WeHo Election May Force Lane Change

(WEST HOLLYWOOD) – When Johnny Carson asked Bette Davis if she had any advice for young actresses trying to make it through Hollywood, Davis answered, “Yes, take Fountain.”

Whether that advice from the famous knife’s-edge actress holds up could be determined by the outcome of Tuesday’s West Hollywood City Council election.

A controversial plan to eliminate two lanes of traffic and more than 200 parking spots on Fountain Avenue to add bike lanes is not on the ballot, but the issue has sharply divided the race for city council.

Proponents say it will make biking safer and the city more livable. Opponents decry a traffic nightmare and a parking desert.

The plan originally passed by a 3-2 margin in 2025 and an attempt to delay it last month was defeated by the same margin.

But three seats are on the ballot Tuesday, enough to overturn those decisions.

Kyle Brazeal commutes to and from his Fountain Avenue apartment and says it is already a traffic mess. He says the issue helped propel him to run for city council. So much so that his campaign held a community meeting on the project.

“We reserved a room with a capacity of 75, even though some felt we might get four or five people there,” said Brazeal in a telephone interview. “We got 120 people showing up.”

Brazeal estimated 90% of those in attendance were opposed to the bike lanes project.

The important question for Tuesday is will that intensity translate into votes.

Chelsea Byers is a leading proponent of the bike lanes project and is running for re-election to the city council.

“Four years ago, knocking on doors, I heard from people they wanted change. This year, I hear people asking, ‘Where’s the change?” said Byers in a phone interview.

Byers said she doesn’t hear much from voters about the bike lanes project. She said the biggest concerns are a loss of privacy due to the Flock license plate-reading cameras and worries from renters about safety in their homes.

But there is a contingent angry about the plan. Will they be enough to elect an anti-project majority to the council?

One woman walking down Fountain Avenue, who asked not to be identified, said she was furious about the plan and knew there was a large number of council candidates opposed to it.

Nearby, Richard Reeves, who said he was in favor of the plan and had already voted, said a candidate’s position on the bike lanes was important to his vote.

“There were three candidates that were for it … we looked into those candidates because they support the bike lanes.”

John Duran is on the ballot Tuesday. It is the sixth time he has run for city council. He was successful each of the last five campaigns.

“All the 20 years when I was on council whenever we talked about Fountain, I referred to it as the third rail of West Hollywood politics,” said Duran in a telephone interview.

“It was a dangerous thing to even try to tamper with because all the locals, they know to take Fountain.”

It might not take much for bike lane voters – yes or no -- to make a difference on Tuesday. Four years ago, Byers placed second in a race for three seats on the council. But she was only 56 votes ahead of fourth place which would have kept her out of city hall.