Athens Services told the West Hollywood City Council Tuesday night that its drivers did not write garage access codes found on West Hollywood building exteriors, a claim disputed by a neighborhood watch captain who says he filmed an Athens driver using one.
The dispute stems from a Dear WeHo letter published by WEHOonline last week, in which Edd Holman, a 30-year West Hollywood resident and Neighborhood Watch Block Co-Captain, documented 15 instances where garage gate codes had been written in pen and permanent marker on call boxes, signs, gate frames, key boxes, utility pipes, and handrails. Holman said he filmed an Athens Services driver allegedly using one of the written codes to access a building, then found more codes across the neighborhood. Holman told WEHOonline he witnessed an Athens Services employee looking at the code and using it which is what originally caught his eye. WEHOonline wasn’t able to independently verify what the driver was doing in the video. We contacted Athens Services for comment before publishing Holman’s letter. Athens did not respond.
Athens’ to “Correct the Record”
Jennifer Masterson, Vice President of Government Affairs for Athens Services, addressed the council during public comment Tuesday night. She called out the WEHOonline piece and wished to correct the record.
“Athens Services does not train or endorse our drivers to write access codes on building exteriors,” Masterson said. “Such actions would violate our internal policies regarding the defacement of private property and the handling of confidential information.”
Masterson said drivers have no operational reason to write codes on site. All route data is stored digitally through SoftPack software on company tablets, she explained, with live in-person dispatch available to retrieve codes securely when needed.
Athens had made similar claims privately before the council meeting. When Holman first contacted the company, Athens told him it didn’t believe its employees were responsible, suggesting a delivery service may have written the codes instead. Holman pushed back. “I’m not aware of any delivery service that enters through the garage,” he wrote in his letter. “They usually access the property through the building’s entrance.”
On February 17, a few hours before Masterson’s appearance before council, Holman met with Helen Collins, Director of Public Works, and Ruben Valenzuela, Operations Manager for Athens Services. Both acknowledged the compromised codes were a problem. Athens reaffirmed their position that their employees were not responsible, but committed to removing the codes and educating staff.
Holman Takes It to the Council
In his remarks to the council Tuesday, Holman called on the council to provide oversight to ensure it couldn’t happen again, and urged property managers and HOAs to conduct physical audits immediately, looking for small handwritten numbers in Sharpie or pen near garage gates. If a code is found, he warned, scrubbing the ink off isn’t enough. The entry code must be changed and the system reprogrammed.
Mayor John Heilman thanked Holman and acknowledged the City is aware of specific buildings where codes have been found, while stopping short of assigning blame.
“It’s possible that it was an Athens employee,” Heilman said. “We don’t, we can’t prove who did it, but somebody, apparently, has written codes for getting into some of the gates in our city.”
Heilman called the incident a citywide wake-up call, suggesting the public safety division send information to all building owners about changing gate codes regularly — and noting his own building was overdue.
Byers: Don’t Pin It on One Contractor
Councilmember Chelsea Byers acknowledged the safety concern but cautioned against focusing too narrowly on Athens.
“Pinning it on one individual or player, I think, misses the opportunity we have as a city to look at the very many people who are interacting with our community members’ properties,” Byers said. She noted that gate codes could be compromised by delivery drivers, building residents, or others with regular access. “There’s just so many ways that they could happen.” She framed the path forward as a city communication issue rather than a contractor accountability issue.
What Property Managers Need to Do Now
Regardless of who wrote the codes, the vulnerability is real. The codes work with standard 8, 9, 10, and 12-pin DIP switch clickers. Unlike a numeric keypad code, those hardware-based configurations require manual reconfiguration to change, meaning a code written on an exterior surface is a persistent problem, not one fixed by wiping it off.
Property managers and HOAs were advised to inspect exterior surfaces around call boxes, gate motors, gate frames, and building signage. If markings are found, the entry code must be changed and the system reprogrammed.
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I texted a video of an Athen’s worker writing my gate code on our wall to the Athen’s supervisor,Ruben. I also called Helen Collins and told her that I had a video clearly showing an Athen’s worker writing the code on our wall after I scrubbed it off the day before and never heard back from either of them.
Honestly; Chelsea Byers. Could this woman be more silly? How do we know who wrote the gate codes down? I don’t know, maybe the people who need access to the garage 6 or 7 times a week with a four-hour service window? I don’t want to stand out there to let them in, do you? How do you think they’ve been getting in all these years? If you look at it (and I have it on my building) unless you know specifically what opener the building uses (and there are several) the notes won’t mean anything to you. You’d be… Read more »
The problem is: You shouldn’t even let delivery drivers know the codes,that’s how you break your own security measures for your building..!
Delivery drivers aren’t even equipped with programmable entry remotes and they have no reason to access a building’s garage. Gate number pad codes are an entirely different beast. Athens requires a method of direct access to common waste bins. Since at least one of these is almost always behind a secure garage, they need access to this area. Calling someone to get buzzed into a building every time isn’t acceptable to them. Encrypted key fobs are really the best for this application, but landlords and HOA’s are too cheap to upgrade and no one is sufficiently educated to realize that… Read more »