Heidi Shink Gets Official Warning for Claiming She’s a WeHo Planning Commissioner

UPDATE: In an email message to WEHOville on Wednesday, Sept. 28, Heidi Shink said that the email invitation referenced in the story below was not authorized by her. “I had been totally unaware that any email was sent out on my behalf nor did I see it, authorize it, or the text it contained. When I was alerted of it, I looked into it immediately and found that email was a mock-up created by a PR agency (I’m shopping firms) just wanting to showcase their work to me for the launch of my new radio show: “The Shink Tank: Politics For the People” on the Universal Broadcasting Network. It was never meant to be sent out nor did I see it before it was… Again, it was never meant to be sent out and I have requested that an explanation be emailed immediately to anyone received it – a list which is not mine nor provided by me to that company.

“In addition, I would never make incorrect claims about my status – I think my previous service for the City speaks for itself and stands on its own. And, of course, I always ask before I use ANYONE’s name. Always. “

Heidi Shink, who was called out during her unsuccessful 2015 campaign for West Hollywood City Council for making a number of untrue statements, has been warned for doing that again.

In a letter dated Sept. 21, WeHo City Clerk Yvonne Quarker notes that an email invitation to a Shink event last Thursday identifies her as “Planning Commissioner, Community Development Department,” in West Hollywood. Shink did serve on the Planning Commission from 2013 to 2015.

“Please be advised that because you are not a current City of West Hollywood Planning Commissioner, you may not misrepresent yourself or allow anyone else to misrepresent you as such,” Quarker said in the letter.

The email invitation was sent from Coppertino and Associates Consulting Group of Beverly Hills. “Hear Heidi’s plans for her new mission and vision on the political forefront,” it says. “Hear Heidi’s new, upcoming goals as the host of ‘The Shink Tank’ radio show that will speak volumes as the new voice of American politics for gay voices and all voices who love and share love of peace and progress!”

The invitation also includes a list of Shink’s “supporters.” Among those listed is L.A. County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, a former West Hollywood City Council member. Shink sent out a mailer before the June 2015 City Council election declaring that Prang was endorsing her. However Prang made clear to WEHOville that he was not endorsing anyone in that race. https://wehoonline.com/2015/05/29/who-is-jeff-prang-endorsing-in-the-weho-council-race-not-heidi-shink-or-anyone/

The invitation to the Shink event also identifies her as a Hilary Clinton delegate to the Democratic National Convention. With 99 votes, Shink came in fourth in a vote in May to choose four female delegates for Clinton. However Shink ultimately was not named an actual delegate when the party put together a final list that also included supporters of Bernie Sanders.

During her 2015 City Council campaign, Shink claimed that she was instrumental in establishing #Boom, the sober New Years Eve party at West Hollywood Park. That claim was contested by Jimmy Palmieri, a member of the city’s Human Services Commission who is founder of the Tweakers Project, which works to combat methamphetamine abuse.

Then there were Shink’s alleged claims to a Democratic Party group that she was a member of the board of directors of the L.A. Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women and claims that she was a member of the NCJW’s Advocacy Board. According to prominent NCJW members, Shink was rebuked for making the NCJW board member claim by the organization’s leaders. And they say she was a member of its Advocacy committee (there is no Advocacy board), but was effectively removed for not attending its meetings. The advocacy board claim in repeated in the recent event invitation.