A petition launched this week demands the resignation of West Hollywood City Councilmember Lauren Meister, accusing her of obstructing safety enhancements on Fountain Avenue, where a fatal hit-and-run claimed the life of 27-year-old attorney Blake Ackerman on July 10, 2025. The cyclist was struck near Fountain Avenue and Gardner Street by a driver who fled, with no arrests reported.
Titled “Safer Fountain Avenue Now,” the petition, started by Darryl Weiss of the LGBT Parents Group, claims Meister has consistently opposed protected bike lanes despite robust community backing and data supporting their need. “Deadly and disfiguring crashes on Fountain Avenue have become a regular part of life in West Hollywood,” the petition reads. “Without [Meister’s] continued efforts to block and delay safety improvements, Fountain Avenue would likely already have protected bike lanes.”
Meister has issued the following written response:
The recent accident is a terrible tragedy, made even more devastating by the fact that it was a hit-and-run. My heart goes out to Blake Ackerman’s family and friends.
To be clear: I, along with all of my colleagues, fully support critical safety improvements in our city. However, the conversation around how best to improve safety on Fountain Avenue is not so simple. I have consistently expressed concerns about implementing a protected bike lane on Fountain Avenue due to its high number of driveways, the impact on parking, and other practical considerations. That’s why I have strongly advocated for a comprehensive streetscape plan — one that takes these factors into account and allows us to holistically evaluate Fountain Avenue, including pedestrian safety, ADA-compliant sidewalks, parking needs, and green space. The City Council majority ultimately chose to move forward with expediting a bike lane project, without a streetscape plan in place.
As this process moves forward, my hope is that all of the stakeholders are provided an opportunity for meaningful input. Importantly, I believe our public safety professionals, the people who are first to respond in emergencies, deserve a formal role in shaping these decisions, as do city contractors that provide essential city services, like trash collection.
Meister is one of the most pragmatic and thoughtful thinkers on the current council, which makes her indispensable at this time. The unfair politicization of a tragic event is misdirected, unwarranted, and potentially underhanded.
An unwarranted attack on one of the best thinkers we have on Council is a clear sign that we have better things to spend our time on.
WEHO, If NYC can manage wide spread city grid of bike lanes, I know that city planners can figure it out too. If you actually invested in all transportation, you may see the need for quick car runs go down. Feel free to visit NYC, Portland, Amsterdam, San Francisco if you need help figuring it out.
Wow. We sure are gonna miss you, Lauren.
A clear, balanced and thoughtful approach to governance. What a concept. Sigh.
I support her and her stance on this issue. The petition is a silly waste of time.
What Meister is REALLY saying is that “We plan on pushing off any changes to Fountain Avenue for as long possible by having endless community meetings, neighborhood input seminars, etc. JUST FIX THE STREET ALREADY before anyone else dies!
The disrespectful politicization of this young man’s death is as disgusting as the defamatory attack on Meister. Shame on the petitioner.
I completely agree,
I do not support removing Meister from office, but this is far from what I’d call disrespectful politicization of this young man’s death. I see this petition as an attempt to get the City to take meaningful action, by a community that that is sickened by the City’s slow movement in this area and a Sheriff’s Department that spends nearly all their shift inside a vehicle but does very little in terms of ensuring vehicles are operated safely and in accordance with the law. For more than 20 years Fountain has been known for traffic collisions, injuries and deaths, but… Read more »
Lauren has been a voice of reason more times then not and in terms of responding to constituents she has never failed me or my friends who own homes and businesses in West Hollywood. The politicization of the young man’s tragic death by an elderly reckless driver is wrong and using his death for partisan reasons is disgraceful. I have no issue with bike lanes if studies and research show it as a safe and sane step but even on SMB bike riders weave from lane to lane and do not ride in accordance with statute or code in many… Read more »
How about we start a petition to have the other 4 removed from the council‼️
This is about the most sense spoken amongst this most preposterous petition.
Even when being unfairly attacked and smeared by nasty political rivals, Lauren Meister remains the voice of reason and fairness! We are lucky to have her on the city council!
Amen! She is the only “grownup” in the room. It must be exhausting for her to deal with all the other council members.
Using Meister as a scapegoat is a farce. The lone supporter of our community, this petition in the name of safety is more likely a developer ploy to stack the council and continue to push through development projects no matter scope or affects on our community. Removing Meister is not the answer.
The man who started this petition…….is another silly unserious person.