After an extensive 11-month co-authorship process consisting of thousands of community members, the preliminary WeHo 40 Strategic Plan is now available.

The preliminary Strategic Plan appeared on the October 7, 2024 City Council Meeting under Item B.9 and was formally presented to the City Council at its October 21, 2024 meeting.

The final WeHo 40 Strategic Plan will be available digitally in November as the City celebrates it's 40th Anniversary.

WeHo 40 is the City of West Hollywood’s forward-looking strategic planning process. Rooted in 40 years of municipal history – and looking ahead toward 2040 – WeHo 40 engaged residents, businesses, and community members in setting priorities for the future.

West Hollywood signifies different things to different people in our community, but what unifies us is a sense of passion, optimism, and enthusiasm for continually making our city great. Through this process, we discussed your issues, challenges, and solutions for a strategic plan that will assist West Hollywood in continuing to thrive in the decades ahead.

As a strategic plan, WeHo 40 frames the City's short-term needs, mid-term ambitions, and long-term goals. It also recommits to a sense of shared purpose and reaffirm the City’s unique core values.

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The Strategic Plan was developed through close collaboration with community members and City staff. To capture as many voices as possible, the West Hollywood Strategic Plan took a community-centered and community-led outreach approach. The process utilized a variety of formats to connect with West Hollywood's diverse community, to lower the potential barriers to engage with local government, to create a positive and welcoming environment, and to meet community members where they are.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

• Citywide Surveys: In February 2024, the City conducted a statistically-valid survey and collected responses from more than 500 City residents in English, Spanish, and Russian. This baseline survey was used to gauge the public's priorities, concerns, sentiments regarding City services, and visions for the future. In August 2024, the City conducted a second statistically-valid survey of more than 450 residents to validate the plan's goals and objectives.

• Citywide Focus Groups: The City held four focus groups with City residents to inform the priorities and focus of the Strategic Plan. To help understand differences in resident opinions across the City, three sessions were conducted with participants divided by geography: one each with residents who lived east of Fairfax (Eastside), between La Cienega and Fairfax (City Center) and west of La Cienega (Westside). Additionally, a fourth session was held with residents who identified as LGBTQ+.

• Community Workshops: Throughout the spring and summer of 2024, the City hosted a number of public events to guide development of the strategic plan. Activities were tailored to attract diverse communities, reflect the City's unique culture, and support a celebratory and positive environment. Programming at these events included participatory feedback opportunities, tabling by community partners and local nonprofit organizations, shared food and beverages, live music, and family-focused activities. Events were held at Kings Road Park, Plummer Park, and West Hollywood Park. In addition to in-person events, the City also hosted one virtual meeting.

• Community Pop-Ups at Existing Events: The City’s strategic plan project team participated in four days of pop-up events to leverage access to large community audiences at existing events. Pop-up activities included the presentation of interactive planning board presentations, project-branded giveaways, and family-friendly activities such as a photo booth to generate interest in WeHo 40 and create opportunities to gather feedback from participants. The WeHo 40 project team participated in pop-ups at the Aquatics Spring Festival at West Hollywood Park, the Mishka Festival at Plummer Park, and two days at the WeHo Pride Street Festival.

KEEP IN TOUCH

• Email Updates: This Engage WeHo website is a great resource to stay in the loop. Click the "Follow" button at the top of the page to receive periodic email updates about the project.

• Social Media: Follow us @wehocity.

LEARN MORE

• FAQs: Delve into our FAQ section for detailed information about the project. Whether you are curious about project goals, timelines, or specific aspects of the project, our FAQ section will be the place to get answers. This section will also be periodically updated as the project progresses.

Gensler is a global architecture, design, strategy and planning firm and the lead consultant on the project. Their local LA based team brings a deep expertise in engagement and strategic planning and have worked with cities throughout California to help shape their visions for the future.

Designing in Color is an award-winning collective of architects and designers of culture dedicated to building resilient & just communities. They are working with the City on community organizing efforts for the WeHo 40 project.

FM3 Research is a California-based company that has been conducting public policy-oriented opinion research since 1981. They are helping the City deepen their understanding of WeHo's community members through surveys, focus groups, and other such engagements.

Core Coalition & Action Team: In addition to City staff and Consultants, members of the community, local leaders, and community based organizations comprise the Core Coalition and Action Team - two advisory groups to guide the planning process. More information on these groups can be found in the tabs below.

The Core Coalition comprises community-based organizations and individuals who will informally contribute to the City of West Hollywood's Strategic plan through the project’s completion. This network of people are passionate and engaged community members who will volunteer to provide their insights through guided discussions, and facilitate outreach and engagement to ensure that the larger community’s priorities are incorporated in the city’s planning process.

Members of the Core Coalition include the following:

• Arts Bridging the Gap
• City of West Hollywood Disability
• Advisory Board
• City of West Hollywood Russian-Speaking Advisory Board
• Coalition for Economic Survival
• Dubbs Coffee
• Dubbs Value Creation
• Fan Girl Cafe
• Foundation for The AIDS Monument
• Free WeHo Coalition
• Jewish Family Service LA
• June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives
• JVS WeHo Works
• Los Angeles LGBT Center
• Medicare Smart Experts
• RimoVision Group
• Russian Language Public Library
• The Last Prisoner Project
• The Lavender Effect
• The Phoenix
• Trans Latin@ Coalition
• West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition

The Action Team comprises five West Hollywood community members who help lead the community-centered and community-led approach to the strategic plan. The Action Team’s main responsibility is to grow the project’s visibility within the community and be the first line of feedback. They are the eyes and ears on the street and will be gathering input as well as providing updates and information to the community through focus groups and grassroots organizing at our various community events and pop-ups throughout the project period.

This group represents the diverse perspectives across the city and is involved in this project through its completion. Members of the Action Team include the following:

Stephen Post

Pronouns: he/him/his

Favorite place/space in West Hollywood: Plummer Park

Bio: Stephen Post is a communications manager and campaign strategist with the Last Prisoner Project where he focuses on implementing policy through coordinated government and public relations efforts. Stephen hopes to empower others to challenge the obstacles to equal justice in cannabis, as well as help redesign the justice system by breaking down the stigma around drug use. Stephen is a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and Economics, and his Master’s of Public Administration with a focus on drug policy reform, policing, and community governance. During his time at Ohio State, Stephen worked with OSU's Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, where he supported interdisciplinary, evidence-based research, education, and community outreach. Additionally, he served as President of the Council of Graduate Students where he advocated for affordable housing policies, LGBTQ+ rights, and increased mental health services. As a City of Columbus Area Commissioner, Stephen has worked on various community planning projects. In his free time, he enjoys yoga, hiking, and playing beach volleyball.

Chiedu Egbuniwe

Pronouns: he/him/his

Favorite place/space in West Hollywood: Observation Deck in front of the West Hollywood Aquatics Center

Bio: Chiedu Egbuniwe (CHEE-ed-oo ee-BOO-nee-way) has worked with government institutions, corporations, and nonprofits for years. He serves as Chair of the LGBTQ+ Commission for the City of West Hollywood, and as Board Chair for One Institute, one of the oldest LGBTQ+ nonprofits in the nation. He consults as a DEIA&B advisor and his prior experience is in IT management and administration. Chiedu is committed to collaboration, active listening, and active learning. At One Institute, he helped launch Circa, the first Queer History festival in the U.S.: over 3,000 diverse participants in 70 programs reflecting our identities. On the LGBTQ+ Commission for West Hollywood, he advocates for attainable housing to help our vulnerable trans and aging LGBTQ+ citizens and champion digital surveillance to promote equity and accountability in policing. As an IT manager, he added BIPOC LGBTQ+ staff to a cis-White male department and helped introduce DEIA&B programming. He is the proud child of Nigerian and Jamaican immigrants, born in Massachusetts, and raised in West Virginia and Georgia. Chiedu has written and directed award-winning LGBTQ+ short films that have screened around the world and written on queerness and opera for The Advocate. Chiedu has lived in and has loved WeHo for 20+ years.

Kaitlin McCafferty

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Favorite place/space in West Hollywood: The New West Hollywood Library and Park

Bio: Kaitlin moved to West Hollywood in 2022; She is an urban planner for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) where she focuses on $115 million in one-time grants to accelerate housing production across the region. Kaitlin has an MS in Environmental Studies with a focus on Sustainable Food and Farming from the University of Montana and a BS in Marketing from Fordham University. Kaitlin is dedicated to listening to and learning from neighbors to help work towards a shared vision of West Hollywood.

Lennin Kuri

Pronouns: he/him/his

Favorite place/space in West Hollywood: Bohemia Tea & Coffee

Bio: Lennin prides himself on challenging the established practices of California's housing crisis and limited resource access as a Latinx queer advocate, to socially innovate solutions that call for universal equitable housing. As a Los Angeles native, he returned to the city after graduating from the University of California - Riverside with a BA in Political Science. For two years, Lennin worked on various community engagement projects under state-county and nonprofit entities throughout both Riverside and Los Angeles. Notably, Lennin worked under the Riverside County Community Action partnership in allocating over 50k in state-managed utility and rental assistance funds towards disadvantaged low-income communities. Lennin currently works with the Coalition Responsible for Community Development (CRCD) as a Housing Case Specialist, actively engaged in housing South and West LA displaced populations through placement and stabilization to holistically approach the clients through homelessness and eviction prevention, move-in assistance, short to medium term rental assistance and permanent supportive housing. In his downtime, Lennin finds himself hiking, art viewing, festival attending or even immersed in travel-based cultural learning.

Sharon Carz

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Favorite place/space in West Hollywood: WeHo Bistro

Bio: Sharon is a commercial real estate agent and ice-skating instructor. She moved to West Hollywood in 1999 and can’t imagine living elsewhere in Los Angeles. Sharon began her career at CBRE, learning the office product world and advanced in working with institutional multifamily developers from land acquisition through build-out, leasing the retail component, and disposition of the asset. Sharon has represented major financial institutions and private high-net-worth clients in multifamily, REO, and market transactions, as well as nationwide 1031 NNN exchange transactions and asset valuations. Figure skating has been a part of her life since she was six, so living in “The Creative City” and West Hollywood, where she can safely walk her dog and chat with her neighbors, makes it the perfect fit.

Click the "Follow" button at the top of the page to stay tuned for the latest updates and announcements.