West Hollywood is looking at ways to further disclosure requirements for city officials. (photo courtesy of the city of West Hollywood)

The West Hollywood City Council approved several ethics-related items at its May 20 meeting. The council voted to reconvene the city’s ethics reform task force, review the process for removing appointed city officials and expand disclosure requirements. It also voted to look at the city’s code of conduct, especially related to civil discourse at community meetings.

“Sadly, we’ve seen individuals come to council meetings and make it so hostile and toxic that other individuals who want to come and speak about matters on the agenda [do] not feel safe or [do] not feel welcome,” Councilman John Erickson said. “Specifically, as we saw this last political season, the rhetoric got quite personal and a lot of individuals that normally did come to the city council meetings no longer felt safe as a result of either supporting a bike lane or supporting different types of micro mobility options. They were demonized by their fellow community members. So, I hope that we can come together and finally move past some of these differences.”

“I think West Hollywood thrives when we lead with respect and collaboration,” Councilman Danny Hang said. “We’re a passionate city and that’s a good thing, but sometimes the tone of public discourse can overshadow the work we’re actually trying to get done. When conversations become hostile or personal, it can discourage community members from getting involved. Our West Hollywood staff work incredibly hard for the community and deserve to be treated with dignity. We can disagree, but we should always aim to do it constructively.”

In regards to an item which expands disclosure requirements, Councilwoman Lauren Meister emphasized the money being poured into Political Action Campaigns that are technically separate from but support certain candidates.

“We have PACs that contribute a lot of money to either support or oppose candidates and that information is not disclosed by a candidate because the PAC is separate from the candidate, and [what] I would like for the ethics committee to look at is there a way to have disclosure – not necessarily by the council person, but somewhere in a staff report, in the back as an appendix or something so that is more transparent than having to go through [the] city’s website campaign finance section to find it,” Meister said.

The Ethics Reform Task Force will review disclosure requirements for elected officials, appointed officials, city staff and anyone doing business with the city.

“Bringing back the ethics task force is a chance to look at what’s working, what’s not and how we can improve,” Hang said. “Not just for elected officials, but across the board with appointed officials as well. It sends a message that we’re not afraid of self-reflection and that we take our responsibility to the public seriously.”

Hang said that, during the President Donald Trump era, the “the bar for ethical behavior in public life has been dragged lower than it should be,” and that West Hollywood prides itself in “doing the right thing … even when no one’s watching.”

“It’s more important than ever for local governments like ours to lead by example,” he said. “That starts with how we treat each other and how we do our jobs.”

Longtime resident Anita Goswami agreed with further transparency being implemented by West Hollywood to avoid corruption.

“I tend to think of this on a national scale, the reality it’s happening here in our backyard, and we need to be looking at that. Because we’re seeing that voices are not being heard in the city fully, we are seeing a lot of challenges in the city,” Goswami said. “So, these kinds of activities – to get the task force, looking at the [oath of office], looking at that code of conduct – all of these things together are improving the self-governance of the city of West Hollywood.”