BLOOM: What I learned from West Hollywood and why I’m running for County Supervisor.

For the past decade, I’ve been proud to represent West Hollywood as part of Assembly District 50. This city, in its nearly four decade history, has led the way on so many important issues — LGBTQ rights, renter protections, and fighting back against the AIDS/HIV epidemic, just to name a few.

Also, it is the most fun place to hang out in our district — though don’t tell Santa Monica I said that.

West Hollywood’s values — fighting for those who are most vulnerable, pushing the envelope on environmental sustainability, and working to make our communities more diverse and inclusive — are also my values. Now, I am running for LA County Board of Supervisors to ensure that upholding those values remains the focus of our County government.

The Board of Supervisors is responsible for direct work on the issues I care most about and have spent the last two decades working on: environmental protections, housing affordability, public health, transportation, and providing humane and lasting solutions for the homelessness crisis.

I believe the Board is the right place to continue my work on the issues our community cares most about. Over the past two decades, I have advocated for and worked toward building a transit, bike, and pedestrian-friendly westside. That includes, as Santa Monica’s Mayor and Chair of the Westside Cities Council of Governments, working closely with the Board of Supervisors to bring the Expo light rail to Santa Monica. I continued the work, making sure our State allocated the resources to help our communities build out sustainable and safe transportation infrastructures as chair of the Assembly’s powerful transportation budget committee.

I am proud of my record. I have been a fierce advocate for animal welfare, fighting for legislation that protects California’s precious wildlife, from the marine life in the Santa Monica Bay to the mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains. Over the past nine years, I have earned a reputation as one of California‘s most progressive — and productive — legislators. I have made affordable housing, combating the climate crisis, holding polluters accountable, reducing toxins that harm wildlife and pets, and fighting for clean and safe drinking water central to my work in Sacramento. Year after year, these efforts have been underscored in a widely admired package of new laws and other meaningful accomplishments.

If you choose me to be your next Supervisor, we will continue this work together. 

Los Angeles is my hometown. When my partner, Robbie, and I got one of our first places together, it was in a little duplex on West Knoll in unincorporated LA County (it would later become part of the City of West Hollywood). As a young couple, we watched as committed progressive activists came together and formed a new city, one that promised to unreservedly embrace the many members of the LGBTQ community that called it home and to aggressively fight to protect vulnerable renters.

Then, as a young family law attorney, I was inspired to watch the rise of this intentionally progressive community as they codified their values into a full-fledged city. As the specter of the then-nascent HIV/AIDS epidemic loomed, and national and state leaders ignored the impending humanitarian crisis, West Hollywood activists and elected officials fought for the health and the visibility of their community.

Though Robbie and I eventually moved to Santa Monica, this has always served as an inspiration for me as I began my activism and eventually, my career in public service.

As we begin to recover from the impacts of this pandemic, we are also facing monumental challenges — combating climate change, helping our unhoused neighbors get shelter and services, keeping vulnerable people housed by preventing evictions, and making sure that we have a just and inclusive economic recovery.

West Hollywood has a special relationship with the County, as a city that contracts with the County for vital public safety services. And is currently working closely with the Metro Board — on which all the Supervisors sit — to improve traffic and transit connectivity. Having served on a City Council, a State Legislature, the Coastal Commission and more, I know how government works — and how we can work together for the benefit of all.  I helped guide Santa Monica to become a diverse and jobs rich economy — the heart of “Silicon Beach” — as it emerged from the Great Recession. Now, that experience is more important than ever.

It has been a tremendous pleasure representing the small but mighty City of West Hollywood. I hope that you consider me capable and worthy to continue that job at the County. Together, we can create a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future for our region and I look forward to continuing to work together to make our community better for all.

Learn more about my campaign at RichardBloom.com