STEVE MARTIN: You’re safe because the mayor says so

We have nothing to fear but fear itself. While Mayor Erickson did not exactly say that in his comments about public safety at the last Council meeting, he probably wished he would have. The Mayor made it clear that he personally believes the City is essentially safe, but he is willing to spend more on law enforcement as a placebo to make people feel better. But it was apparent from his paranoid statements, he believes any discussion of crime that rebounds negatively on him is mere “fear mongering.”

To quote the Mayor: “I hope people understand that it’s not the time to scare people but to come together and know we are now taking things seriously…. But the fearmongering I’ve seen over the last few months, and that will probably continue in the next few months, is misleading.” Well, it is nice to know that the Mayor is now taking crime seriously, although many of us are skeptical that his current interest will last beyond his re-election.

I don’t know anything about a campaign to foster fear among our residents. Just reading the local headlines seems to be sufficient. Stats for ADW and armed robberies are up. I don’t think the Mayor is as concerned about resident’s fears about crime as he is concerned that he will be blamed for it in the coming election. Thus, the Mayor is anxious to re-write history, casting himself in a heroic role as a crime fighter and supporter of the Sheriff’s Department.

Last Monday the City Council was discussing whether to fund high-tech strategies that the Sheriff’s Department has developed, including cameras and an emergency response drone. While there was a hefty price tag associated with these new technologies, because the Sheriff’s Department is not currently able to add new deputies to our contract, these innovative ideas are a creative alternative to enhance the safety of our community.

The Mayor must have known that his colleagues Sepi Shyne and Chelsea Byers were not likely to vote in favor of these technologies, or in fact anything that would enhance traditional public safety. They are still mired in the “de-fund” mind-set that we need to cut the public safety budget to fund mental health outreach workers and other programs to help the homeless. That ignores the fact that with the City’s healthy operating budget, we are able to do both.

Mayor Erickson seems almost frantic because the public remembers that just two years ago, he, along with Lindsey Horvath, were enthused to follow the lead of LA Times heiress Nika Soon Shiong’s campaign to “de-fund” the Sheriff.

Mayor Erickson’s public safety commissioner voted to cut ten (10) deputies at a time when Sheriff’s staffing was at a COVID era low. Although the City Council ultimately did not cut that deeply, Mayor Erickson has supported a reduction of deputies. The reduction in deputies was a key factor in the LA Times endorsement of Erickson’s ally, Lindsey Horvath, for County Supervisor.

The public remembers Erickson did not make public safety a priority when he voted to maintain deputy cuts. Residents understood that the cuts were made due to ideological and political considerations; the cuts were not based on any rational analysis of facts and not thought was given how cuts could negatively impact Sheriff’s response times.

When you put politics before people, then you really can’t expect voters to forget that in our hour of need, you sold us down the river. So don’t have the chutzpah to tell us you put residents first. We in fact know that you don’t.

So exactly whom does the Mayor accuse of engaging in “fearmonger” on the issue of public safety?

Is it the employees of La Boheme who came to City Council to express their fears about returning to work after restaurant patrons were robbed at gun point as they left the restaurant?

Or was it the three young gay men who were assaulted and robbed on Larrabee? They came to both the Public Safety Commission and City Council to relate their tale.

Were they cynically trying to incite terror about crime?

Or maybe it’s Neighbor Watch leader, George Nickle, who helped organize the community response to the Public Safety Commission’s vote to “de-fund” the Sheriff? As a Public Safety Commissioner, George has consistently spoken out to demand more resources for the Sheriff.

It is tragic that people who come before the City Council to express their concerns about their personal safety and the safety of their neighborhoods, are now being demonized by the Mayor as “fear mongers.” The public’s concern about personal safety should not be trivialized and the individuals who have been victims and those who have spoken out about crime in West Hollywood should be treated with respect, not accused of playing “fearmonger” politics.

Despite his newfound “concern” about public safety, Mayor Erickson is attempting to thwart any discussion of public safety in the coming election by dismissing it as “fear mongering.” It is a clear attempt to block any examination of the Mayor’s sorry role in undermining the safety of this community since he took office.

If anyone has “play(ed) politics” with public safety, it is the Mayor.