JONATHAN'S PRIORITIES FOR WEST HOLLYWOOD
West Hollywood is a village. It takes all of us.
Jonathan Cottrell is a small business owner, software engineer, West Hollywood commissioner, and father running to bring thoughtful, practical leadership to City Hall. He believes the best solutions are built with the community, not just for it.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
If we wish to remain the most inclusive city in the country, we first and foremost must be safe and feel safe. Statistics alone do not tell the whole story if residents are still afraid to walk home at night. We need a public safety strategy that puts trained personnel where they are needed most, strengthens coordination between agencies, and involves residents and businesses in keeping their neighborhoods safe.
Jonathan will work to make West Hollywood feel safer.
✔ Help the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recruit and retain more deputies for West Hollywood
✔ Increase the number of visible deputies on foot and on patrol during the hours they are needed most
✔ Make successful programs such as the Entertainment Policing Team permanent
✔ Improve coordination between deputies and security ambassadors
✔ Move responsibilities that do not require a sworn deputy to appropriate civilian personnel
✔ Expand collaboration with residents, businesses, neighborhood watch groups, and local law enforcement
HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY
Our policies should recognize the difference between a neighbor who has responsibly maintained a fourplex for thirty years and a speculator flipping buildings. Good design treats them differently because they behave differently. Jonathan will also explore more creative zoning. Imagine studios where an artist can live, work, and sell in one place. People are co-living well into their thirties now, not as a stopgap but as a way of life. Let’s make sure the housing we approve reflects how people actually want to live.
Jonathan will work to make sure West Hollywood stays home to everyone.
✔ Strengthen effective rent stabilization and tenant protections
✔ Expand the supply of quality affordable housing where the infrastructure can support it
✔ Distinguish neighborhood property owners from corporations and outside speculators
✔ Explore creative zoning for live-work spaces, artist studios, and mixed-use housing
✔ Allow more housing options that reflect the growing demand for co-living
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
The affordability crisis is affecting renters, homeowners, workers, and small-business owners alike. West Hollywood should be a place where longtime institutions can thrive and new ideas can take root. That starts by bringing amazing service back into public service. Opening a business should not require navigating endless delays and disconnected departments. City Hall should treat entrepreneurs and local businesses as partners, not case numbers.
Jonathan will work to address affordability and create economic opportunity.
✔ Create a one-stop business concierge for people opening, expanding, or relocating a business
✔ Streamline permits without lowering the City’s standards
✔ Support longtime local businesses that helped build West Hollywood
✔ Attract quality jobs in creative, green, technology, and emerging industries
✔ Incentivize West Hollywood businesses to purchase from other local businesses
✔ Revitalize struggling business corridors through thoughtful investment and planning
✔ Make West Hollywood the easiest and most welcoming city in the region to film in. We’re the most filmable two square miles in America, and I think it’s time that we act like it
GOVERNMENT TRUST & ACCOUNTABILITY
Residents should be able to see who is influencing decisions, where their tax dollars are going, and whether City programs are delivering real results. West Hollywood is not for sale, and our government should always be accountable to the people who live and work here, not wealthy out-of-state billionaires. Trust requires more than promises. It requires transparency, independent oversight, and a City Council that gives residents its full attention.
Jonathan will work to restore trust in City Hall.
✔ Create an independent disclosure and auditing system with real enforcement
✔ Make campaign contributions, financial interests, and potential conflicts easy to search
✔ Present the City budget in a clear format that residents can understand
✔ Measure the results of public programs, not simply how much money was spent
✔ Require greater transparency from councilmembers, commissioners, and other decision-makers
✔ Give residents our full attention when they come before the City Council
✔ Protect West Hollywood from outside billionaires and speculative interests attempting to influence local decisions