As City Council prepared to vote on changes to the sheriff’s budget, almost all of the city’s Public Safety Commissioners were on hand to clarify their individual positions on the proposal they set in motion.
Earlier this year, the commission voted to recommend the reallocation of $3.2 million from the Sheriff’s Department to social services, a move spearheaded by Commissioner Nika Soon-Shiong. A fierce public outcry over defunding the sheriff has grown loud in the months since, and several commissioners spoke during Public Comment to make it clear they do not want to cut funds from the sheriff. Commissioners Tod Hallman and Robert Oliver, who both voted yes on Soon-Shiong’s measure to reduce WeHo’s funding of the sheriff, made it clear they do not want to see the sheriff’s budget reduced.
“When I voted with many of my fellow commissioners on what has been called our request to defund the sheriff, that was not my intention,” Hallman said. He told Council, “I urge you to listen to the community. Give Captain Mulder the opportunity to make our city safe again.”
Commissioner Kerri Balbone, one of only two commissioners who voted no to the proposal, cited the officer ratio as indicative of WeHo’s need to keep the sheriff funded at current levels.
“I look at statistics,” Balbone said. “And the national average nationwide of officers per thousands in most communities is 2.4. We are well below that in the city of West Hollywood. So the impression that we are overpoliced is not accurate with national standings.”
Soon-Shiong, openly one of the sheriff’s most vocal adversaries, stuck to her script Monday night, telling Council, “The campaign to reallocate these funds into the community is a prayer, an invitation for a better future and there’s no time like the present and there’s no time like tonight.”
Commissioner Danny Roman also stood by his original vote, saying, “You wouldn’t send a psychologist to respond to a home invasion. I trust you will let data and facts rule your judgment and that you have the foresight and willingness to try something different.”
The community should have been made much more aware that this vote was coming. I don’t know anyone who supports this. People are frightened by the huge increase in crime and don’t feel safe in the streets. Let these three city council members experiment with their own lives and not the unsuspecting citizens of West Hollywood.
Everyone chants, “defund the police,” until they get held up at gunpoint, stabbed, or killed by the brazen thugs roaming our streets. The failed policies of the Radical Woke Left have created an environment where criminals know full well that their actions have zero consequences.
And we wonder why the Democrats will be eviscerated come November 2022 and 24. Disgusting.
I was held up with gun to my head in Weho The sherif response was excellent. It is insane to defund this dept. This is candy to criminals ears. I would encourage anyone to sue the the West Hollywood council if they are a victim of crime for their negligence of not protecting the public’s safety.
I posted my comment under the “weho defunds the sheriff.” story.
I hope it is approved. If so, I hope you read it.
The cops/sheriffs do not prevent crime.
Most of the commenters act as if this is unknown.
This is why it is a good idea to put funds into other activities when the LASD is called but where a mental health expert could/should handle the situation.
Every nation gets the government it deserves. Joseph de Maistre 1753-1821.
What shocks me is that we are in a downward spiral of increased crime and the seriousness of how crimes are being committed. The same people that commented heard from the Sheriff’s Department in the WeHo Public Safety meeting what would happen if we decreased Officer head count and that mental health issues usually require Officers to be in attendance, because they get violent. Friends … I felt many commentators last night were not facing reality … things are bad on the streets. We cannot even get security cameras installed and the desire to keep bars open to 4:00 AM… Read more »
Face it people. At the next election there are people we NEED to VOTE OUT for the safety of our city!
I would NOT vote for anyone who has supported defunding the police prior to the last city council meeting (there are some candidates that have flip flopped). Duran and Martin said they will restore funding. Vote for them. Those two along with Meister will void this lasted vote. And in the future vote out Erickson and Shyne. We will be rid of Horvath soon enough.
Council did vote to defund the Sheriff. 2 deputies in 3 months, and then 3 more, 6 months later. I was up until 1 AM watching this. Erickson and Meister voted against this awful motion.
That is very disappointing; I stayed until midnight but had to go as I had to make a court appearance in the morning. Erickson had promised the Eastside Neighborhood Watch he would not de-fund the Sheriff and I am glad he honored his pledge. I am sure Tod Hallman, his appointee, helped influence that decision. Fortunately this can be reversed in January when a new City Council is elected. But this is very much as case of putting politics before the safety of our residents and visitors to our City.
Yes, they called your name from the speaker list after you left. John made a Facebook comment a few weeks ago, on his public page, where he responded to someone and said that he doesn’t support defunding the police. I expected him to keep his word, and he did. The surprise for me was D’Amico’s support. He really has lost his way. Shyne’s idea of having security ambassadors as foot patrol on residential streets is flawed. Let’s say one of them witnesses a mugging, or a drive by theft. What are they going to do? They are unarmed, and not… Read more »
D’Amico lost his way long ago. This was him flipping his middle finger to the community. His legacy will be having left West Hollywood less safe.
Yes, he did. But I’m still a bit appalled that he went along with this. He’s really the only one of the five who didn’t give much indication on how he would go. Erickson and Meister are on record of not supporting this. You can use supposition to expect Horvath (based on Nika) and Shyne (who grilled the police at the last safety update) to support this.
Always wing nut irresponsible ideas. He has already left a legacy behind his Planning Commission days and now this. Not good Karma if one believes in that.
In an insidious manner Shyne crafted this scheme at the eleventh hour literally 11:45 pm. She stayed alert while turning Capt. Moulder into a pretzel, eliciting bizarre statements from D’Amico and Horvath not rocking the boat. All this from an individual so connected with her own ambitious agenda that she is perceptibly disconnected from the public. She has little to no experience with workings of the WHSD. If there ever was a time that Mayor Meister should have adjourned the outcome to the next meeting to let the dust settle, this was it. Hopefully City Manager Wilson will have some… Read more »
It actually was Lindsey who made the first proposal. To cut 5 deputies. Shyne was in agreement, then D’Amico made a phased approach proposal, and the three of them voted for it. D’Amico has really lost his way. It is very disappointing. I don’t think there was anything “eleventh hour” about this. I believe it was their intent to do it, no matter what time they got to the item. They could not have adjourned the meeting, as the budget had to be approved last night. The new budget is effective Friday, as is the annual contract with the Sheriff’s… Read more »
While the decision to de-fund can be reversed in January by a new city Council, we may lose some experienced deputies to these cuts who may not come back even after we restore the funding. The budget is not set in stone so this craziness can be reversed once there are three common sense members of the City Council. Certainly Block by Block is not capable of picking up the mayhem that will arise from having
a lack of a professional law enforcement presence.
How can they reverse this, if they are stuck in a contract with block by block? They will have to find some money from somewhere. Yes, they won’t be able to deal with some of the mayhem. Block by block people are not necessarily qualified to deal with situations where someone is armed. All they can do is call the Sheriff, and that person could be long gone by the time they arrive. This also puts the block by block people in harm’s way. The idea that they can patrol residential streets is a bit ridiculous. I’m sure there are… Read more »
Thanks for further articulating this. Yes, Horvath made the initial proposal but I believe it was Shyne that seized the moment in crafting the motion. D’Amico is permanently checked out and is highly undependable becoming a useful idiot on certain occasions. I’m sure Captain Moulder had a sleepless night and will have many anxiety ridden days.
“A fierce public outcry over defunding the sheriff has grown loud” Yes it has!! Hear us roar!!! NO on defunding the sheriffs department!
I found the half-hearted, eleventh-hour change in tone by Hallman and Oliver to be completely disingenuous. What I was looking for was a full-throated mea culpa for having been dupes in unleashing a level of angst in this community in Soon-Shiong’s personal vendetta against Alex Villanueva. No amount of additional funding for anything else in the budget would have satisfied the toxic and intolerant ideological fringe agenda of the invading forces. Their one and only goal was and remains to reduce the number of deputies. Good luck, West Hollywood.
I am all for replacing the reactionary Villanueva; but you don’t endanger the local residents and businesses with this sort of political grandstanding. Lindsay Horvath has now alienated a very large portion of her base; I don’t see how you can represent the very community you betrayed.
Horvath will deny her voting record & outright lie about & continue to cancel the gay community where she got all of her experience throwing us under the bus like she has so many times I cannot count. I hope Hertzberg is paying close attention to her voting record.
Who the hell is Soon-Shiong?????
Soon-Shiong is a tool used by Lindsey Horvath to help accomplish her agenda. Many if not most people are wondering where the hell she came from. The Council’s votes are a travesty. There must be a way for the citizens to sue to reverse this mindless abuse of their positions
The daughter of the owner of the LA Times. Wealthy. Extremely Wealthy. Spoiled brat. Bored. How is that?
You know her personally, I presume?
As dependable as Ivanka Trump who has as recently been revealed by an impeccable source, having flip flopped on abortion without revealing she obtained one while in boarding school. Seems as though she flip flopped on the January 6 disaster in not having her Father call off his dogs.
Or has it gotten out of control and become exactly the opposite? Horvath now owns this in the entire Third District, which is far more conservative, on average, than West Hollywood. She’s on record as cutting deputies while crime is rising.
Perhaps getting a measure on the ballot to mandate minimum per capita deputy staffing levels, should easily pass. We seem to have considerably less than the national average, especially after last night. I almost fell out of my chair when the SJW claimed they spoked to 50 people in public that all claimed they want more social services, not more officers.
Try to keep up, Ham. Good Grief!