We recently had the privilege of interviewing John Erickson, the incoming Mayor of West Hollywood. Known for his commitment to public service, Erickson is ready to embark on his mayoral journey.
In this interview, he discusses his vision and objectives, offering insights into his approach to governance. Erickson's plans for tackling key city issues, his dedication to inclusive leadership, and his passion for serving the community are central themes of our conversation. Join us for an exclusive look into the thoughts and plans of West Hollywood's future mayor.
Mr. Erickson, could you share with us what inspired you to pursue a career in politics, and specifically what led you to seek the mayoral position in West Hollywood
I got my start in public service working at the food pantry at the Senior Center in Ripon, WI, with my grandmother Gladys. It was that first interaction in serving my community that led to me attend local town council meetings and being more civically engaged. When I first moved to West Hollywood and interned with the City Council offices, I saw our ability to help people in all facets of their lives. Whether it was helping them navigate issues with their landlord, social services, or other quality of life issues, public service offered the ability to care for and help a community one loves, and it is a path that I enjoy every day when I talk to our residents, businesses, and community members at-large regarding how the City of West Hollywood can help them.
Specifically, when I decided to run for City Council in 2020, the Council did not look the way it did now. We not only have our first woman of color but also, we have a real range in age and life experiences. This is critical to ensuring that all voices are heard, and we are all working together to find solutions for our community the reflect the population of West Hollywood and not just a select few.
As the new mayor, what is your vision for the future of West Hollywood? Are there any specific initiatives or policies you're particularly passionate about?
The City’s budget is healthy and strong and as everyone can see: not only have we recovered from the budget deficit caused by COVID-19 but in this past budget cycle, we even had a surplus. I speak with municipal leaders from all over the county, state, and country and they wish they were West Hollywood in 2024, and I think we should be grateful for that. Here in West Hollywood our greatest strength is our connectivity and the sheer fact that people can call me (and anyone of us) at any time of the day and we’ll help. My goal is to be even more accessible to the public because that is the promise of living in West Hollywood: you see your Councilmember, or Mayor, at the grocery store or out watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, and you know you can go up and say hi and work out whatever problems you may have.
That continued fiscal strength, alongside a renewed vigor to look at how the city invests more in our rainy-day funds for future emergencies, are critical steps to ensure that the city is successful in 2024 and for decades to come.
On a personal level, our continued support for our recovery and sober community is top of mind and how we upgrade the Log Cabin and other facilities around the community. Last, but not least, the arts. We have a robust art program that serves many and ensuring the success of the Coast Playhouse and other initiatives, such as grants, poetry, installations, and much more for years to come will be important for the city’s creative longevity.
I’m also personally interested in how we leverage our work in the public health space. Specifically, we’ve created and championed an HIV Zero Initiative, and this set the standard for many other cities to look at public health in their communities. However, there is so much more impacting our communities around this topic and one most recently has been the fight to eradicate HepC from LA County and how do we do that. I plan to introduce several items directly to the city to create a HepC Zero Initiative to further tackle this growing public health crisis that impacts multiple facets of our community in the coming months.
West Hollywood has a rich history as a hub for the LGBTQ+ community. How do you plan to continue this legacy and address the current challenges facing this community?
The LGBTQ+ community is facing so much backlash lately. From the rise in attacks against our LGBTQ+ siblings, to anti-drag and anti-trans laws, the bigotry that we thought we were moving beyond is rearing its ugly head (again). Sadly, as we know, this also happens here in our City (and County) and we much ensure that our community remains a safe haven for all but also work to further protect access and care to LGBTQ+ individuals from all over the world that see West Hollywood as a shining light in a thunderstorm of hatred. I don’t have any plans to shy away from taking big steps on how we further this legacy because West Hollywood has always hit above its metaphorical weight in every aspect.
The Greater Los Angeles area, including West Hollywood, faces significant challenges regarding housing affordability and development. What are your plans to tackle these issues?
The easiest answer is: we have to build more housing. However, the complex answer is: how are we balancing all levels of housing that are needed. We need more affordable housing, but we also need housing for young professionals, and those that do not qualify for affordable units based on their annual incomes, to also live.
Land is scarce in West Hollywood and housing projects oftentimes draw a lot of attentions but based off of our RHNA numbers, as well as the overall regions lack of housing, we need to play our part and build more housing at all levels. I meet with and talk with residents and businesses all over about balancing community concerns for housing projects or mixed used commercial projects that also include housing, and these are importance conversations. I think we can, and often do, strike a balance in West Hollywood so that everyone can be served effectively.
When we look at the reasons why a lot of developments are often bogged down, there are internal issues that the city can address, mainly the infamous second floor of city hall where these projects go to be submitted, reviewed, receive corrections, etc., and this takes a lot of time and money. We need to streamline and create more efficient processes for housing projects, so we can further meet our RHNA goals. Additionally, the state has taken a keen interest in how cities approve housing projects and we should be looking at how we can work with the state versus lawsuits that waste the public’s time and money.
Recently, there has been a troubling increase in incidents where cars have crashed into buildings, and the number of car crashes resulting in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in the Los Angeles area remains alarmingly high. What steps do you plan to take to address this critical issue of road safety? Additionally, how do you propose to incentivize the creation of safer streets for all residents, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists?
I live on Fountain Ave. and this is something that my neighbors and I deal with every day. We have passed more robust policy items and programs to make our streets, sidewalks, and city safer for all. We cannot be the most walkable city if we have people worrying about their safety from cars and this is why I’ve championed, and will continue to do so, reforms for complete streets and improvements to our sidewalks and streets.
For example, when a car crashed into the iconic Jones Hollywood, it caused not only an economic hardship to the business owners but also the workers who, in the middle of the holiday season, suddenly didn’t have a source of income. Now, thankfully, Keith, the owner of Jones Hollywood, joined other businesses to find creative ways to help raise funds for his employees and the City activated right away to help them get back open as soon as possible, but no business should have to live in fear that a car will disrupt their business and potentially kill their employees or customers. It’s unacceptable and we live in a city where people, including myself, are afraid to cross a lighted crosswalk because of car drivers not paying attention and will go out of our way to cross at a different intersection because of the inattentiveness of drivers.
I plan to work with our partners to open up the speed camera pilot program that was passed in 2023 that didn’t include the City of West Hollywood, or other local cities that are facing these types of issues, to help ensure that drivers who choose to use our streets as freeways are held accountable.
Given the substantial concerns expressed by residents about policing, could you elaborate on your view of the Sheriff’s Department’s role in West Hollywood? Furthermore, do you foresee the creation of a municipal police department to enhance city oversight? What specific reforms or changes are you considering in this sector?
I was elected in 2020 when this issue was raging through so many communities and it is one that continues to be important for us to address both locally and at the statewide and federal levels. Public safety is one of the most critical issues we must address and provide for our residents, businesses, and visitors. Ensuring they feel safe when they’re in West Hollywood is important and impacts all aspects of life. Balancing this, with our push for further community safety investments in unarmed patrols, like Block by Block and other measures, are equally important.
We’ve seen the success of Block by Block with how much they interact with members of our community and it is seen and felt. This is important because those extra boots on the ground help provide support to our Sheriff’s Department who have to respond to a lot of other issues that we seen on a daily basis. While the issue itself of the City’s own police force is one that was being explored, the fiscal cost and risk to our financial health is one that is very serious that would not be covered like it is currently with our contract with the Sheriff’s Department.
As a leader in this space, the renewed work and approach of our new County Sheriff Robert Luna has been exemplary with reestablishing public trust and working with our local cities. We need to get more community support to our residents and businesses so they’re aware of what is going on versus hearing it on the news and this will be helped by adding another position for a PIO officer at our local station that will further help be a liaison with community members. We need the county to allow us to hire this position (currently they have a freeze on hires) so we can get back in the business of being better community stewards in terms of public safety versus being on the defense when something happens.
On a fiscal level, I am concerned about the increased liability that our cities are facing due to sheriff misconduct. I sit on the LA County Trustee and Oversight Board, alongside my work with the California Contracts Cities Association, and review cases and misconduct that occur and both the settlements that come out as a result of it and then the cost to cities as a result in terms of insurance coverage and liability. This is something I plan to continue to engage in in the coming year so the city is spending the public’s dollars efficiently and correctly.
In the wake of an unstable post-pandemic economy, we’ve witnessed many online deride your support for West Hollywood’s new minimum wage while blaming it for every retail closure within the city limits. How do you plan to support the economic recovery and growth of West Hollywood?
I love our West Hollywood business community and the workers that make our local economy so strong and vibrant. The real problem that I see are commercial rents. Local cities have zero control over setting these markets and we’ve seen commercial rents skyrocket since they were allowed to collect rent again following COVID-19 protections going away. We need Sacramento to not only give local cities control to set these markets but also work with us to help our business community rather than further taking away our control.
While some may deride my support for the minimum wage as my opposition to our businesses, that is simply not true. I love our businesses and this entire past year featured all of my favorite businesses on the Eastside of West Hollywood where I live (and frequently go to). I speak to business owners every day and check in with them about what’s going on, what they’re seeing, and how we can always work better together. Before we pass, or I look at any item impacting our business community, I speak with small businesses owners and many others about impacts, what they’re seeing, and how it would impact them. The best part of West Hollywood is we have constructive conversations and can (and have) worked together to ensure our businesses and workers thrive together.
A stable and good working relationship with our business community is important and so I look forward to continuing these conversations in 2024 and beyond and helping bridge that gap.
West Hollywood is known for its vibrant cultural and artistic scene. How will your administration support the arts and cultural institutions in the city? On the topic of the arts, would you mind disclosing your least favorite Taylor Swift album?
We have the amazing opportunity to push forward the historic Coast Playhouse and all that it will represent. I’m looking forward to helping champion its success but also, in a time where drag and other artforms, are being censored (or banned) we need to invest even more funding into the arts. There is no better investment that supporting the arts and I’m looking forward to pushing for this in the coming budget cycle.
I am up for re-election this year and I don’t need Swifties mad at me, so I will say that I love every album and Taylor can do no wrong (although I am partial to 1989). If she reads this article, this is her official invite to come be our Pride Grand Marshall and perform in West Hollywood Park.
What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities facing West Hollywood during your tenure as mayor?
We have a big year ahead of us and I think how we continue to balance efficient meetings and ignore the noise is going to be critical. 2024 is a turning point for our county and West Hollywood has a lot of communities that have been targeted and will continue to be as the year goes on. We need to both remain a beacon of progress for all those that look to our city to do just that while also making sure we’re helping out our communities here locally survive the obstacles that are bound to arise in the coming months and year.
I see our biggest challenges being how we continue to address homelessness, build more affordable housing, and ensure that our streets are accessible to everyone and built for decades to come and not just today and all the competing interests on our sidewalks. I’m looking forward to seeing the success of our West Hollywood Care Team and the work that has been underway with the Holloway Motel and how our city continues to lead the way for progressive change even within our 1.89 square miles.
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Erickson alongside his niece Emma who will be swearing him in as Mayor |
Finally, on a more personal note, how has your journey to becoming the mayor of West Hollywood shaped your perspective on leadership and public service?
The greatest joy I get every day is working to help my fellow neighbors, businesses, and our region at-large. I’ll never forget my first day at city hall and thinking back on leadership and public service, I’m reminded of my grandmother Gladys who taught me the joy of public service and being of service to a community that I love. Whether it’s my Saturday in Plummer Park event( that I’ve been doing for nearly 3 years now) or the countless calls that I have with residents and businesses every day, I’m grateful to the people of West Hollywood. The power that our city represents to many, including, even in the most magical of circumstances, LGBTQ people in small towns, much mine in Ripon, WI, serve a bigger purpose and allow people to think of a better world where they can truly be themselves.