West Hollywood mayor to Donald Trump: Stay out

Lindsey Horvath has a message for Donald Trump, and it’s not welcoming him to her city. 

Horvath, mayor of the liberal enclave of West Hollywood, is adding her voice to those of many other city leaders across the country to say she is fed up with Trump’s campaign tactics and inflammatory rhetoric. As the primary campaign heads to California for its June 7 contest, the mayor let the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign know, and also urged other city and county lawmakers to do the same. 

“Where other cities or other communities might roll out the carpet we’re rolling up the carpet,” she told The Times in a recent interview. 

The practical effects? If Trump’s campaign were to apply for a permit to hold a rally in West Hollywood, for example, Horvath's city officials would reject the application. 

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But West Hollywood City Attorney Michael Jenkins stressed that Horvath was expressing her opinion, which shouldn't be considered an across-the-board rule that a Trump permit would be denied.

"The mayor was expressing her distaste for hate speech that marginalizes and disrespects people; that such speech is inconsistent with the city’s values and unwelcome," Jenkins told The Times in an email after the story was published. "Her comment reflected her understanding that the city’s consideration of special event permit applications take into consideration a variety of factors, such as size of anticipated crowd, security arrangements, traffic and parking management, noise control and the like."

Jenkins added that since Trump hasn't approached the city, it's a hypothetical argument.

Horvath also penned a piece in The Advocate explaining her motivation.

Here's the letter she sent to the Trump campaign. She hasn't gotten a response. 

To Donald J Trump & staff –

I am compelled to state for the record how deeply disturbed I am by the Trump presidential campaign. The hate speech and implicit calls to violence coming from your campaign are beyond the pale and have no place in any community in our country.

The people of West Hollywood have seen the devastation and destruction that hatred and hate speech can bring. We are home to Jewish immigrants who escaped Nazi occupation in Soviet Russia, to LGBTQ people of all ages including survivors of the AIDS crisis, and to many other diverse constituencies, of which we are most proud. We know firsthand how charged language can incite dangerous activity that puts our residents and neighborhoods at risk — and at great cost. While we must always make room for free speech and reasonable — even passionate — debate, your reckless rhetoric is wrong at every level.

With the primary making its way to California, as West Hollywood's mayor, I want to make very clear that your campaign of violence and intimidation is not welcome in our city. I demand that you renounce calls to violence and consider the role you play in shaping public discourse, specifically with the words you choose and the behavior you exhibit and encourage.

We do not have to agree or like one another, but as Americans and political figures in the public eye, we share a responsibility to lead by example. I take that responsibility very seriously, and I ask that you do the same.

Respectfully

Lindsey P. Horvath

Mayor, City of West Hollywood

Horvath said that so far, she's only had people lauding her position.

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You can also email me at christina.bellantoni@latimes.com to share your thoughts or follow me on Twitter @cbellantoni

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UPDATES:

10:35 a.m. April 7: This post was updated with comments from the city attorney.

This post was originally published at 11:55 p.m. April 6.