Re “WeHo Council tables public safety measure,” March 24 issue

Although West Hollywood has been experiencing a pan­demic of violent and predatory crime, the City Council has not taken any steps to make our city safer for our residents, business­es or visitors.

In December, the City Council rebuffed efforts by Mayor Lauren Meister to restore the number of sheriff’s deputies patrolling our streets to 2019 levels. Council members were dismissive of the rising crime statistics and concerns expressed by residents.

Then, at the Feb. 14 meeting of the Public Safety Commission, there was a vote that recommended cutting 10 deputies from our current force, a 16% cut in the sheriff’s budget. Although there has been unprecedented public outrage over this attempt to de-fund the sheriff’s department, only Mayor Meister has had the courage to speak out against this foolish proposal.

The primary reason for municipal government is not to re-decorate crosswalks with politically correct imagery or pontificate about national issues. The first and foremost duty of our City Council is to keep our residents safe.

We demand that the council restore policing to pre-pandemic levels and even increase them. Nothing less will do.

Steve Martin

West Hollywood

Former West Hollywood

City Council member