“Hillary is the biggest war hawk we know…” Chelsea Byers July 2016
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again…” President Trump April 2026
In 2016, as Hillary Clinton was fighting to not only become our first female President, but to keep Donald Trump from winning that office, now Councilmember Byers followed Secretary Clinton around to harass her, equate her with Trump, and praise Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Jill Stein, a woman who sat down for dinner in Moscow with General Michael Flynn and Russian President Vladimir Putin – the year before Byers praised her.
As I’ve been urging people to do for over a year, Google “Hillary Clinton” & “Chelsea Byers” to see for yourself. Here is some of what you will find:
Why Members of This Woman’s Group Got Kicked Out of the RNC
Hillary hits Hancock Park – Beverly Press & Park Labrea NewsBeverly Press & Park Labrea News
Code Pink Stakes Out Hillary Clinton’s Santa Monica Fundraiser
Yes, it was a contentious Democratic primary in 2016. I had greatly admired Secretary Clinton since I turned 18 in 1992 and voted for her husband to be President. But her vote for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution gave me pause. Unlike Byers’ political ally Supervisor Horvath, I was against the Iraq war and President George W. Bush, and I took to the streets to protest both. But I enthusiastically supported and voted for Secretary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. Byers continued protesting Clinton even as she was accepting the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
With the help of anti-Democratic Party activists like Chelsea Byers, Stein took just enough votes from Secretary Clinton in swing states to make her lose the electoral vote to Republican MAGA candidate Donald J. Trump. The Anti-Israel / Pro-Palestinian movement, in which Byers’ participation and leadership is well-documented, would help deliver another, and more horrific, term for Trump by rallying against yet another Democratic woman running for President against the MAGA candidate, Vice President Harris. You might remember the LA Times’ refusal to endorse VP Harris for President. In late 2021 Nika Soon-Shiong (“WeHo Ivanka”), the daughter of the billionaire owner of the Times, was appointed to the West Hollywood Public Safety Commission by then Councilmember Horvath, who was running for Los Angeles County Supervisor. I knew immediately that the Times’ refusal was due to Ms. Soon-Shiong, who like Byers was vocally on the Pro-Palestinian bandwagon, and the NYT later confirmed this. The LA Times did endorse Horvath for Supervisor.
Judgement matters, especially in elected officials, whose judgement shapes the lives of voters. It might be hard to remember, but a brilliant young Senator named Obama running for president was against marriage equality. In 2008 my now husband and I had already been together for 12 years. I was lucky enough to have been raised in a family where being gay was never an issue. Some of the longest and best relationships I knew had been those of gay and lesbian couples in my family and among my close family friends. Now the candidate of my party was on the news saying that he was against my right to marry the man I love and that all of those long-lasting and beautiful relationships I had the fortune of growing up around were not valid and should not be recognized under the law. Did I take to the road to follow Senator Obama around the country, harassing him for media attention and profit (Byers made a career of protesting with her Beautiful Trouble organization) to the detriment of his campaign and my party? No. Of course not. Not just because I thought he was saying what he needed to say to get elected, but because of three terrifying words, Vice President Palin.
Apparently the far more terrifying words, President Trump, did not give Byers pause. Actions have long-ranging consequences and youth is no excuse. What Byers did in 2016 helped bring us that 2026 tweet from President Trump threatening to destroy an entire civilization. All the damage done by President Trump is directly attributable in part to activists like Chelsea Byers. Immigrant children were separated from their parents, some never to be returned, because of Byers’ activities. Roe v. Wade was struck down with her help. And she will bear some responsibility when he comes after Obergefell v. Hodges and my marriage to the man I’ve been with for 30 years.
It is difficult not to like her if you talk to her. She is presentable and friendly. But when she cries her crocodile tears over ICE as an excuse to take away vital tools like license plate readers to help protect you, remember that her actions helped empower ICE and put them on our streets to harass and murder.
One of Byers’ other criticisms of Secretary Clinton was her connections to big money: “What kind of future can we expect from a leader so cozied up to the wealthiest 1% and corporation (sic) that have worked so hard to maintain the status quo?” She said.
While required financial reporting on her 2026 reelection campaign is limited so far, any quick scan of Byers’ campaign contribution disclosures shows that she’s been heavily funded by big developers and their lawyers. Directly and through the Independent Expenditure “Friends of Chelsea Byers for West Hollywood City Council 2022” City of West Hollywood.
Take that 1%!
It is the big developers who are a part of the 1% who will benefit mightily from SB 79 at the expense of residents. Especially if the City does not adopt a TODAP. Watching Councilmember Byers vigorously defend the law and criticize any effort to lessen its harm, as TODAP would, I wondered if she was doing so to please the 1% who put her on the dais or if it was her ideology talking. The kind of blind ideology which led her to harm Clinton’s campaign right when the country so needed it to succeed. The insane push for density is the latest in a long line of ideological holy grails which guide the particular strain of extremism to which Byers subscribes. Others examples being Antisemitism and the Defund the Police madness. Perhaps it was ideology and a desire to please her big developer donors. Either way, West Hollywood residents lose.
In 2024, while I spoke about the need to undo the damage done in the efforts to defund the police, I warned that the next fight would be the one to save neighborhoods from the density insanity. Residents have been living with the escalating effects on the streets from the anti-police votes of Councilmember Byers and her allies. Now you are fighting to save the very nature of the diverse and beautiful neighborhoods which make up West Hollywood. I warn you now of the next fight and it goes straight to the very DNA of the City. Rent Stabilization. These Abundance and YIMBY groups are very critical of Rent Stabilization. California YIMBY actively campaigned against Prop 33 which in 2024 sought to expand Rent Control. Councilmember Byers’ own appointee to the Planning Commission railed against it the night he was sworn in as her Commissioner.
The world is scary and complicated. Nothing is easy. We all have too much to do just to keep our heads above water and not enough time to live. But I need to ask you to do more. Don’t believe me. Don’t believe anything you read here. Don’t believe politicians or their supporters. Don’t believe the ads that will fill your social media or the mailers that will fill your mailboxes. You need to check every claim before you vote. And it is imperative that you check the campaign finance reports for anyone before you vote for them. Especially on the local level. Do you know the donors? Are they your neighbors? Or are they mostly people who are strangers to your neighborhood and have never lived in the City? Do they work for developers? Are they lawyers representing them? Or lobbyists advocating for them? If they are residents, are they on boards or commissions appointed by the very people to whom they are now donating?
Judgement matters. Ask yourself if the politicians the candidates seeking your vote support (George W. Bush for Supervisor Horvath, Republican Supervisor Barger for State Senate Candidate Erickson as recently as 2024), or the ones they actively work to defeat the way Councilmember Byers did against Secretary Clinton, align with your values.
Perhaps Byers really did believe that a President Clinton would lead us into more, or at least as many, reckless wars as President Trump. Maybe she really did have a problem with the wealthy and corporations funding Clinton’s campaign as they eventually would her own. She might have never stopped to think that her activities would help elect Trump. All of these options require profoundly bad judgement and a shocking lack of understanding of how the world works. Both disqualify her from public office.
And now she wants West Hollywood to elect her again. And to elect those with whom she’ll run to maintain not only a majority but to secure control of the entire council. A council without the common sense of Councilmember Meister or the wise council of Councilmember Heilman. A win for Councilmember Byers means the developers who fund her will be in control. That the DSA-LA who recommended voting for her in 2022 and in whose 2026 primary voting guide (where they say vote for Erickson for State Senate) says “…there are no good cops and even fewer good sheriffs…” will guide the choices made about public safety, about your safety, in West Hollywood. The Abundant Housing and YIMBY groups who talk about affordable housing while doing the bidding of their big developer backers, will decide, through Byers, what happens to the Rent Stabilization which was the impetus for cityhood and enables so many to remain in their beloved West Hollywood.
I was quiet for a long time and did not bother to correct every lie said about me the candidate, commissioner, or even person. I have a wonderful life and it just was not worth the ugliness of dealing with it. But I am back here, again, to ask you to do more. Don’t take any claims, even mine, as facts and find out the truth yourself. After 21 years I may no longer live in West Hollywood, but I still revere the City and many of the people I love most in the world live in it. They deserve better than Chelsea Byers and her political allies. And those allies will comment here repeating the same tired irrelevant lines when all they really need to say is if they do or do not support what Byers did to Secretary Clinton when she was running to save America, to save the world, from Donald Trump.
As for Vice President Harris, if she thought that LA Times endorsement would have helped her win, maybe she should have just appointed Nika to some commission somewhere? I heard that can work.
-George Nickle
While Chelsea Byers claims “years” of community organizing, most of that time was spent disrupting Hillary Clinton fundraisers and campaign events and organizing “Students for Palestine”. In 2003 I attended a huge march on Hollywood Boulevard to protest the impending invasion of Iraq. There were ten thousand people marching but I think Jackie Goldberg and I were the only elected officials in attendance. I was furious at Clinton’s support of the invasion but when faced with the choice between Clinton and Trump, I made the adult decision and worked to elect Clinton. Byer’s likes to present herself as heroic in… Read more »
I am reminded of all the people who said ‘I don’t like anybody so I’m not voting’ or ‘I’m voting for Jill Stein to give the finger to both parties.’ in the last Presidential election. Well that worked out well, didn’t it?
The 1% are residents of WeHo. Nickle, a woman-hater trying to defend a very patriarchal woman: HRC.
Nickle, you run on increased policing and heightened security for white gay men. You are so actively against marginalized people that it shows every time you speak.
I dont like Byers. I have my reaaons. You think Byers ks responsible for Trump? Get real. You align way more with Trump’s policies and actively preach them on a local level in a city of the 1%.
Blue MAGA pretending to be against Red MAGA. Nickle argues for the other side of fascist coin.
George Nickle a woman hater?? George Neil against marginalized people?? WHAT A CROCK! and I don’t know where you come off telling lies like this about a wonderful man who includes and loves everybody! I can’t believe you would defend a woman like Chelsea Byers, who doesn’t listen to anybody except the voices in her own head and the developers who bribe her with campaign money. And you would badmouth a wonderful human being like George. Shame on you! I’m a woman, and I’m marginalized because I’m older, ill, and disabled. Yet George has never been anything but kind, considerate… Read more »
All true Mikie-
The only thing I would add is that the universally respected City Councilmember Lauren Meister, who has a great B.S. detector, endorsed George’s candidacy, so your perspective rings accurate.
By no means is George anything you proclaim to say. One of the kindest and honest individuals I ever met and supported. Unfortunately, those with money decided to smear a man that did not fit the agenda of developers, Unite Here, and Streets For All. Anyone with a differing view is a threat to their movement. Do not be fooled that Chelsea Byers is for anyone living in West Hollywood. Any politician that refuses to listen and understand the majority and dictate her own agenda should be questioned every step of the way. Thank you George for continuing to fight… Read more »
Vote this Marxist out.
Wow, this website lets people that left West Hollywood to write op-eds?
Why are you letting someone that can’t even vote for city council and is a FAILED candidate for city council write an opinion piece? He doesn’t live here.
Couldn’t agree more. I was shocked by how little of Chelsea’s 2022 campaign funding came from West Hollywood. By contrast, I appreciated how George raised the substantial majority of his funds here within West Hollywood. It’s clear who would have been a better steward of our interests… Chelsea raised ~$65K directly. The PAC ‘Friends of Chelsea Byers’ raised another ~$26K. No matter how you cut it, West Hollywood represented ~10% of Chelsea’s 2022 support. Her Arizona network kicked in about the same amount. The remaining 80% came largely from organized groups with their own agendas and other politically connected individuals… Read more »
Thank you for chiming in with relevant facts Kyle Brazeal, and looking forward to your election as Councilmember so West Hollywood residents will once again have a say in how our city is governed!
Judgment matters. Chelsea Byers did not merely “march for peace” in 2016; she indulged the performative purity politics that helped weaken the only viable barrier to Donald Trump. That is not ancient history. It is a preview of how she governs now: ideology first, residents second, consequences last. West Hollywood needs councilmembers who can sift and winnow, listen, adapt, and understand tradeoffs. Byers gives us the opposite: rigid slogans, developer-friendly density absolutism, public safety naïveté, and the same self-satisfied certainty that led too many activists to treat Hillary Clinton as the enemy while Trump was at the gate. WeHo cannot… Read more »
TL:DR.
The links to a 2016 civvy marching for peace is SHOCKING!
Hillary is a warmonger.
I didn’t vote for her.
This sounds like Ralph Nader’s poor cousin.
Hillary lost because she was a lousy candidate.
I’ll have more to say later.
Huh??
Well, seriously, you have be kidding.
For one thing, read Mr Oldenkamp below.
She was- MIA for weeks at a time, the fainting episode, the dismal failure of Libya as Secretary of State. Harris’ lack of condemnation against an ongoing genocide did not help her win the youth vote. Both candidates had flaws.
Thank you George for still caring enough about West Hollywood to pen this. Hope our residents finally say enough is enough and elect council members who actually want to listen to and serve them.
I agree with you 100%, George. She represents everything that is WRONG with WeHo politics today. Please don’t let the DSA-Byers-Erickson axis destroy WeHo!
BAM!
George hits the nail on the head, over and over. Chelsea is unprincipled (save for her hatred of Jewish people, guaranteed to get 10% of the votes anywhere), perfect for her past appointments by Erickson, and perfect for her voting in lockstep with him and Hang.
Developer money talks. Check their bank accounts.
So many reasons to send this woman packing.
Truth!
Yes. I haven’t forgotten that Abbe Land had to swear to god that Chelsea Byers wasn’t an antisemite.
Thank you, George! I voted for you and I voted for Hillary and I will never vote for Chelsea Byers for anything ever. A developers puppet and carpetbagging grifter, Chelsea Byers is a disruptor for the highest bidder and the bidders get no bigger in Weho than developers that take our cash, our land, our homes, our businesses and leave holes in their wake. We cannot afford to feed Byers’ ambition, connections and bank account any further. Chelsea Byers must go.
Kyle Brazeal, Kody Christiansen, and Jonathan Wilson are all suitable replacements. Helen Krieger is Chelsea 2.0.
I don’t need to judge her on her past actions. Her current actions on our council in this city are reason enough NOT to vote for her ever again.
Quite enough indeed!