Though Beverly Hills city government has been dominated by One Beverly Hills in recent weeks, the City Council still attended to other business in its June 1 Study Session and Formal Meeting. The Council approved a slate of first-term commissioners for their second four-year terms. It moved to allow the destruction of a 31-year-old mural by late muralist Terry Schoonhoven and its replacement with a piece by contemporary artist Pae White. The city also extended its contracts with two private security companies through June 30, 2022.
Beverly Hills initially contracted with Covered 6 and Nastec International on Oct. 13 in anticipation of unrest around the Nov. 3 general election at a cost of around $1.4 million. While widespread unrest never came, the city continued to experience weekly rallies in Beverly Gardens Park and other periodic demonstrations, prompting the city to amend the contracts three times prior to now. The most recent amendments add an additional $1.3 million for Covered 6 and $800,000 for Nastec. This brings the city’s total on private security to around $4.8 million.
