAC to consider working with John and myself.  But John Duran and his padded pack of buddies were against both of us. And I answered loudly back, “So I fucked myself for trying to work with Erickson?”

Something was off. Zekiah Wright pulled papers on the last days of the extension period. They went into a Chamber PAC endorsement as a former UNITE HERE LOCAL 11 candidate, with no campaign, no money, no endorsements, and walked out with the support and endorsement of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Wright stood with UNITE HERE Local 11 inside the council chambers just six months prior. They were written up by city staff for too many absences from the Rent Stabilization Commission with a recommendation for removal.

This is not a hit piece on Wright. They are my friend. I urged them to run, but they said they were too tied up with work.  For the last month or so, they were coming over to my house, calling, and acting like my friend. They were part of my A to Z speech. They are the one who told me that Duran had resigned from the PAC, they met the night before, and texted that they wanted me to be “their first call.” They are a liar.

This publication, WEHOonline, had two other partners, Nick Remedio and David Wood, both members of the WEHO PAC. Less than 100 days ago, in early June, Nick called me to say that he needed his name off the company because he had “sensitive negotiations” with UNITE HERE Local 11. Remedio is the general manager of the W Hotel in Hollywood. He is a resident of Los Angeles. When I heard that Wright was the Chamber’s selection, it was clear that Nick sold out.

Nick was the only other signature on the company checkbook until June 5th, 2024.  He got his shares by leveraging his position as Chair of the Chamber bringing in advertising.   He made a date with John Bendheim at the Beverly Hills Courier to sell our domains for $250,000.  Remedio would pick up $50k without touching anything. With Remedio heading up labor negotiations on behalf of Marriott’s crown jewel, the W Hotel in Hollywood, Nick could be a hero. The Los Angeles resident and Los Angeles hotel manager and Duran would work together to get Zekiah the endorsement to push me out. That was the goal and they succeeded.  But, to be clear Nick surrendered his shares and received no cash benefit.  

After the “you fucked yourself” with the letter about Erickson, Genevieve continued, “You fucked yourself with that story on Duran having sex with the candidates.”Duran was seething over the article about his relations with two candidates becoming a headline but I didn’t know he was off the PAC until Zekiah told me a week later.  Duran, off the WEHO PAC, told Zekiah to call Remedio and get the Chamber endorsement. Duran’s hate for me would mean he would also sell out WEHO to the UNITE HERE Local 11 2022 candidate. Duran had resigned but still pulled the strings.  He used the information and pushed the the vote through his longtime best friend, Dianne Abbitt.  Duran had the PAC padded before he left. 

There is so much to unpack. Gen continued, “You fucked yourself when you posted that story about Duran having sex with the candidates.”—-I’d like to be very clear. Before posting that story, I called David Wood, Chair of the Chamber and told him. “David, you are the only one who can tell me to hold this story.” David erred on the side of the free press and the truth. The story ran. Now Genevieve Morrill is telling me I fucked myself by telling the truth and she wants to cover it up. I fucked myself by telling the truth. I fucked myself by saying, give John Erickson a chance.

The Chamber was dragging its feet with the endorsements. So I asked David if the Chamber was having a problem endorsing both Nickle and me, two white men over 50. A phone call from a stranger in Democratic circles told me that I had blown up Duran’s plans. Wood is very honorable. I asked, “So is it generational?” and he said, “Sort of.” I assumed it was Block and Cockeram.  Cockeram has said he was urged to run by Duran and Duran wanted to deliver the endorsement.  George Nickle was off with George Urch in that strange dalliance between a candidate and PAC advisor.  I said to David, “Hey, if it’s gonna be Block and Cock, can you put me first, instead of Cock Block?” And then I texted Jordan, “I’m going to do you the favor of your life.” The favor was to bury a story to support the Chamber ticket — the story of how Duran skimmed an affordable housing unit for Cockeram while he was mayor in 2019. Duran even used the WEHO PAC, and all our member donations, to ask a question in a survey about his own favorability ratings. It was really an abuse of power.

After the pick of Wright, I realized that it was “racial” and not “generational.” I would not get the Chamber endorsement because I was the other white man on the ticket, or I was the older white guy on the ticket.  After the deflections of “you fucked yourself by writing a letter to support working with Erickson” or “you fucked yourself with that story on Duran’s sex with candidates,” Genevieve lamented that we needed a younger progressive next to George on the ticket to beat Erickson. The WEHO PAC is now a casting call. Two white men over 50 was not the picture they wanted to present.  

In 2022, the Chamber PAC endorsed five candidates for three spots. This year, they passed on the only local business owner in the race.  The person who led the mask drive for residents during Covid, the only business in town offer vaccinations during the pandemic, the person who weaved a Pride Guide Book for all the businesses just three months ago.  Passed over for being an old white guy. 

Remember when Lindsey Horvath ran for County Supervisor and was accused her of putting self-interests ahead of our local interests? Remember when Sepi ran for Congress and she was accused of putting her self-interests ahead of our interests?

Nick followed Lindsey’s and Sepi’s ambitions outside of WeHo, and Genevieve Morrill sees the glitter of Hollywood too. In 2023, just last year, Morrill applied for the job as Director of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. She didn’t get the job, but that didn’t stop her from using the West Hollywood Chamber to build her image. Did you notice the last few WeHo Chamber mixers in Hollywood? Did you notice the WEHO Chamber Pride float’s first-ever trip down Hollywood Blvd? Did you notice all the empty storefronts in West Hollywood that need attention? How about all the construction projects and holes in the ground that Genevieve and the Chamber advocated for?   What are they doing to help get those projects built?

After the announcement, I received two calls from high-up elected officials discussing their distress at what took place. Laughter overshadowed the sadness at a city that no longer had a Chamber of Commerce that was putting West Hollywood’s best interests first. The WEHO PAC has only one of six members who live in West Hollywood and only two of six members who work in West Hollywood.

I lost my city.  We lost our city.   I’m fighting a broken city hall, a corrupt Chamber of Commerce, and a union that wants to control the city council. There has to be a better way forward for small businesses like mine to have representation from a business council that only serves West Hollywood interests. The Chamber of Commerce is not really for small businesses.   They sold all of us out.