What we’re thankful for this year

Nine things that made us count our blessings here in WeHo in 2024:

Rick Chavez Zbur — WeHo’s new voice in the Assembly hit the ground running two years ago and has not slowed down since, authoring significant pieces of legislation and making sure WeHo always has a seat at the table.

ArtWalk — The Design District’s semiannual public event is off to a great start connecting the general public with WeHo’s insular world of top-tier art galleries and showrooms. 

Safety efforts on Fountain Avenue — You may not think the addition of bike lanes on Fountain Avenue is a good idea. But we applaud city leaders and members of the community for bringing Fountain’s problems to the forefront. Whatever happens with the streetscape project, WeHo can look forward to a road that is safer, even if it’s not the quickest way across town. 

Nathan Hochman — The former candidate for attorney general did what was beginning to seem impossible — unseat District Attorney George Gascon, whose judicial reform policies helped drive up the crime rate all across the county. We’re eagerly awaiting Hochman’s plans to lay down the law where it’s needed.

End of elections — Whether the candidates you supported won or lost, we can all be glad that a terribly contentious election season is now over. We’re hoping the new lineup of City Council — with Councilmember-elect Danny Hang —  will be more responsive to the concerns of residents and businesses, and we’re looking forward to seeing what they have envisioned for our city.

Plummer Park Community Garden — The marriage of the community garden plots with WeHo’s most integral and beloved gathering space is a match made in heaven. After years of being temporarily located on empty lots headed for development, the gardens have a real home.

CicLAvia — Not even National Night Out brings people out into the streets like CicLAvia does. This event offers a glimpse of the utopia L.A. might be if we didn’t need cars. Sadly, we do — more than 90 percent of residents commute beyond the city limits to work, and more than 90 percent of workers in WeHo live outside the city.

Whistleblowers — Several brave city employees risked their jobs and reputations to detail real problems at City Hall this year. Their honesty and courage changed WeHo for the better.

Safer WeHo — After years of public outcry demanding greater safety measures, the city will soon be providing the sheriff’s department with an arsenal of new tools to fight crime. We’re looking forward to seeing real results from our law enforcers, and we hope new technologies such as drones and cameras won’t be used to infringe on our our privacy and civil rights.