FINDING HOME. BUILDING COMMUNITY.
MEET JONATHAN
Jonathan Cottrell is a West Hollywood neighbor running for City Council.
From Around the World to West Hollywood
He grew up around the world, the son of parents who built community health and education programs across the globe an upbringing that taught him early that the best solutions are built with a community, not just for it. He studied physics and computer science at McGill University, then moved to California with a plane ticket and six weeks of rent, co-founding startups and, for more than a decade, building technology behind some of the world's most recognized names in entertainment and tech — work he continues today.
Finding Home
He came to West Hollywood for love and for his husband, Erik Braverman, a West Hollywood resident of more than 30 years and found his forever home. They welcomed their first child this summer.
Doing the Work
Today Jonathan serves on the city's Public Facilities, Recreation & Infrastructure Commission, is a founding member of the WeHo Business Task Force, and sits on the Chamber of Commerce board. But long before any title, he and Erik who has led their HOA board for more than 20 years were already doing the quiet, neighbor-level work of helping the city run, alongside city staff, first responders, and longtime residents across town. He's an optimist and a builder by instinct drawn to what West Hollywood can imagine and create next, while protecting everything that makes it feel like home.
Why He's Running
Now, as the parent of a newborn son, Jonathan is thinking harder than ever about the West Hollywood we build, for ourselves and for the next generation, a West Hollywood where everyone, longtime residents and newcomers alike, can thrive and shine. He's seen what it means to care for the people we love as they age, which is why "it takes all of us" has never been a slogan to him. He's running for City Council because he believes listening and then leading with thoughtfulness and data is the job: that the best decisions, like the best ideas, come from the people, not from City Hall alone. Because West Hollywood isn't just a city. It's a village. And it takes all of us.