The City of West Hollywood celebrated 41 years of history with an early birthday bash on Monday night. WeHo’s official day of incorporation was November 29th, 1984.
About 150 guests attended the party, including all five city council members, city staff, former and current board and commission members, along with many residents.
Vice Mayor Heilman thanked the crowd. “I can’t believe it’s 41 years already, but it really is an amazing story, the City of West Hollywood.”
Councilmember Meister welcomed the crowd. “I thank all of you who reached out to me. I’ve received so much love and so much caring from all of you, this is what the West Hollywood community is all about.”
Councilmember Hang rallied the room, “Our stories are bold, creative, artistic and queer, and that’s what we are all about, and that is what we are going to take to the elections to woo this forward.”
Councilmember Erickson saluted the attendees, “Thank you for always sticking with West Hollywood. It’s always hard when the world tells you no… to say yes… and West Hollywood is in the business of saying yes, and saying yes to the future.”
Drag Laureate Pickle was host of the ceremonies for the evening amusing the crowd; “I come in, I smile, no clear political role,” – as she introduced City Manager David Wilson.
The night included a heartfelt message from outgoing City Manager, David Wilson. “Today is a day to celebrate our city, reflect on our journey and look ahead to the future.” “This city was founded on the belief that government can and should work for everyone. That small cities can make a big difference. And that people from all walks of life can come together and create something that is greater than the sum of its parts.” 
Wilson moved the audience with his thoughts and appreciation for his years serving West Hollywood. Later in the evening Mayor Chelsea Byers and the city council stood to award Wilson ‘the key to the city’. There were few dry eyes in the room.
Mayor Chelsea Byers delivered an inspiring address. The young poised Mayor celebrated the early years of West Hollywood. Byers was not even born when the City of West Hollywood was incorporated. 
Joshua Schare, director of communications for the City of West Hollywood, said, “Stories are at the heart of the work we do in communications. We share news, we promote events, but the way it all connects us is through stories, and our stories are what humanize us. West Hollywood, as a city and as a community, has many stories from those in this room. I am happy to share two projects: ‘Hello WeHo,’ a new online newsletter.”
Sheri Lunn of the communications team presented a video about StoryCorps, an initiative that allows residents to capture stories for the Library of Congress.
Schare continued, “Everyone in West Hollywood has an important story to tell, and the folks at StoryCorps were so blown away by our community.”
The next presentation included Barbara Grover, who was first commissioned in 2017 by then-Councilmember Lindsey Horvath to document the stories of West Hollywood residents and stakeholders who brought the WeHo Storybook to life.
The night was filled with love for our city. At the refreshment hour that preceded the night’s event, community residents had a chance to meet their City Council members and city staff.
The official birthday of the City of West Hollywood is Saturday, November 29th.
The highlight of WeHo’s history was the arrest of Valerie Terrigno, its first mayor, for fraud. It never got any better! West Hollywood was GREAT before incorporation destroyed it as a city.Lived there from 1979 thru 2017. Moving out of WeHo is the best move I made in decades! A rathole of a city destroyed by crooked or inept bureaucrats.
I preferred the place as incorporated county land, but good times can’t last forever. Happy Birthday WeHo city.
Bah, Humbug to Mr/s West Hollywood useta below.
It looked like a simply lovely evening .
Perhaps I’ll be able to attend our 42nd.
Nice coverage, Larry Block.
The city doesn’t have a lot to celebrate the last 5 years or so. Increase in alcohol and drug addicts along with the mentally ill, the crime, the increase in the number of businesses that have closed, the cost of everything has skyrocketed, we’ve lost the diversity of our main commercial area to now almost all bars and clubs and we have become more divided as a community. We have children with very little experience in the real world running our council and running our city into the ground. We are a shell of our former self. Let’s hope the… Read more »
Shaddup and move already
Many, if not all, of the problems, have trickled down from Trump’s federal government, like the slashing of all programs to assist the needy, the homeless and the addicted, to name only a few. I know you’d like to blame it all on “ultra progressives,” but the reality is much different. Nice try, though.