Left Field by Patricia Nell Warren
In early December, I made the decision to run for West Hollywood City Council. To many who think of me as “the author of The Front Runner,” the decision came as a shock. They asked me why in the world I would want to do this. One psychotherapist friend told me he wasn’t sure whether to send me a campaign contribution or medication. Their reactions shocked me a little. It revealed how little respect many Americans feel for politics these days.
But my friends and family and close associates, the people who know me best, are not surprised by this decision. For years I’ve been getting more politically active. I wasn’t just writing reams of political commentary, but I was working on legislative projects, doing a little election canvassing in WeHo, and serving three years as a commissioner in the Los Angeles Unified School District. For a number of years I was encouraged to take the next step—running for office in a local election. The logical choice was West Hollywood, where I’ve been active since arriving in southern California in 1991. I made the decision when I heard that filings were still open for the WeHo election.
Three of the five seats are up for re-election. The three incumbents—John Heilman, Abbe Land, and Sal Guarriello—are running again. There are six other candidates besides myself. The election is March 6.
West Hollywood is famous for its rough-and-tumble elections. So I’ve made another decision—to run on the issues, not on the mudslinging. One world-weary resident told me, “Campaigning on the issues won’t work in West Hollywood.” But I have a sense that many voters are tired of all the ugly personal campaigning they see, whether on the local or national level.
What are the issues? In 1984 West Hollywood was born from Los Angeles County’s unincorporated areas, as the area’s renters fought to escape the county’s effort to ax rent control. Today WeHo’s twenty-fifth anniversary is ahead in 2009, and the city faces some big decisions. It calls itself an “urban village,” yet it’s now the sixth most densely populated city in the U.S. after huge metropolises like New York City. Its 37,000 residents are crammed into 1.9 square miles; the population spikes to maybe 80,000 on weekends as people flood in for nightlife. Growing density has caused growing pains—scarcity of parking, traffic snarls, and need for affordable housing, especially by seniors and young workforce people. So the people of West Hollywood, and its government, will be deciding how “urban” we want our city to be. Controversy flares around multi-use development and culture. Newly widened Santa Monica Boulevard is like a beautiful movie set in search of more diversity—theaters, art galleries. Its $37 million new library is still unfounded.
Why should A&U readers who don’t live in West Hollywood care about this race? Because West Hollywood is part of the giant question that Americans are asking, on how our country meets the needs of its people, and whether it does this in a thoughtful, forward-looking, and effective way. WeHo’s population is forty percent GLBT, so our rights and our health have been important there from the very beginning. Gay men and lesbians served in government from the city’s very beginning in 1984, not only on the city council but also on commissions and other posts. This was at a time when few GLBT politicians could be seen anywhere else in the U.S. It was one of the first cities to legalize domestic partnerships, to provide adequate services for people living with HIV. Within a vaster urban area where healthcare is increasingly unavailable for the poor, West Hollywood subsidizes the L.A. Free Clinic.
On a broader front, the city’s small size, its ethnic diversity, its struggle for individuality while landlocked in the middle of Los Angeles, can make its solutions noteworthy—a significant example for the nation. When that twenty-fifth anniversary rolls around, I would love to see West Hollywood be able to brag to the world about some noteworthy progress on dealing with “density.” I think we should be meeting the needs of America from the ground up, rather than from the top down. For me, West Hollywood is part of that need. And that, ultimately, is why I run.
Author of fiction bestsellers and provocative commentary, Patricia Nell Warren has her writings archived at www.patricianellwarren.com. Reach her by e-mail at pnw@patricianellwarren.com.
Copyright © 2007 by Patricia Nell Warren. All rights reserved.
January 2007
