RANDY ECONOMY: MY WORLD: PASSING: West Hollywood, California Councilman Sal Guarriello, 90. One of America's Oldest (and BEST) Elected Officials!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

PASSING: West Hollywood, California Councilman Sal Guarriello, 90. One of America's Oldest (and BEST) Elected Officials!

I was sad to see that my ol' pal Sal Guarriello has passed away, at the age of 90.

Sal died peacefully this morning surrounded by family and friends at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Council member Guarriello served on the West Hollywood City Council for 19 years. He was elected to the West Hollywood City Council in April 1990. He served as Mayor of West Hollywood for three terms. He was one of the oldest elected officials in the United States.

"On behalf of the City Council, we are saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague. Sal was truly an American original. He was plain spoken, principled and a relentless fighter for the issues and causes he held dear," said West Hollywood Mayor Jeff Prang.

His life was defined by service to his country.

From being a wounded veteran of World War II to his lengthy service on the City Council championing the needs of Seniors and those most in need. His mark on this City is indelible and his absence will be felt for years to come," Prang continued.

Council member Guarriello served as an army combat medic in WWII from 1943 through 1946. He believed in honoring those who have served in America's armed forces. He and his late wife Rita moved to West Hollywood in 1964. Councilmember Guarriello worked for Farmers Insurance Company as an independent agent until he retired in December 1986. His interest in issues affecting residents in West Hollywood had been growing for several years before he retired. In 1983, he joined the Coalition for Economic Survival (CES), the leading renters' rights organization. He later joined CES' Steering Committee in 1986.

In 1986, Councilmember Guarriello became a member of the Board of Directors of the West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (WHCHC), a non-profit corporation which rehabilitates run-down housing and builds new apartment buildings to increase the supply of affordable housing in West Hollywood.

Sal was never afraid to tell you what he was thinking, and today, many are saddened by his passing. I loved talking to him at Pavilion's Supermarket back "in the day." I recall having a great "political debate" in the Produce Section at Pavilions with Sal and then California State Controller Gray Davis on a Sunday afternoon one Summer afternoon, over (of all things) overnight parking permits.

He was INDEPENDENT MINDED and TOLD the TRUTH and kept getting reelected by one of the most liberal/progressive cities in America.

RIP Sal!

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You may know me from my role as the Senior Advisor and Official Media Spokesman for the Recall Gavin Newsom campaign that established a worldwide blitz of interviews. I conducted more than 2,200 media interviews on behalf of “The People’s Recall” during a 10-month period from November 2020 to September 2021. The iconic magazine Mother Jones in a dramatic feature article called me “A ‘Superhero Pirate’ Radio Host, (and) Gavin Newsom’s Strangest—and Most Dangerous—Threat. Meet Randy Economy, the man behind the effort to recall California’s governor.” I appeared on more than 330 media outlets around the world in my capacity with RecallGavin2020. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Newsmax, NBC Nightly News, ABC News, as well as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, and dozens of other media outlets aired featured reports on my work on behalf of “The People’s Recall.” I am and will always consider myself to be a journalist. Sometimes I think I bleed ink. My talents as an Investigative Journalists in California earned me FIVE top awards from the prestigious Los Angeles Press Club in 2013, 2014, and 2016. I am tenacious. My reporting over the years has led to the prosecution of several elected officials in California. While working for a tiny community newspaper in Southeast Los Angeles County, I worked doggedly to expose the biggest public corruption case in Los Angeles County history when I unearthed a massive pay to play scheme inside the Assessor’s Office that led to the arrest of then Assessor John R. Noguez and four others. However, politics has been in my DNA since I was a child. I have worked on more than 300 political campaigns as a consultant and advisor since 1982 for candidates from all sides of the political spectrum including Democrats and Republicans, and even Libertarians. I am also a small business owner, serving as the President and CEO of Hot Water Studio & Production, LLC. My company works with media outlets across the state, nation, and world exposing public corruption via several new media platforms. I have also overcome personal challenges. I am legally blind with zero vision in my right eye and only 40 percent vision remaining in my left eye. I sometimes wear an eyepatch due to my failed vision. (Hence the nickname of “America’s Political Pirate.”