Meet West Seegmiller, an Independent for West Hollywood City Council

Journalist William West Seegmiller is an independent, GoodParty.org Certified candidate for West Hollywood City Council. As a GoodParty.org Certified candidate, he has committed to running a people-powered, anti-corruption campaign.

GoodParty.org spoke with Seegmiller about why he is passionate about serving West Hollywood, California and what makes his city council campaign stand out.

West Seegmiller: An Independent Voice for West Hollywood

On November 5, 2024, voters in West Hollywood will cast their votes for two city council seats. These seats are currently held by Mayor John Erickson and Councilwoman Sepi Shyne. The deadline for candidates to enter the city council race is on August 9, 2024. As of this writing, Erickson and at least one other candidate, public safety commissioner George Nickle, have filed their intention to run for office alongside Seegmiller.

Seegmiller said his affiliation as an independent differentiates him from his Democratic-leaning competitors. As an independent, he hopes to truly serve the community of West Hollywood.

“My background is really as a peace activist, as a grassroots organizer, and as an independent voice for people across all party lines,” Seegmiller said.

Over the years, Seegmiller has advocated for a range of issues, including gay marriage, trans healthcare, and harm reduction for sex workers and vulnerable populations. A member of the LGBTQ community and a former sex worker himself, Seegmiller said he has helped make progress in these areas in important ways.

For example, Seegmiller helped establish a nonprofit dedicated to serving sex workers.

“For many years, I was in leadership at a sex worker peer support group,” he said. “When I got involved in that group, it was really just a fledgling group of a handful of young women. I was the only man really involved in the group. For many years, we were just a few people operating out of a studio apartment. Then over the next five or six years, we built it into a major nonprofit with a quarter-million dollar budget, and we turned it into the premier sex worker advocacy group in Southern California. We had some really significant policy wins directly speaking to the safety of sex workers.”

Seegmiller is also known in West Hollywood as an anti-human trafficking advocate. Seegmiller was part of the effort to arrest and prosecute Ed Buck, a former Democratic political donor who was convicted of nine felonies in 2021. Buck’s crimes included giving the drug methamphetamine to two men who died in his West Hollywood apartment. 

As CBS News summarized in 2022, “Buck, 67, lured young Black men who were often experiencing homelessness, addiction, and poverty to his apartment for sexually charged sessions in which he would inject them with methamphetamine and drug them with sedatives, with and without their consent.”

Buck was also found guilty of enticing individuals to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution.

“I was really proud to link up with a lot of other really dedicated activists in West Hollywood and in Los Angeles in general to demand some action,” Seegmiller said. “We eventually were able to get [Buck] arrested and prosecuted on all charges, and also really shift the narrative around how we can protect people in those vulnerable situations.”

Overall, Seegmiller said he advocates for West Hollywood to be a model of diversity, inclusion, and safety.

“In West Hollywood, we position ourselves as a city on a hill, as an example to the rest of the country for what inclusive, diverse neighborhoods can and should look like,” he said. “I feel that we have a special responsibility to really hold our own community accountable. [I support] things like not standing for predators operating with impunity in our town, and also setting up some really model different legislative and enforcement approaches, like with sex work issues.” 

An Alternative to the Democratic Establishment

West Hollywood, California has an entrenched history of involvement with the Democratic Party. 

Currently, all five members of the West Hollywood City Council, including the mayor and vice mayor, are Democrats.

“I can't actually think of any non-Democrat that's ever been on city council,” Seegmiller said. “Maybe the first term when West Hollywood gained cityhood, we may have had some less partisan voices, but since then, it's been just ubiquitous politically in orientation.”

West Hollywood is often the site of intensive fundraising by members of the Democratic Party, as well as a sounding board for the party’s national policies.

Seegmiller said that as a city council member, he would prioritize local issues over national political agendas.

“I really believe that just the nuts and bolts of municipal governance should be the focus of people in the role of city councilship. However, West Hollywood is so often used as a springboard for the Democratic establishment to sort of manufacturer consent for whatever their agendas are,” Seegmiller said.

For example, the West Hollywood City Council has released statements in the past few years related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Seegmiller said that as an independent candidate, he has a unique platform to connect with residents about the need for peace and the importance of returning the focus to local issues.

“Unfortunately, both corporate wings of the parties are pro-war. That's one of the few things that both sides of our super divided political system seem to consistently agree on,” Seegmiller said. “As an-independent minded person, I'm in a unique position to be able to speak to socialist-minded people that are also inclined to anti-imperialism — and I can also speak to Libertarian or conservative-minded people that have an America-first type of approach and are non-interventionist. That's where we have a shared value of peace and prioritizing the needs of our local community first.

“We are a progressive community. That's something I really, really like about West Hollywood, and that's something that I want to maintain. But what people are tired of is this monolithic groupthink and this vilification of anyone that slightly diverges from whatever the Democratic official party line is. Even lifelong Democrats are tired of that.”

Seegmiller emphasized the need for people in West Hollywood to be able to disagree respectfully.

“We really do need to have diversity of opinion. We need to foster a culture in West Hollywood where we can debate without devolving into ad hominem or calling the other side racist or fascist. We really need to have a rebirth of intellectual curiosity and mutual respect in our political system here locally,” Seegmiller said.

Running for Office as an Anti-Corruption Candidate

Another layer of complexity to the West Hollywood City Council comes from the fact that multiple city council members have gone on to serve in higher positions of political power. 

Seegmiller said that many have accused these city council members of using their position in local government as a stepping stone to higher office.

“So many of our elected officials have been accused of using West Hollywood as a springboard for higher office, and for good reason,” he said. “Our former mayor ran for Congress. She did not do very well because she didn't have a strong reputation in West Hollywood. Her policies were very problematic, and she was also one of these people that's really suppressed dissident voices. So she did not do very well in her Congressional run. Then our previous council member, who went on to become an LA county supervisor, which is a very significant role, left West Hollywood with her tail tucked between her legs because people basically saw through her political maneuvering. She was very dirty with taking big developer money, all the while playing this nice Democrat, progressive, nice-girl type of brand.”

Seegmiller noted that this pattern extends beyond just one or two examples.

“We really have a political dynasty in West Hollywood that goes on to higher office. At the county level and even at the Congressional level, a lot of people have come from West Hollywood,” he said. “That's why there is a lot of political gatekeeping and censorship of dissident voices, because there's a lot of concentration of establishment political powers here in West Hollywood. That's the type of thing that I'm hoping to break up. I'm hoping that my campaign can leave a door open behind me for other people to feel empowered to dissent from the political establishment and to be emboldened to speak their truth.”

For Seegmiller, the goal of running for city council is not to later run for a higher political office. Instead, his goal is to serve the people of West Hollywood and solve local issues.

“If people have higher aspirations and they've earned the voters' confidence and they were democratically elected, then more power to them. But I am not that type of person,” Seegmiller said. “I am a reluctant politician, so to speak. Really, my bread and butter is grassroots organizing and building peer support groups for marginalized populations that the broader institutions and political apparatus don't even recognize. I'm the type of person that does that type of work on the ground.”

Seegmiller also hopes to stand up against censorship and the suppression of residents’ voices.

“Unfortunately, West Hollywood has had its slew of scandals — not just serial killers that are connected to the political establishment, but also financial impropriety and retaliation against whistleblowers in city hall,” he said. “That's something that's been ongoing for the last few years, and also censorship of constituent voices and independent journalists.

“In West Hollywood, we have a long list of very respected commissioners, journalists, and dedicated activists for things like disability rights and renters’ rights that have criticized certain members of our current city council, and they've been removed from their commission spots. They've had city contracts removed from their businesses and faced smear campaigns by people in power from the dais. That's just something that I will not stand for.”

Seegmiller said he hopes to approach his time in office differently from his Democratic opponents.

“Even if people disagree with some of my positions on things like harm reduction, sex work decriminalization, or medical freedom, I am a candidate that will always fight for someone's right to disagree with me, to be heard and to be considered with respect — not to be attacked or vilified, and not to use a position of power to harm someone's life or livelihood. I'm an anti-corruption candidate, and I have the scars to prove it,” he said.

Seegmiller said he initially decided to run for office after being in a relationship with a then-current city council member. Through that relationship, he began to understand more about how local government truly functions in West Hollywood.

“What I learned from that relationship was that things are a lot worse than the public understands. The type of insider deals and pay-to-play that we hear rumblings about, and sometimes cases will bubble up to the surface — those types of things are happening a lot more frequently than people realize. Through that experience, just seeing how bad things were and how little integrity in our public office holders there is, I really felt that calling to step up when the opportunity was right,” Seegmiller said.

In this context of local corruption, voters in West Hollywood need another option beyond the typical establishment candidates.

“I feel prepared to offer myself to the voters as an opportunity to vote for an anti-corruption candidate, for someone that has integrity and has guiding principles,” Seegmiller said. “I also have the character to take the hits that come with telling the truth. I won't fold just because it's politically inconvenient to stand on my laurels. I won't vilify someone that disagrees with me because I'm threatened by their ideas or what it could mean for me. I really am the type of person that I want to see everybody have a voice, and I want everyone to have confidence. We have a crisis of confidence in our political system here locally in West Hollywood. We can't just keep going on with business as usual, because business as usual is very, very bad.”

Seegmiller said he has already faced character assassination and retaliation from those in power in West Hollywood, because of his advocacy for change. Instead of shrinking back, he has come through the experience with a better understanding of how to address local issues productively.

“I've gotten really good over the years at building bridges where people couldn't imagine them before. That's why I'm running for office, because I see that critical need in West Hollywood for an opening up of the conversation around all of these issues like public safety, homelessness, financial accountability, and corruption. There are so few voices that have the ability and the willingness to do that,” Seegmiller said.

How You Can Support Independent Candidates

There are a variety of ways that voters in California and across the country can make an impact by becoming part of the independent movement.

Here are a few of the most powerful ways to make a difference:

• Vote. Make sure you are registered to vote ahead of the general elections on November 5, 2024, and make a plan to ensure your voice is heard at the ballot box. 

• Volunteer. Whether you are local to West Hollywood, California or somewhere else in the United States, you can volunteer to support independent candidates. Find a candidate running for office in your area, or find volunteer opportunities through GoodParty.org’s nationwide volunteer network.

• Run for office. Don’t feel represented by your local civic leaders? Step up to run for office and offer voters an independent option. You can learn more about launching your campaign by exploring our collection of resources here or booking a free consultation with GoodParty.org’s team.

GoodParty.org also offers free campaign tools and trainings for independent candidates. Seegmiller is one of hundreds of independent candidates who have taken advantage of these tools to strengthen their campaigns.

“[GoodParty.org has] been really great, especially the trainings for independent candidates on how to run a data-driven campaign,” Seegmiller said. “It is so useful because we are up against these huge behemoths, where they've got so much money, manpower, and technology operating for their benefit. It's designed to keep out independent, grassroots, populist candidates, so leveling the playing field like GoodParty.org does is so crucial. It really gives me a sense of confidence that a win is possible.”

You can learn more about Seegmiller’s campaign for West Hollywood City Council by visiting his campaign website here.