40 Years of Fresh Produce — and the Founding Mother Behind the Market’s Name

West Hollywood turns 42 this year. The farmers’ market that helped define it is turning 40.

The City will mark the 40th anniversary of the Helen Albert Certified Farmers’ Market on Monday, June 15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Plummer Park. The celebration is free. Five vendors who have been there since the beginning will be recognized. The City will present a proclamation. There will be live music and giveaways.

The market is at 1200 N. Vista Street in the north parking lot of Plummer Park. Limited parking is available at the south entrance off Santa Monica Boulevard at 7377.

The market opened June 16, 1986. The City Council approved it the year before with the goal of bringing fresh, affordable produce to residents and giving the young City a place to gather.

It almost outlasted the woman it was named after before the City got around to honoring her.
Helen Albert died in 1996 at the age of 85. The City renamed the market for her the following year.

She was a retired schoolteacher. She ran on the Coalition for Economic Survival slate in November 1984 alongside John Heilman, and she won. CES was the tenants’ rights organization that had driven the cityhood campaign. Albert got 4,328 votes that night. She finished fourth among the five candidates who won seats on West Hollywood’s first City Council.

She was 73 years old when she was sworn in. She was adored by the City’s senior community. Senior issues and rent control were her primary causes on the council.

What Heilman Said

John Heilman, who served alongside her on that first council and is now serving his final year as Mayor, described her in the book WeHo Stories, a collection of first-person accounts from the City’s founding generation. “Helen Albert was seventy-three,” Heilman said. “She helped bring up the average there.”

He said she was underestimated. “I think sometimes people mistook the fact that she was very quiet for being manipulated,” Heilman said. “But she was very sharp and firm in her beliefs. She could just look with her blue eyes and see right through people — that absolute schoolteacher look she had.”

Heilman said her motivations were straightforward. “Whatever position she took on an issue, it was always based on what she thought was right for the City and the community,” he said.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Abbe Land, who would later serve on the City Council herself, said in the same book that Albert’s example inspired her. “I thought if Helen Albert, a retired schoolteacher, was brave enough to run and then be on the City Council, I could be a Planning Commissioner,” Land said.

The Fight for Rent Control

Larry Gross, then executive director of CES, described the fight over rent control in those first years and Albert’s role in it. He said Heilman and Albert “advocated for the strongest rent control” but were outvoted three to two on the final version of the law. The ordinance that ultimately passed still ended up being strong — with maintenance provisions and vacancy control with a ten percent cap increase.
Albert served on the council until 1990. Sal Guarriello succeeded her. She died six years later. The council renamed the market in her honor the year after her death, in 1997.

The market she helped build has outlasted most of the founding generation. Ron Stone, known as the father of West Hollywood cityhood, is gone. So is Steve Schulte. Albert and most of the others who created the City have died. Heilman remains.

About the Market Today

The market runs every Monday, rain or shine, year round. It has Market Match, so CalFresh and EBT customers get a dollar-for-dollar match up to $15. It has live music and a free monthly produce raffle. It has vendors who have been showing up for four decades.

The City said it continues to serve residents across all income levels and remains one of the oldest certified farmers’ markets in Los Angeles.

The celebration June 15 is free. The market runs its normal hours, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, call the City’s Recreation Services Division at (323) 848-6497 or email recreation@weho.org.