Best Revival: The Halloween Carnaval’s return from the grave after COVID
Worst Revival: The renewed push for a West Hollywood Police Department, which ended where it started: dead in the water.
Heroes: Cathy Blaivas and Stephanie Harker, for the long-haul effort they put in which ultimately saved Great Hall and Fiesta Hall in Plummer Park.
Biggest Looming Threat: Street takeovers, whether bicycle, motorcycle or 4-wheeler, are running ramshod over pedestrians, motorists and police. At present, they are unpreventable and uncontrollable. While it’s all fun and games now, the sense of lawlessness and immunity these crowds enjoy is worrisome.
Cutest Adversaries: The food delivery robots are almost too adorable to hate even when they nearly run you over or create traffic jams. Clearly they impinge on the rights of pedestrians and create hell for disabled people. But they exist in a legal grey area similar to the one electric rental scooters were born in — the laws have not caught up with the technology. We must treat the robots for what they are — soulless, power-hungry machines with puppy dog eyes.
Best Representation of WeHo: The heartwarming incident where a boy’s teacher told him he couldn’t wear nail polish, so his dad took him to go get his nails done.
Worst Representation of WeHo: The Real Friends of WeHo had barely debuted and its stars were already talking shit about their own show to the press. The superficiality and tedium of this unscripted reality show set in West Hollywood showed little of its inherent charm, instead focusing on vapid people with materialistic obsessions.
Most Unfiltered Moment: Mayor Sepi Shyne is pretty even keeled, but she was definitely pissed off this past July when the Supreme Court issued its ostensibly anti-LGBT decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. “Wake the fuck up, America” she exclaimed in a campaign fundraising video, her choice of words far less mannered than usual. The post was promptly deleted.
Heroes: Stefanie LaHart: The 1030 N. Sierra Bonita home that went up in flames after months of neglect will finally be demolished tomorrow. Stefanie is to thank for that.
Shadiest Move by a Developer: Renting a 300-square-foot former laundry room for $3,000 a month
Smartest Backpedaling: Supervisor Lindsey Horvath slammed the brakes on her own insane plan to fling open the doors of the L.A. County Jail for mass prisoner releases.
Best Shakeup: Depriving the secretive and bloated organization LAHSA of its unilateral authority over the homeless count.
Worst Move in City Hall: City Manager David Wilson hiring the community development director with the help of a developer’s lobbyist — and trying to keep it under wraps.
Heroes: Lynn Hoopingarner: She hasn’t been on the Planning Commission in years but she’s putting in more work than ever to keep WeHo informed about its dubious development projects.
Worst Lunch Date: A shocking armed robbery and assault occurred in the busy Sunset Plaza eater La Petit Fours, sending customers fleeing for their lives into the streets.
Worst Show of Force: LASD landing a war helicopter in the middle of La Brea during a standoff in which the suspect had already escaped.
Sepi Shyne: WORST MAYOR EVER.
Honestly the photo of Sepi Shyne looks like a mugshot. Isn’t her prior manager doing time?
Not everyone thinks saving those two outdated uninteresting buildings was “heroic”. I vote for Public speaker Annie Jump as a hero for always bringing up valid points and not being afraid to be in the minority.
Saying Annie Jump is a hero speaks VOLUMES about you. None of it good.
lol. “war” helicopter…..
Stephanie and Cathy are definitely my heroes! They have taught me many important lessons, one of which is never to give up even when things look hopeless! God bless them!
And Lynn Hoopengarner… well,…I hope she runs for city council because we could use her brains, her common sense,..And her love for Weho! She’s wonderful!
Yes, would love for her to run for city council. We need people with brains in those seats…not those with political agendas, those using West Hollywood as a stepping stone in their effort to seek higher office, or those beholden to the union.