The West Hollywood Voter Survey was conducted by Wallin Research, sponsored by the Pandemic Recovery Coalition and initiated by Keith Kaplan. Read Part 1 and Part 2 here.
The Survey was intended to provide research into the thoughts of West Hollywood voters. Part 1 focused on issues and discovered the number one issue on the minds of West Hollywood voters was homelessness. Part 2 covered City and City Council approval and discovered that most West Hollywood voters are satisfied with the job the City is doing but less than a majority as satisfied with the job performance of the City Council.
Polls are conducted every single day. You cannot turn on your television without seeing the latest poll. The West Hollywood City Council spends tens of thousands of dollars on polls to find out what is on the minds of residents. There is nothing unusual about polls, or this poll.
The problem with this poll was the reaction of Council member Erickson and Mayor Horvath. Phone calls and emails are now the subject of a public records request. Upstanding community members were insulted and accused of wrongdoing and threatened with retribution. Council member Erickson took to Twitter to sound the alarm that the Trans Community, Renters, and more are under attack. Erickson was inciting anger over a legitimate poll. Imagine you’re a transgendered person and a city council member posts that you are under attack- again- stirring up fears. Here is a copy of Council member Erickson’s tweet.
The push-poll was:
✔️anti-trans
✔️anti-worker
✔️anti-renter
✔️anti-WeHoThis alt-right rightwing poll is disgusting! This kind of politics doesn’t belong in #WeHo!
Shame on you! https://t.co/NeJQVR1Y27
— Dr. John M. “GET VACCINATED” Erickson (@JErickson85) August 30, 2021
Keith Kaplan decided that despite the private nature of the research that he would release the poll in its entirety. Kaplan hopes the City Council will use the research to address the pressing problems facing our city. Despite the fact that this may be considered ‘opposition research’ it is now public with only a public benefit.
Message testing cross quantifies issues, and intensity with the public’s knowledge of events. Message testing is part of learning how various messages resonate with the public. Message testing helps the evaluators understand how educated the public on any given subject.
Kaplan’s research and message testing are now an open book for all. It is not often that this type of research is made public. Here is part 3 of the West Hollywood Voter Survey.
As we conclude our three part series that included the West Hollywood Voter Survey it is important to note this private survey was done for the Pandemic Recovery Coalition. Many members of the community were called at random and all the members of the City Council became aware of the poll. One city council member went to his Twitter account and pulled a page right out of Donald Trump’s playbook to incite fear among the very groups he claims to protect. We did not see Mayor-elect Meister, or Council member D’Amico, or Council member Shyne respond to the poll by inciting fear among portions of the West Hollywood community. Only Council member Erickson caused this uproar. And that is how this story came to WEHOville.
This is the textbook definition of a “push poll.” Take the results with an entire shaker of salt. Preferably pink Himalayan sea salt. This is clearly a pro-Chamber of Commerce, pro-Old Guard push poll designed to ruffle feathers of the community. It is very pro-hotels, anti-worker, and pro-NIMBYs (naturally). Also I challenge anyone to tell me how, exactly, a city that is 96% built can handle the unhoused, beyond funding social services (which we do). The single-family homeowners in the wealthiest parts of Weho don’t want any new housing and would FLIP if a homeless shelter was built in the… Read more »
It’s a poll. I cannot understand how a city council member is so weak and thin skinned to react to a poll this way. It does not matter what kind of poll. Erickson will never get my vote again because he is not ready for prime time. I’m an Abbe Land John Heilman supporter and the two biggest mistakes they ever made was Horvath and Erickson.
Looks like a push poll to me. Can’t see how you wouldn’t say this is a push poll.
Yep. This is a disgusting right-wing push poll, “an ostensible opinion poll in which the true objective is to sway voters using loaded or manipulative questions.” A political dirty trick that spews negativity and untruths. But those writing the poll were so out of touch with WeHo voters that even their biased questions didn’t produce their intended results. Voters overwhelmingly support increasing the minimum wage (even after the biased lead-in), and less than half agreed with the heartless attempt to drive opposition to a homeless center. The non-profit I’ve worked at for 18 years for runs statewide ballot… Read more »
If a phone call ruffles a city councilman this much they are not ready to deal with the problems of the day. You sound like a total partisan. You also keep talking about yourself I, I, I, and miss the point about we , our , and us. It’s a poll relax. People aren’t stupid . Your a Horvath appointee so speaking out of both sides of your mouth.
Fascinating weekend. This poll exposed real divides in our community. People are talking about issues, that’s a good thing. This exercise also clearly demonstrates that politics plays favorites. Sycophancy trumps critical thinking, every time. Those most offended by this legitimate exercise in civic engagement will dig their heels in the sand and remain resolute and obstinate in their my-way-or-the-highway approach to governance by bullying. Pave the way for more mature minds. Mr. Kaplan, are you ready? Whatever else came to light this weekend, the most shining star is Erickson exposed as a complete buffoon. Regardless, the cheer squad (Hi Karen!)… Read more »
John Erickson revealed himself to be a person lacking in character and dignity while on Planning Commission. His power play over the very able current Chair. Lynn Hoopengarner speaks for itself and shows that he is no ally of women or other responsible people. He apparently needed them to believe he was for him to be elected. The fact that things have evolved as they have is no surprise. A far, far cry from his supposed mentor John Heilman.
Mark Hughes is right. It’s cancel time. Hitting every brand hotel that isn’t unized in West Hollywood. Focusing first on the Sunset Tower with an owner who cries poor-mouth and lives in $15 million mansion in Beverly Hills with his husband!
A Hollywood industry boycott. I’ve already talked to my contacts at the Writers Guild of America and they are onboard. SAG, DGA, IATSE will be aboard. And celebrities who dine out in the racist and anti-union hotels will face cancel culture.
Goodby Oscar parties until every brand hotel is unionized.
Cancel culture is so mature. Why engage in dialogue when you can just threaten an ineffective cancellation and achieve squat.
Agreed. Cancel culture is the only tool of the mean, uneducated and irresponsible.
I thought the first two parts of the poll were fairly neutral in the phrasing of the questions, but this third part is filled with questions that push conclusions on respondents. To give just one example, a question improperly presupposes that the Council is forcing the “so-called” Beverly Triangle project on residents without regard for their concerns. A neutral question would have asked, “Are you familiar with the Beverly Triangle project? If so, do you support it as approved by the City? If not, which of the following reasons best reflects your feelings: A. Its impact on nearby residential neighborhoods… Read more »
You’re confusing the Beverly Triangle with the Melrose Triangle. Too many triangles.
All of this is WRONG.
From the survey to Wehoville to John Erickson.
The questions lead the witness and have a viewpoint.
Wehoville’s own writing shows bias.
Erickson has an agenda.
“It was not expected to create such a fuss.” I highly doubt that. There are motives here all around.
Fairness and journalism are dead. You should all be ashamed.
Greg, you are so right. The only intelligent discourse was largely in the comments.
It looks like residents are catching onto the mayor’s + sycophants self service. It’s so encouraging to see that the MTA homeless outreach center has more broad community support than these pollsters were realistically hoping for.
It would seem to me there is a long history of “vanity” legislation emanating from the City Council; they adopted the “WeHo Fur Ban” drafted by Ed Buck and gave the keys to the City to Stormy Daniels. Indeed WeHo’s reputation for “pay to play” politics goes back over a decade and was featured on the front page of the LA Weekly’s expose “West Follywood”. It is hard to say how Sepi Shyne could have a “reputation” for “pay to play” since she did not take any money from developers; strange how the Chamber of Commerce praises those former Council… Read more »
On the homeless, why do some of our neighboring cities not have any homeless, like Culver City? How do they manage that?
On Sepi, she is just way too radical! Why are unisex bathrooms so important to her? Has she considered how expensive they will be for business owners? Has she made herself aware of the history of violence in them, mostly against women where they have been used, even here in WeHo a few years ago at the old Here Lounge next to the Abbey?
Other cities who appear to have no homeless are simply running them over the border into neighboring cities. In my observation, many (not all) of the homeless people who are in West Hollywood is because they feel safer from being attacked or robbed here than in Hollywood. As for Sepi, I would say unisex bathrooms is just one issue out of scores that she is working on, including expanding tenant protections. I am not sure unisex bathrooms are much more than a passing fad; lets see what consumers think. Maybe we need another poll, albeit one that is a bit… Read more »
I have a feeling there is more than that to be said about the cities who don’t have homeless. Running them into neighboring cities seems a little too simplistic. I have a feeling it’s more like they just don’t let them in, but how do they do that?
I’m envisioning Erickson at his breakfast table this morning, clutching his pearls at how completely inoffensive this legitimate poll is, except to his own fragile narcissistic bullying ego. His and his sycophants’ bashing it as a “push poll” does nothing to eliminate the realty that we’re paying attention, and we really want the course corrected. There are serious adults ready to take council back from the performative wokeness, that rather than co-existing with, has supplanted sound municipal governance. We’re not going to sit idly by while the SHE Squad dismantles and squanders the work at which many toiled over the… Read more »
Erickson also spends a lot of time yelling at Wehoville users.
Great visual.
I understand more thoroughly where CM Erickson has issues.
Erickson definitely has issues. But it can’t be a poll that he never saw until today. His response looks more reprehensible now after reading all three parts of the survey.