Cole Ettman, a member of West Hollywood’s Public Facilities Commission, has officially entered the crowded 2015 City Council race.
At least three seats are up for grabs—those held by John D’Amico, John Heilman and Abbe Land. Campaign finance statements available on the city’s website show that D’Amico and Heilman have already filed to run for re-election. With Councilmember Jeffrey Prang running for Los Angeles County Assessor (a race he’s considered to have a good chance at winning), an additional seat may be in play for the March 2015 election.
An array of WeHo residents have either entered the race, have told WEHOville.com that they intend to run, or have been deemed likely to run by political observers.
Ettman, the chief operating officer of the Beverly Hills law firm Levine & Blit, was appointed to the Public Facilities Commission by Councilmember Jeffrey Prang in 2012. He said he supports Prang’s bid for Assessor and “want(s) to follow in his footsteps and continue the strong leadership that he’s given to the city.”
“I love West Hollywood, both its past and its present,” Ettman said. “I’ve always had a passion for making sure that people’s voices are heard. And I love this city so much—it’s a beautiful, dynamic place to live, and I want to make sure it stays that way … I will be an advocate for everyone in this city.”
The Public Facilities Commission reviews proposed development of public facilities such as parks and the library, and Ettman said his experience as a commissioner has made him passionate about park space. He said that he’s a big advocate for dog parks and that he wants to see more recreational activities (such as sports leagues) offered for adults in WeHo. Ettman said that he has been speaking to commissioners and residents about issues of importance to them, and he plans to put out a comprehensive platform by Oct. 1. Ettman previously worked as a deputy for Howard Lasher, a Brooklyn City Councilmember.
Meanwhile, Sam Borelli, who’d been considered a likely candidate, announced today that he will not enter the race. Borelli, a communications consultant, was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2013 council race.
“In my last email I wrote that I would make a decision shortly after Labor Day about whether I would run for West Hollywood City Council in the upcoming March 2015 election, when the other three seats come up for vote. After much reflection, I have decided not to run but very much appreciate the support and encouragement to do so,” Borelli said in an e-mail blast.
This story was updated to add information about Sam Borelli’s announcement.
The Housing Crisis was really caused by Predatory Lending by Private Lending Institutions with practices that were made legal under the BUSH administration! The Bush administration’s weakening of the CRA coincided with the subprime boom. Even by today’s pro-business standards applied tomortgage services they are able to break the law without consequences. There is Precedent set inPredatory Speculation in RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES has done considerable harm to working people’s ability to acquire home ownership or even rent and, I would argue that disingenuous rent control measures do NOT go far enough to protect the people. Anti-speculation restrictions have been in place… Read more »
Cy, the major groundwork for financial deregulation was done in the mid 90’s by a republican congress with full support of Bill Clinton and many other democrats. Robert Sheer has written often, detailed and quite brilliantly about this (IMHO).
I’m curious A) how you embed links into your comments and B) what any of this has to do with Cole Ettman running for city council?
Rudolf Martin A) it’s all Chris Sanger’s fault because he called me out on the issues mentioned B) a friend of mine who I told about posting here asked does it support HTML in the postings? Guess it does support some HTML like Hyperlinks and Bold
It’s an interesting idea, but my guess is that there is no way it conforms to state and federal law and has zero chance of ever passing any legal challenge. Not sure that it is in the city’s interests to pursue this in any event – the huge increase in property values in the city of course affects different people in different ways. But one net result is a huge increase in revenue available to the city, which of course increases the quality of life here. In the meantime, we retain rent control laws over and above what most California… Read more »
Re: Chris Sanger, Notice where I put RESIDENTIAL and COMMERCIAL in upper case! Many European countries and recently China have Housing Regulations (though I would argue far too late) that Aim To Prevent Real Estate Speculation that adversely affects Families and individuals in need of housing within their budget. The loosening of Regulation in Speculative borrowing in residential real estate and allowing predatory lending has often been cited as the major cause of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. I’ll leave it to the National Lawyers Guild or some other way cool Public Interest Legal group to argue the compelling State interest… Read more »
Please expain what you mean by “real estate speculation” and outlawing it. I doubt what you are talking about has any chance of passing any known legal test. Market forces have an impact on real estate of course, and West Hollywood sits on some of the most valuable land in this country. Not sure if their is anyway to change basic economic reality, which means that our real estate is going to attract real estate investors.
An issue often ignored by the wealthy candidates running for City Council is the fact that many of the residents of West Hollywood (including myself) are here because they face violent oppression elsewhere. Years of neglecting Civil Rights protection and inclusion on the National level have affected West Hollywood. People have fled elsewhere to be safe and included in West Hollywood and, those rights should not be held hostage by real estate barons who extort unreasonable rents. If they can’t make it in commercial real estate speculation as opposed to extorting working poor people maybe they should find another job!… Read more »
To add a solution: The various candidates could discuss their feelings, should Prang win, an opening occur and election law prevent the seat from being part of the election that they will select whomever comes in fourth in the election. That would seem to be a fair result. That would leave an opening on the council between January an March, with the council being allowed to fill the vacancy. The question is whether it would be filled for the remainder of Prang’s term (2+ years) or with the understanding this person would resign after the election and the new council… Read more »
Should Prang win, his open seat almost certainly will not be voted for in the March election. He’d likely hold on to his seat until sworn in. The deadline for filing for the next election is early December, almost certainly too late for the opening to legally transpire. That would, under this scenario, almost certainly mean his replacement would be selected by the council. This is determined by state, not local law (meaning the council couldn’t extend the deadline on its own). This comes from a reading of local election law posted on the city web site. I think this… Read more »
If Abbe Land doesn’t run and if Jeffrey Prang gets elected Assessor, there will two open seats. It will be a total donnybrook.
yes, another good and qualified prospect but I share Riley’s concern.
He is a good prospect.
Let the games begin. The incumbents must be thrilled that all the challengers will cancel each other out and it will be business as usual.