West Hollywood launches Civic Leadership Academy; officials outline city government, elections and open-meeting rules

West Hollywood opened its fall 2025 Civic Leadership Academy on a weeknight orientation that introduced the nine-week program and walked participants through how city government works.

Assistant City Manager Jackie Ro welcomed the incoming 25-member cohort and said the academy builds a network of civic leaders who can "become ambassadors" for city information. Mayor Chelsea Buyers told attendees, "We're really so excited uh about this program existing," and encouraged participants to use city staff as resources.

Organizers said the program runs for nine weeks with two-hour evening sessions (dinner at 5:30 and sessions 6:008:00 p.m.), and participants must attend at least seven sessions to complete the course. Presenters included executives from the city managers office, the city clerk, administrative services and communications.

City structure and services Assistant City Manager Jackie Ro walked the cohort through West Hollywoods council-manager form of government: five at-large council members set policy while a professionally appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. Ro noted the city has roughly 36,000 residents in about 1.89 square miles and a lean workforce, explaining West Hollywood operates as a contract city for many services.

"We are a contract city," Ro said, citing examples: law enforcement is provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and fire services by LA County Fire; other services such as trash, street sweeping and parking enforcement are contracted, which reduces the citys full-time headcount.

Elections, records and open meetings City Clerk Melissa Crowder gave an extended overview of elections administration, public records and Californias open-meeting rules. Crowder described her role as the local elections official, coordinating candidate filings with the county, certifying ballots and administering campaign-related disclosures.

"If you ever have a question about our election or any election or how elections are run or are vote by mail ballots safe, please, please, please reach out to me," Crowder said, urging participants to seek official information.

Crowder also explained the California Public Records Act and exemptions such as attorney-client privileged documents, and said most municipal records are public. She summarized Brown Act basics: agendas give public notice (typically posted five to seven days in West Hollywood), bodies need a quorum to meet, and final decisions must be made in public except for limited closed-session topics such as litigation, real-estate negotiations and labor bargaining.

Candidates and council timing Crowder reviewed candidate eligibility and term rules: council members are elected at large, serve four-year terms, and may serve a three-term maximum (terms need not be consecutive). She said two council members will be termed out, leading to three open seats in November 2026.

Legislative affairs and city priorities Andy Levano, assistant to the city manager, described how the city managers office supports council initiatives, manages legislative affairs (including lobbyists in Sacramento and Washington), and coordinates more than 50 events annually. Levano listed recent city priorities including housing, homelessness, civil-rights protections and public-health advocacy.

Whats next Organizers closed the session by offering resources (printed binders and digital links) and noting the cohort will meet weekly through early December for in-depth sessions on departments and commissions. Participants were given an email contact for follow-up questions and links to staff reports referenced during the orientation.

The orientation combined program logistics with substantive instruction about the limits and responsibilities of municipal government, elections administration and public transparency obligations.