Over the past few weeks, I have had a surprising number of conversations with friends who are confused about why they cannot vote in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
This has come up in bars, over text messages, in casual conversations, and even in comments on WEHOonline where people are talking about who to vote for in the LA mayoral race, even though West Hollywood residents cannot vote in that election.
A lot of people have said some version of the same thing to me: “Wait, why can’t I vote for Karen Bass?” or “Why can’t I vote for Nithya Raman?” or “Why can’t I vote for Spencer Pratt?” And I understand the confusion. We all say we live in “LA.” West Hollywood is surrounded by Los Angeles. Many of us work in Los Angeles, go out in Los Angeles, and use “LA” as shorthand for the entire area.
But West Hollywood is not the City of Los Angeles.
We are our own city.
That means West Hollywood residents do not vote for the Mayor of Los Angeles or the Los Angeles City Council. We vote for our own City Council, and those elections matter far more than many people seem to realize.
In fact, one of the best things about living in West Hollywood is that we are an independent city. We are small enough that local government is actually accessible, but large enough that city decisions have real consequences for residents, businesses, workers, and visitors.
That is why local elections here matter.
People should think about the services we have because we are our own city. West Hollywood has its own local priorities, its own public safety contracts, its own code enforcement, its own planning rules, its own parking policies, its own business regulations, its own social services, its own events, and its own standards for maintaining public space.
You can feel the difference when you cross city lines.
And in West Hollywood, local government can actually respond.
That is the part I think people miss when they wish they could vote in Los Angeles elections. I understand the instinct. The LA mayoral race gets more media attention. The LA City Council races get more headlines. Los Angeles politics often feels like the main event because Los Angeles is the giant city surrounding us.
But for West Hollywood residents, the people with the most direct effect on our daily lives are our own City Councilmembers.
They decide what kind of city West Hollywood becomes.
In a small city, one council seat can make a real difference.
That is why people should pay attention to the West Hollywood election in November. There are a lot of candidates running, and residents should take the time to learn who they are. Not just their slogans, not just who endorsed them, and not just whether they sound good on social media. People should ask whether they actually understand the city.
Do they understand the Eastside, the Westside, the Norma Triangle, the Sunset Strip, the Design District, and Santa Monica Boulevard? Do they understand renters, homeowners, small businesses, nightlife workers, seniors, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and public safety concerns?
Because this is not national politics. This is not about picking a team. This is about who is going to make decisions about the city we actually live in.
West Hollywood is lucky to be independent. We are lucky to have our own city services, our own council, our own elections, and a local government that residents can realistically influence. That does not mean everyone will agree on every issue. They should not. A city with engaged residents is going to have disagreement.
But disagreement is not a reason to tune out. It is a reason to pay closer attention.
So if you live in West Hollywood and are frustrated that you cannot vote in the Los Angeles mayoral race, I would suggest looking at it another way. You are not being excluded from someone else’s election. You are part of a city where your vote may actually matter more.
We have our own city.
We have our own council.
We have our own services.
And we have our own election in November.
That is the election West Hollywood residents should be talking about.
It is unfortunate that our council has simply become a game of math. If an item can get to 3 votes, it passes. So many of us in Weho rightly whine about Supreme Court decisions consistently decided on partisan lines, however we have a version of the very same thing happening on our council. If 3 of the “cool kids” vote together, their collective personal agendas get advanced. The will of the voters is not important. They create little cliques by grooming appointed commissioners for the next election cycle. They pay lip service to votes during the election season and… Read more »
Interesting, just received an invitation from the “girl next door” PICNIC IN THE PARK, as Chelsea originally presented herself to the voters in Weho to be elected for her first term. Please be aware that she crafted a seemingly sincere approach, offered unfulfillable promises and integrated herself into composing her rock climbing team to advance her political career. Duplicity with a smile.
OMG ! Are people that stupid that they do not understand why they cannot vote for mayor of a DIFFERENT city? No wonder the electorate is so messed up.
Wow thank you so much for sharing. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know this. If you could could this article please be updated to include our cities website? I tried westhollywood.gov but nothing came up. Thank u again for letting us know Ben
WeHo.org is our city’s main website.
We are very fortunate to live in West Hollywood. Our City has a stable tax base and is able to fund an array of social services as well as provide some really wonderful recreational services that are the envy of other cities. We protect tenants and seniors as well as providing an accepting community to those who may not fit in else where. We need to figure out how to keep our neighbors informed about issues such as the Fountain bike lanes that will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction and as to the disconnected decision making of… Read more »
Thank you for writing this Ben. I wish more people realized just how important our local WeHo election is! If more residents knew that some councilmembers completely ignored the will of the people at the last meeting when we asked for a PLAN to handle the influx of new housing developments that will come to WeHo over the next few decades … they would be shocked. The people voted for the members of the council to be THEIR voice in the big decisions that impact our city. Some council members may have forgotten what they were elected to do …… Read more »
Chelsea Byers needs to be voted out in November.
Chelsea is not safe for weho residents. IMHO. As much as I was hoping she’d be good for us, she isn’t. Remember…defund sheriffs…the lone vote not to hire more when available, in a time when most of us are afraid to walk after dark or visit the rainbow district. She does not care. Remember, no cameras. In a time when residents are afraid to walk around after dark. Or in the day. Or in the afternoon. Or at dusk. She does not care. All she cares about is her pseudo progressive ideology. Remember…she wants to build build build. She’s lived… Read more »
Thank you, I couldn’t agree more that the West Hollywood City elections are hugely important and bring consequences to our daily lives. However, I would like to emphasis just as important is the county wide elections and that of the LA County Board of Supervisors. The (5) Supervisors are for all comparative purposes the mayors of Los Angeles County which is 4084 square miles which includes the City of West Hollywood and the County laws apply in Weho. By comparison, the City of Los Angeles is 469 square miles within the County of Los Angeles and the the LA City… Read more »
So true! VOTE ERICKSON, BYERS AND HANG OUT! They are hellbent on destroying West Hollywood