West Hollywood, California (Thursday, September 3, 2009) - WeHo council member John Heilman’s recent outburst directed at Beverly Hills Mayor and Council members simply exposed the recently developed tarnish on our city’s “progressive” reputation. 
Steve Martin is a West Hollywood attorney and former-city council member. WeHo News - West Hollywood’s ONLY Newspaper, ONLY ONLINE! |
A decade ago West Hollywood and Beverly Hills had a warm relationship. We knew their council members and our Planning Commissions held a couple of joint sessions. They came to our mayoral inaugurations and we went to theirs.
But over the years that relationship has been diminished to the point were Mr. Heilman felt provoked to launch into a hysterical tirade against the Mayor and two Beverly Hills council members who had the audacity to come to one of our City council meetings to raise concerns about the approval of SoHo House, which abuts Beverly Hills residential areas on the west side of Sunset.
Over the years, West Hollywood seems to have lost it’s sheen as a self proclaimed “progressive city.” In my recent conversations with Beverly Hills insiders, I repeatedly heard that the West Hollywood reality completely disconnected from our progressive reputation.
Whether we like it or not, our little burg has a reputation for being run by developers and consultants. Consultants brag about their influence with our City Council members while developers complain to outsiders about the constant shake down for cash in West Hollywood.
West Hollywood council member Abbe Land with council member John Duran at the MLK Day event where Mr. Duran’s fight against discrimination was lauded - by the City of West Hollywood. Photo by WeHo News. |
Indeed the outside view is that our Council looks at proposed development as a fundraiser opportunity, not a tool for rational economic growth. Developers know that the key to success in West Hollywood is to hire a favored consultant and well connected architect and have a big pile of cash available for to disburse to Council campaigns and our Council members’ favorite charities.
West Hollywood developers are always in attendance at EQCA dinners and Free Clinic events (John Duran’s and Abbe Land’s causes, respectively). Maybe it’s just a coincidence.
The word is out that West Hollywood is for sale.
It was no so much the audacity of the Beverly Hills politicians to appear before our Council on a matter that potentially impacted both cities, but the fact that they were witness to open display of power in our City by developers and their consultants, lobbyists and attorneys.
What we really saw that night was a clash of two very different political cultures.
Beverly Hills Mayor Nancy Krasne speaking at a campaign rally. WeHo News. |
We witnessed Beverly Hills Council members taking another evening from their hectic schedules to come to a West Hollywood meeting to defend the concerns of their residents. You don’t see our Council members doing that on Los Angeles projects on our borders.
More importantly Beverly Hills operates on a completely different set of values than West Hollywood and over the years that contrast has become very apparent.
Beverly Hills has a tradition were Council members limit themselves to two terms. Indeed, Beverly Hills Mayor Nancy Krasne got a boost in her bid for City Council when she ran against a two term incumbent seeking a third term. Apparently Beverly Hills folks have an aversion to entrenched politicians.
More importantly Beverly Hills Council members tend to mentor future leaders. They have their own school board which served as a potential stepping stone to City Council.
They also draw on their Boards and Commissions. Since Beverly Hills council members are not seeking life seats they tend to welcome new activist and give them opportunities to serve.
Beverly Hills Council members tend to be well established professionals who are not seeking to be professional politicians. They serve their time and move on. There is no need to cultivate cults of personality in Beverly Hills.
Beverly Hills Council member Barry Brucker with his wife, Sue. WeHo News. |
They are mature adults who don’t view diversity of opinion as a personal threat. No Council member in Beverly Hills is considered indispensable, much less infallible.
Beverly Hills has fund raising limits and caps on how much you can spend on election. While we have roughly equal populations, our supposedly popular West Hollywood incumbents spend $150,000.00 to get re-elected, which is twice the Beverly Hills spending limit.
Beverly Hills politicians thus don’t need to focus on constant fund raising. Their developers are not strong armed into “bundling” political contributions to get around campaign contribution limits. There is a healthy diversity of consultants representing Beverly Hills developers as compared to a clique of well connected favorites in West Hollywood.
In my discussions with Beverly Hills insiders, (and I know several), they are confused about West Hollywood’s purported progressive reputation. We brag about how our “Green Ordinance” was drafted in “cooperation” with developers.
It makes you wonder exactly who was being cooperative.
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Heilman. Photo by WeHo News. |
Beverly Hills is baffled as to how our residents cling to our “progressive” label when they are constantly being shut out in favor of developers. Other than same gender marriage, no one considers West Hollywood to be on the cutting edge.
Beverly Hills people know our Council members. While John Heilman is acknowledged as being bright, no one considers him infallible. Our other Council members seem unremarkable and even mediocre, hardly worthy of life terms.
This ambivalence about West Hollywood’s leadership was reflected a few years back when Mayor Abbe Land ran for Assembly. While Abbe was no stranger to the Beverly Hills City Council, they unanimously endorsed her opponent, Mike Feuer. That slight still rankles.
The formidable progressive reputation Abbe has in West Hollywood didn’t carry any weight in Beverly Hills or any place else outside West Hollywood. Abbe was correctly pegged as being very pro-development and West Hollywood developer dollars fueled her expensive campaign.
Still, in this very progressive Assembly district, she was overwhelmingly defeated, losing even the feminist vote outside our city. That is hard to do when you are the only woman in the race.
Abbe Land and former-LA City council member and now District 42’s State Assembly member Mike Feuer at a debate. Photo by WeHo News. |
It is somewhat galling to think that rather dowdy Beverly Hills has a more open and democratic culture than progressive West Hollywood. Because of meaningful campaign limits, Beverly Hills has a healthy corps of local activists and neighborhood organizations.
At election time nearly every home has one or more lawn signs. In the last two elections in Beverly Hills, “anti-development” candidates were elected. Nothing of the sort has happened recently in West Hollywood.
While no one in Beverly Hills pretends that they live in a political utopia, they do appreciate that they have a more open system than their neighbor to the east.
Like many West Hollywood residents, they are having a hard time reconciling the progressive values upon which West Hollywood was founded with the current West Hollywood reality.
While West Hollywood has spent years touting itself as a progressive leader on scores of issues, maybe it is time for West Hollywood wean itself from it’s culture of self congratulation.
Our progressive image might be enhanced if we would learn a thing or two from Beverly Hills.
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