Who’s the real mayor of West Hollywood? If you sit on the city council or are one of the half-dozen or so regulars who can’t miss one of the twice-monthly meetings, you’ll know it’s Lauren Meister. But if you’re watching CNN or even KABC 7 you can be forgiven for guessing it’s Lindsey Horvath.
The confusion has strained the relationship between the two council members after Horvath was referred to as “mayor” on several CNN interviews and didn’t correct the interviewer. And then there was last night’s interview of her by a Elex Michaelson of KABC 7 at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Horvath was a delegate. Michaelson introduced her as the mayor of West Hollywood. (The interview can be seen approximately two minutes and 17 seconds into the video posted above.) That sparked several emails and texts to WEHOville from upset Meister supporters.
Meister declined to comment on the incident. Horvath told WEHOville that Michaelson is a friend of hers. “He referred to me as mayor,” she acknowledged, “and actually I corrected it on there, and it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I’ll bring in just now Lindsey Horvath, who is the mayor of West Hollywood As a woman, what did that moment mean to you?” Michaelson is seen asking Horvath in a video of the interview.
“Serving on the city council as a council member of the City of West Hollywood absolutely is a wonderful opportunity,” Horvath responded. “And seeing Hillary Clinton clinch this moment in history is absolutely exciting.”
Horvath noted that she also was identified as the mayor of West Hollywood yesterday in an interview with Jared Rizzi on SiriusXM, and that she quickly corrected him, noting that she now is a council member.
That Horvath, widely believed to have larger political ambitions, didn’t object when she was identified as mayor earlier was one of the issues addressed at the council’s oddly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. on a recent Saturday morning.
At that meeting, attended by 17 city employees and only seven residents, the council decided to make clear that its members can’t speak officially for the city or use an inappropriate official title.
The position of mayor rotates every year in April, with it typically going to the next most senior council member who hasn’t held the title for four years. The mayor’s officials duties include signing certain city documents, representing the city at certain meetings and managing city council meetings. But the actual administration of the city is conducted by City Manager Paul Arevalo.
Um all you trashing Meister are crazy. She’s the most down to earth city council member we have. I’m 100% behind her. Horvath on the other hand has used political connections to get into the LA Democratic machine for higher ambitions. She doesn’t give a crap about WeHo. Especially after the Townsquare project she broke the tie on. She’s barely lived here compared to the other council members. She’s just using her position to eventually run for something else.
Mayor Terrigno also resigned the council in 1986 after she was convicted of embezzling and misappropriating $9,000 in federal grant funds during her pre-mayoral time.
@Chris Sanger: The article states that Lauren Meister “declined to comment” so I wonder what “sort of nonsense” from Meister you’re referring to.
Valerie Terrigno was our 1st “Mayor”. in 1984. I had known her personally for some years prior to cityhood. When her year as “Mayor” was up, she didn’t want to let go. A petition was being circulated by some of her supporters to “Keep Valerie Mayor”. It didn’t work of course & I was one who not only refused to sign, I expressed my disapproval & embarrassment to her. It is true that some things never change.
On the part of Horvath, I think you are getting your council members confused there. Horvath’s whole term was spent with Other council members claiming the title on their social media and she didn’t say a word. I’m betting because there are actual issues she had to handle and not this stupid bull crap. If the current mayor would like the accolades maybe she should worrie about what is best for the city and stop wasting our time.
The only reason Meister is “mayor” now is that John Duran backed off from being next in line. Seriously this sort of nonsense is what many of us expected from Meister.
Non-issue. Next.
Give em all a badge with their name and title like they do at any trade show. Horvath answered the question and lets be honest – she has taken on star power and overshadows other council members when she spoke out against Trump. Her Ban Trump statement without council support drew major media attention. As it says above she answered ..Serving the city of West Hollywood is a wonderful opportunity. The photo of Lindsey on CNN with the breaking news, – “Clinton becomes first woman candidate nominated by a major party”- her arm high in the air, her face beaming… Read more »
Is this a big deal? Of course not. But it shows a simple lack of respect on the part of Horvath and it may speak towards her character on some level. Think about that when she runs for higher office.
Yeah, this shouldn’t be a big deal, especially if she is correcting them. And we still refer to Hillary Clinton as “Secretary.” Actually, if any of the City Council members were on the national news, I’d be OK with any of them being called “Mayor,” since it is a rotating position, and all have equal political power. Do we need to explain this rotating title to the nation in a sound bite on national television? Referring to any of our council members as “Mayor” on national TV only adds weight to whatever they are supporting, and I’m OK with that.
If this is what people are actually worrying about, then we are screwed!
There have been male councilmembers who, until 2 months ago, had the term “Mayor” listed on their social media. Funny how all these haters come out of the wood work when a woman is misrepresented by the media. The public just wants a “cat fight” (for lack of a better term). Some local politicians are wasting too much time with meaningless titles and not enough to time supporting the citizens. It’s the Journalist’s job to get titles right and only the reporters themselves. I would think who ever is speaking is more worried about the issues that concern the citizens… Read more »