The breezeway between West Hollywood City Hall and its public parking garage was buzzing with activity on May 10. (photo by Rance Collins)

West Hollywood City Hall is back open to the public. While the building had been available for some limited services since July 2021, May 9 marked the first day in over two years that members of the general public could walk in without an appointment.

“It wasn’t until recently that we felt it was safe to allow the public access to City Hall without an appointment,” City Manager David Wilson said. “It’s wonderful to be able to welcome community members to City Hall again on a walk-in basis.”

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the city of West Hollywood became a fully-remote operation, with city staff and committee members working from home and handling business through phone calls, emails and Zoom meetings.

The reopening of City Hall follows the return to in-person meetings. The City Council met for its first in-person session on April 4.

“Being responsive across all areas of the city from public safety to building and safety, and from human services to constituent services has always been our promise and our goal,” Councilman John D’Amico said. “Opening City Hall helps to make that promise real and achieving that goal more possible.”

“Our residents and community members have been asking us to open up for months,” Mayor Pro Tempore Sepi Shyne said. “I have been a vocal supporter of us going back to in-person meetings as well as the reopening of City Hall, guided by reasonable steps to ensure public safety and well-being. I am excited that we have taken this step back to normalcy and fully support it.

“I am very pleased that City Hall has opened its doors, although we were able to get work done remotely, fairly effectively,” Mayor Lauren Meister said. “I think residents, businesses and staff are ready and excited for this step back towards normalcy. Soon commissions and boards will be meeting in person as well.

“This moment where you can come in without an appointment is great,” Councilman John Erickson said. “Not only for me as a new council member who hasn’t been able to just walk in City Hall the way I’m accustomed to or when I worked there as an intern, but it’s also really important because it signals hopefully an ongoing shift in the fight against COVID-19.”

While city officials celebrated the building’s official return, Meister cautioned that the ever-changing nature of the pandemic means the public should continue to be careful.

“I would suggest that people remain cautious, social distance, wear masks in crowded indoor spaces, and get vaccinated and boosted,” Meister said.

“We’re still encouraging people to use the city’s website to book an advance appointment if they know they’ll be coming into City Hall. This allows for reduced wait times and increased efficiency,” Wilson said.

“The fact that you can now go up, get your parking passes or pay a parking ticket if you need to or make sure that you’re getting access to city services without doing email or setting up a meeting in some way via technology that you may or may not have access to is just one other way that West Hollywood is continuing to make sure we are there for our residents and our businesses,” Erickson said.