The two political action committees associated with UNITE HERE Local 11 have continued to pump massive amounts of money into campaigns supporting Mayor John M. Erickson and Danny Hang — and into efforts opposing their opponents in next month’s City Council elections.
In the past two weeks alone, Renters and Workers for West Hollywood reported spending another $6,000 each on canvassing for Erickson and Hang, for a grand total of $112,231.14 on both candidates. That’s in addition to the $7,500 that WeHo United for Erickson and Hang spent on each for digital ads — for a grant total of at least $40,000 spent on both.
Renters and Workers also put down $2,250 for canvassing against candidate George Nickle and $750 for canvassing to support the minimum wage ballot measure.
Renters and Workers and WeHo United have outspent all the individual candidates in the race by orders of magnitude, with the aim of installing loyal government officials who will champion their questionable political agendas, such as the minimum wage ordinance masterminded in 2021 by UNITE HERE Local 11 and made law by the council majority they were instrumental in getting elected.
Prior to October, the two groups had raised at least $138,165.23 for Erickson and $123,944.50 for Hang.
Who is donating to these efforts?
Records with the city clerk show the most recent sources of their funding can be traced to special interest groups, developers, labor unions and those with a financial interest in WeHo politics, including:
- Streets for All PAC ($35,000)
- Clay Collett of Orange Barrel Media ($10,000)
- Laborers Local 300 ($5,000)
- Mark Mothersbaugh ($2,500)
- Christina Development Corp. of Malibu ($5,000)
- Jesse Budlong, a planner at STV Inc., a communications infrastructure company ($1,000)
- International Union of Operating Engineers Local 12 ($1,000)
- Cochise Capital’s David Talla ($1,000)
The two have offered full-throated support for the project in the face of immense community backlash; the other eight candidates in the race have all spoken out against it.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce’s WEHO PAC spent $39,312.50 each supporting Nickle and Zekiah Wright this month.
All active registered voters in West Hollywood should already have received a vote-by-mail ballot.
Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location or the county elections office. Ballot drop-off locations opened October 8, 2024.
Vote centers open for early in-person voting begin October 26.
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day (November 5) and received by November 12.
An earlier version of this story erroneously referenced Streets for All as a potential recipient of a city contract related to the Fountain Avenue streetscape project.
This is why long time homeowners like me West Hollywood have watched the city become a glorified ghetto with developers and their nightmarish architecture and a union that does little for its members but bilk them and squander money on political hacks who have little or no history as long time homeowners. These interlopers offer nothing but a repeat of the continuing incompetence of a mismanaged city with over paid senior staffers and if you want a cannabis shop or a bar cone here but enjoy the daily issues we face with the homeless population. The tasteless storefronts and billboards… Read more »
You nailed it. Most of us bought here because of the area’s central location. We’ve never been to a bar here or attended any of the countless parades. It’s embarrassing to have a WH address.
Pay to play. That’s John Erickson. Thousands of bucks to send him to see the Pope. He’s such a good Catholic. Unfortunately, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles couldn’t pay for it cuz they had to put out 1.5 billion for the pedophile priest scandal. Ericsson is one of the most dreadful people ever elected in California or perhaps the USA. Look at United and who runs it. Woke-obsessed white feminist who hates all men except Pearl Erickson. Sepi will definitely be gone. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with that ludicrous transplant from Arizona as Mayor.
Funny how donating to people who support safety makes you a target.
I voted for Nickel and Cockeram. Smug AF Erickson needs to go and “Hell To The No” to Hang, Hang is a Erickson wannabe and dog knows we don’t need another one of those. They were the only two running for office on the “YES to bike lanes on Fountain” crowd, while Wright, Block, Cockeram and Nickel were on the No side of the recent protest at Crescent Heights and Fountain.
Youtube already stuffs my account with too many ads in order to try and extort me to pay for the no ad service. And, guess what, twenty percent of those ads are for these two! The guy who dyed his hair purple and the guy who says he feels safe on Weho streets. Tell that to the Barney’s Beanery employees who have to leave their job in groups!
For the record, Larry Block is largely self funded so he is not in anyone’s pocket. 70% of George Nickle’s campaign donations came from West Hollywood residents, one of the highest percentages on record. Compare to Mayor Erickson with 9% of his donations being from West Hollywood; the percentage for Hang is even worse. Without outside support, Erickson and Hang would not be viable candidates in this race.
Sadly, most voters act with very little information but with name recognition, and are impressed with gestures such as, “He actually came to my door!”.
Most voters in WeHo don’t read this publication so they have no idea who any of the city council members are. So I will not be surprised if we find on Nov. 6th that we have an Erickson/Hang win.
To your note about nobody will read this, I am a 30-year home and business owner in WeHo and I have sent links to these exchanges to my neighboring HOAs encouraging them to read the comments. It works!
NO on Hang‼️NO on Erickson‼️Nickle & Block for the win!! Let’s take back our city 🙌
It’s very simple. Unseat Erickson and don’t let Hang near the chambers.
We are watching a self obsessed presidential candidate in Trump right now. We do not need a local version of the same here in Weho.
Ummm, Duran? Heilman? Horvath? Shayne? Erickson? Thus city has a long history of narcissistic politicians.
These rather late infusions of cash into the race should come as no surprise. What Unite Here thought this election would be a cakewalk for Erickson and Hang. But instead their campaign is faltering as the Fountain Re-Design has turned into an election quagmire. George Nickle, the underfunded under dog, relying on unpaid volunteers and word of mouth to combat the machine, represents a real threat. Larry Block and Zekiah Wright are also serious contenders as the Resistance to the Unite Here junta is daily gathering strength. Block’s crime mailer was right on target. At this point any money donated… Read more »
YES‼️
Exactly.
Very sad indeed. Danny Hang was knocking on doors in the Norma Triangle last night, He came to my gate with his campaign manager. Danny was very personable, but I nevertheless let him know point blank immediately that Unite Here is the single biggest predator in West Hollywood and that the campaign duo of Erickson and Hang only reinforces the need to take back our city and clean up city hall. He tends to answer every statement/question with “I’m a social worker” which is inconsistent with many of his and Erickson’s policy positions and campaign funding donations when looking at… Read more »
Could be an SNL skit…….”But I’m a social worker”
It reminds me of the post-9/11 Rudy Giuliani when every sentence he uttered started with a noun plus a verb plus 9/11.
“As a social worker…..” seems to inform everything he’s about. I often wonder what he’s having for dinner, as a social worker.
One-hit wonders.
I had an identical interaction with Hang when he knocked on our door. Social work is all about community and Hang is all about Hang and Erickson. Completely tone deaf to the needs of West Hollywood. I told him his association with Erickson, Unite Here and support of the Fountain project were non-starters for me.
Hang has lived here maybe less than 3 years; in all of his interactions it is so clear he has little understanding of this community. His campaign manager has to babysit him when he walks to make sure he does not fall “off script”. I found him to be entitled and arrogant in his assertion that he wants to me “a voice”. I have my voice it’s just nobody at City Hall is listening thanks to Unite Here and the Erickson clique.
Listening to Hang’s responses at one of the candidate’s forums, it was all scripted, politico-speak. No originality or actual from-the-heart ideas for our city.
We were singing a duet! Grateful others understand and love Weho too. Thank you for sharing that.
He is a corrupt, vindictive, insipid, vapid, arrogant, retaliatory, immature, completely unqualified candidate for any public office. West Hollywood should be ashamed that such an idiot has reached the highest levels of city government. What an embarrassment to tolerate such corruption. Vote him out.