West Hollywood spent a total of $394,725 on events it hosted or co-sponsored last year, with most of the budget devoted toward CicLAvia, which drew more than 30,000 participants.
The remaining $87,325 was spent on a grab bag of meetings, panels, and gatherings — such as the LGBTQ WeHo Comedy Hour, the Sacred Space Virtual Wellness Event and Queerwise, Queers Across Years — which typically drew fewer than 50 people each.
October’s Proposition 1 Town Hall, initiated by Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and former Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, was attended by just four people, but the event required 40 hours of city staff’s time.
Except for CicLAvia, the city’s most attended events were the GARRAS Fashion Show (600 people), VIBEZ Sober NYE Event (598), World Dog Day (500), TransVisibility March (400) and the TransVagina Diaries (300).
The VIBEZ Sober NYE Event cost $21,000 to co-sponsor, while the TransVisibility March, TransVagina Diaries and GARRAS Fashion Show each cost the city $10,000.
The TransVisibility March, World Dog Day and the Lesbian & Queer Women’s Visibility event tied for requiring the most time of staff (75 hours each).
Erickson dominated the calendar last year, initiating 21 out of the 34 events. Mayor Sepi Shyne initiated 9 events, Councilmember Lindsey Horvath 6, Lauren Meister 5 and John D’Amico 1.
Go for a swim, oh but you can’t
And yet we can’t have Halloween. SMH
Until COVID is better under control, the City should not be sponsoring events gathering of hundreds of people. Bank that money for future events. Keep the Citizens of WeHo SAFE! Hire MORE sheriffs instead of wasting money on poorly organized and attended events.
Covid is no longer an issue–or haven’t you noticed?
This morning a deluge of emails arrived from City Hall touting all manner of events some realistic some contrived. Who can take this seriously? It seems like supercilious, busy work to keep the recipients of $200,000 paychecks occupied? Are we looking forward to folks of undetermined origin dancing in the streets under the pretty lights? Whoever thinks up this nonsense should apply for the position as Social Director of some cruise ship destined for nowhere. When will this end?
I lead a free run club, with one Instagram post a week, I get around 80 people to show up every Saturday. Two weeks ago almost 150 showed up, last Saturday in the pouring rain 15 people still showed up. Everyone of these city employees should be looking for new work if they can barely get people to show up to events they’re spending thousands of dollars on.
Exactly. Most of the City employees are so hide bound they are unable to visualize, access or implement necessary functions of getting a simple job done. Additionally there was no one with foresight building a structure of employees to manage the pipe dreams they have gotten themselves into. There is zero qualified scope or strategy because the employees are trapped in their independent silos. Not at all surprised they can’t organize and promote an event or even choose a viable event. Unbelievable lacking sophistication. Please look up Donald Rumsfeld statement on unknowns, at lease you will laugh picturing him stating… Read more »
Keep winding them up Mr. Block.
I can not believe I missed the $10,000 “TransVagina Diaries”! It sounds like it was as good as “The Talking Gay Bung Hole” that won the Tony last year. Maybe I can catch the national tour.
In past years, thousands of West Hollywood funds that were earmarked for the NOW production of Vagina Diaries were diverted to Planned Parenthood on behalf of John Erickson, who is an employee of Planned Parenthood. They real production costs are $2,000.00 at most.
I have no doubt that Erickson has been stealing and/or diverting funds from most of those productions.
In the middle of a Pandemic that’s claimed well over a Million American lives alone, that is by no means over, one might think that close social events are not a real good idea!
I agree 100%.
I disagree 100% but as one of the previous posters pointed out if you sponsor something people actually want and need, like a free run club, people will come. Mandate fitness instead of lockdowns! Most of those who died of (or more likely with covid) were diabetic, obese or over 80 with comorbidities.
It’s all free RE election propaganda,
I guess it works. Looks like most voters here are clowns following the clown wagon. With Sepi and John as head clowns.
This hits it. This amounts to pork-barrel spending intended to curry favor and to provide photo-ops and sound-bites to political ladder climbers. Question everything.
Someone needs to investigate the grift. Follow the money!
CicLAvia is as obscure as Pride, AIDS Walk or the LA Marathon. When WeHo teams up with LA as this event, it’s a major event not something “obscure.”
Totally agree!
Definitely needs to be promoted more.
Activities are great and people should be encouraged to attend.
Agree. Events like this are great, even if they have niche audiences.
These events may be “great” but I don’t see you attending. At some point these events have to have some relationship to their cost. Council members should only be allowed to “sponsor” three events a year. These are real world dollars that are being spent as Staff time is not free.
Bravo Steve.