Back in July of 2022, Bizpac Review reported on the West Hollywood City Council defunding the police.

The trendy city of West Hollywood voted to cut funding to law enforcement, a move that comes at a time when crime in the greater Los Angeles area has dramatically increased, imperiling the safety of residents who are easy prey for violent criminals.

In a narrow 3-2 vote, the West Hollywood City Council approved the budget for the next two fiscal years that will remove up to five Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies from the contingent that patrols the city which is the home of the famous Sunset Strip.

While chopping money for police, the body authorized an additional $14,000 in funding to a Russian Arts festival as well as redirecting funds to the unarmed “security ambassadors” of the city’s Block by Block program.

Fast forward nine months later, and this is the “good” these security ambassadors are doing for the neighborhood.

Notoriously liberal West Hollywood had the brilliant idea of replacing police officers with unarmed “safety ambassadors.” Let’s take a peek at how that’s worked out during an assault in progress… pic.twitter.com/Qa48aZ8z4o

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 28, 2023

One man destroyed another man’s car in broad daylight, and the ambassadors just stood there, then walked away. How is this supposed to help a community? As WeHoVille further reported, the vote to defund the police in the city budget was narrow (3-2), and then-West Hollywood Councilmember, former WeHo Mayor, and now, current 3rd District Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Lindsay Horvath voted in favor of removing those funds from the budget.

The budget was narrowly approved in a split vote, with Shyne and Councilmembers Lindsey Horvath and John D’Amico voting in favor, and Mayor Lauren Meister and Councilmember John Erickson voting against it. For months, Meister has vocally opposed reducing the sheriff’s presence on city streets.

More on this in a minute.

In March, RedState reported that L.A. Metro decided to mimic this West Hollywood model, mounting 300 transit ambassadors to help manage the problems with crime and homelessness on the network of transit systems. None other than Lindsay Horvath herself, as the newest Board of Supervisors announced this program with fanfare.

RTD eventually morphed into the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Association or Metro LA. Different branding and an expensive network of underground and light rail have not solved the problem of the homeless using it as their permanent toilet and sleeping quarters. Coupled with the drug use and the mounting crime… their problems have only gotten worse. Since the pandemic, ridership on the LA Metro has been down… way down. Lord knows why.

But look out, homeless, drug dealers, and miscreants —the Transit Ambassadors are here to save the day!

These ambassadors are akin to putting a Band-Aid over a gunshot wound.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the main public-transportation option for L.A. County’s 10 million residents, has acknowledged a staggering drop in the number of passengers using its buses and trains. Overall train ridership is at just 62 percent of pre-pandemic levels; bus ridership, 71 percent. Female bus ridership fell from 53 percent to 49 percent and rail ridership dropped from 46 percent to 44 percent, compared with pre-pandemic figures.

Horvath is also on the 13-member L.A. Metro Board, so one would think improving the facts above would be her highest priority.

The cause of the drop-off is no mystery: the Metro is beset by drugs, bodies, human waste, and violence. Nearly 50 percent of women surveyed cited crime, homelessness, sexual harassment, and lack of safety as their main concerns, and cleanliness was the top issue for all passengers. Reports of violent crimes—including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—in the system rose by 24 percent in 2022 compared with the previous year. Complaints about drug use and sales reported by riders on the Metro Transit Watch app skyrocketed nearly 100 percent during that same period. Twenty-one people have died on trains and buses in the Metro system so far this year, already equaling the total figure for 2022 and a significant uptick from past years.

The Metro helped create the crisis it now faces. The agency has sided with anti-police activists and worked to remove officers from buses and trains.

Those anti-police activists sadly reside on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, and Horvath is one of them. The Westside Current details a story of an April 19 assault on this very transit system, and just how badly Horvath is failing at the job.

Eric Lewis has been taking Metro’s Expo train from Downtown Los Angeles to his job in Santa Monica everyday undisturbed for the past three years until April 19 at 11:15 a.m. when he was attacked and violently beaten by eight juvenile males.

Lewis said it all began when some of the young men began delaying the train by preventing the doors from closing near the last stop. The suspects were taking pictures causing commuters on the packed train, including himself, to plead with the boys to “stop holding the doors open, get back on the train, we’re going to be late, we got to get to work.”

When boys joined their other friends, Lewis said they zeroed in on him as he was seated near their group and began to taunt, harass and throw items at him. Flustered yet calm about the situation, Lewis said, no matter what occurred, he kept his head down looking at his phone as they neared the last stop.

“I could tell they were trying to provoke something out of me. When we get to the last stop, I knew I’m not going to be the first one off this train, so I wait, I’m going to be the last because wherever they’re going I’m going opposite,” Lewis said. “I’m no idiot, I’m  not going to pick a fight with anyone, we hardly even interacted in any way, I don’t understand what would have caused them to focus in on me.”

Lewis thought he had escaped the harassment and exited in the opposite direction of the teenagers, when one of them assaulted him with their skateboard. What ensued was a full-on beat down by these teens in the middle of a Santa Monica street.

While being beaten by the teens, Lewis recalls seeing around 20 people on both sides of the street watching the occurrence without interfering to help.

Released from the hospital later that day, Lewis said he vaguely remembers the exact details of how he got home but does remember relying on the train as he had nobody’s phone number memorized to help him and no phone to call anyone.

According to the Santa Monica Police Department, the case falls under the jurisdiction of the LA County Sheriff’s Department as the assault started in their jurisdiction on METRO property. However, SMPD officers were the first to arrive and it was SMPD who arrested the suspects after locating them with the help of their tactical drone.

All suspects were identified as juveniles from Los Angeles but only two have been charged with assault at this time. Per County rules regarding juveniles accused of committing crimes, all suspects were issued citations and released to their parents.

So, violent crime continues apace in Los Angeles County, and with L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón pursuing his social justice directives over actual justice, this poor young man can expect to receive nothing more than an, “I’m sorry this happened to you,” if he even gets that. So, what has Lindsay Horvath and her Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Girl Squad been doing to address the issue of crime? Walking in lockstep to de-populate, de-carcerate, and reduce funding for law enforcement.

As a newly elected Supervisor, I came into office with a clear mandate to make LA County the equitable, sustainable, & safe place we all know it can be.

We have a lot of work ahead, and a responsibility to deliver meaningful results for our communities.https://t.co/46oE3z1avg

— Lindsey P. Horvath (@LindseyPHorvath) April 5, 2023

Not sure how the “equitable” and “sustainable” parts are going, but these two incidents from Horvath’s own district show that the safety issue continues to be at the bottom of her list. Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported on Horvath’s complicity in the failed proposal:

Supervisor Horvath says she has a mandate to make LA County safe. She quietly introduced a “decarcerate” motion, with no community input, that sought to release anyone with a $50k bail or below (child porn, DV, assault w/ firearm, robbery etc) & it was only pulled after backlash

Horvath tried to backtrack, claiming Melugin was spreading lies.

Why are you & Fox News intent on spreading lies & misinformation?

Facts:

The 2015 DOJ consent decree said it needed to be depopulated.

The BOS voted to shut down MCJ years ago.

It’s still overcrowded.

Sheriff Luna agrees that we must comply.

Are Sheriff & DOJ wrong, or you? https://t.co/36xPTnnPOl

— Lindsey P. Horvath (@LindseyPHorvath) April 5, 2023

Why are you & Fox News intent on spreading lies & misinformation? Facts: The 2015 DOJ consent decree said it needed to be depopulated. The BOS voted to shut down MCJ years ago. It’s still overcrowded. Sheriff Luna agrees that we must comply. Are Sheriff & DOJ wrong, or you?

Consummate journalist that he is, Melugin responded with receipts:

Lies? I am literally quoting from the motion you introduced. Please cite exactly what is false.
You also recently called for more regulations to stop gun violence, yet your “decarcerate” proposal would’ve let felons in poss of firearms & assault w/ firearms suspects walk free. https://t.co/Kwfoeb7zwi

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) April 6, 2023

This is Horvath’s true vision for Los Angeles County: criminals running free and citizens feeling threatened and unsafe. Horvath and District 1 Supervisor Hilda Solis’ de-carcerate and de-populate plan would release young talent—like those teenagers who beat Eric Lewis to a pulp into the streets—to continue to wreak havoc on city streets already fraught with chaos, homelessness, and crime.

But look at our fleet of transit ambassadors! Those bright, shiny objects get them every time.

Instead of Horvath and her BOS counterparts working with law enforcement to mitigate crime, they work to enable its spread, all the while using taxpayer dollars to take trips to Washington, D.C., to beg for federal dollars for homelessness, housing, and transportation; because the Board of Supervisors is doing so well on those fronts and need more money to fund the Homeless Industrial Compex™.

Kicking off our trip to DC on a beautiful morning.

Meeting with the Biden Admin to discuss our transportation, housing, and homelessness priorities!

Follow along the next few days 🚌 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/u7y7SZsFU8

— Lindsey P. Horvath (@LindseyPHorvath) April 26, 2023

According to reporting from WeHoVille and other sources, Horvath, who was hand-selected by the corrupt former District 4 Board of Supervisor Sheila Kuehl to take over the seat, has always chosen style over substance, and cronyism and dirty politics over the actual work of governance. After 100 days in office, Horvath continues to walk that path, posing for that puff piece penned by the L.A. Daily News on the very Los Angeles Metro that continues to be rampant with crime and homelessness. It seems Horvath is more interested in making headlines as the youngest member of the Board of Supervisors, and taking vanity rides on a train that looks nothing like the reality that actual commuters experience.

Took the Red Line this morning from our office to Union Station, where @metrolosangeles is headquartered. Two committee meetings here today!

Looking forward to discussing how we improve the system, informed by our experience on the system 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/FZU8ajpIyk

— Lindsey P. Horvath (@LindseyPHorvath) March 16, 2023

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