Eric Preven, one in all L.A. County’s most outstanding citizen watchdogs, has died at 63, in accordance with his household.
Preven, a well known authorities transparency advocate, garnered a status as an eagle-eyed observer of native conferences, a savvy wielder of the state’s public data act, and a dependable thorn within the aspect of his authorities.
Kinfolk mentioned Preven died Saturday in his Studio Metropolis residence of a suspected coronary heart assault.
The time period “gadfly” typically is bandied about native authorities to explain those that by no means miss a public assembly. However politicians and his household say the time period doesn’t fairly do Preven justice.
“You might not agree with him, nevertheless it wasn’t similar to [he was] taking pictures from the hip. He would do his analysis,” mentioned Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who watched Preven testify for greater than a decade. “He would let the details communicate for themselves.”
In 2016, Preven and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California took a lawsuit all the way in which to the California Supreme Court docket, which dominated in his favor, discovering the general public had a proper to understand how a lot the county was paying outdoors legal professionals in closed instances. Three years later he efficiently compelled town to increase its guidelines round public testimony after he argued he’d been unlawfully barred from weighing in on a Studio Metropolis growth.
Many attendees of native public conferences are likely to drift into offensive diatribes which have little to do with the matter at hand. Preven by no means did.
As a substitute he fine-tuned the artwork of presenting minute-long, logical arguments on all the things from price range shortfalls to seemingly extreme settlements. He could possibly be reducing however he at all times had a degree to make.
And he by no means missed a gathering.
“Thanks for this exhausting dressing down of the probation division,” Preven mentioned final Tuesday after the supervisors wrapped up rebuking officers for paltry programming inside juvenile halls. “The concept that we’re paying for these packages, these packages are scheduled, and nothing is going on is horrible.”
A New York native, Preven moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood, touchdown TV writing gigs on reveals together with “Standard” and “Reba.” His path into native activism started 15 years in the past after his mom’s two chocolate labs have been eliminated by the county’s animal management division following a combat with an off-leash canine, in accordance with his household.
Preven, a canine lover recognized to throw events with members of his native canine park, discovered the elimination of the labs unjustifiable. He went to the Board of Supervisors assembly to inform them so. Then he went once more. And once more. And once more.
Lengthy after the canines have been returned, Preven stored going again.
“He began listening to the assembly and looking out on the agenda, and he grew to become simply appalled at so many issues that he noticed,” mentioned his brother, Joshua Preven. “He grew to become so incensed by it.”
Preven grew to become a fierce advocate for the general public’s proper to know what was occurring in native conferences and stored shut observe of workers modifications at Metropolis Corridor. He was recognized to textual content native authorities reporters early on weekend mornings to ask why somebody had stepped down from a metropolis company, or self-deprecatingly share his newest weblog publish on CityWatch, an area information web site.
“My newest deep dive into my very own navel,” he texted two weeks in the past along with his new article on the famed architect behind his historic residence in Studio Metropolis’s foothills.
He typically despatched Instances editors and reporters weekly emails on successes and shortcomings of their protection. The county’s politicians and officers obtained related messages about their governance.
“He could possibly be irascible,” his brother mentioned. “When he got here and encountered the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, it grew to become a very good use of that stubbornness.”
Preven was a dogged person of the California Public Information Act, discovering gems of data buried in seldom-scrutinized businesses. He filed so many report requests to the Animal Care and Management division that the county assigned an lawyer simply to cope with them, in accordance with Dawyn Harrison, the county’s high lawyer.
“Eric was the epitome of an engaged constituent and critic of native authorities, persistently questioning and difficult authorities officers,” Harrison mentioned. “As his curiosity in County authorities grew, so did the vary of his requests; so, my workplace decentralized the dealing with of his requests as a result of nobody particular person might cowl all the themes he regarded into. He was a real watchdog.”
Supervisor Janice Hahn mentioned Preven had been scrutinizing her and her colleagues ever since she was a councilmember at Metropolis Corridor.
“Eric Preven by no means let these with energy in authorities neglect who we work for. … He pushed us, he challenged us, and he had an opinion on all the things — from the most important situation of the day to the extra routine contract votes that too typically go ignored,” she mentioned. “Whereas some folks wrote him off, I assumed there was at all times reality in what he needed to say.”
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district contains components of Studio Metropolis, mentioned he “took critically the function of citizen, religiously taking part in County conferences.”
Along with his brother, Preven is survived by his sister, Anne Preven, his mom, Ruth Preven, his father, David Preven, and two youngsters, 28-year-old Isaac Rooks Preven and 26-year-old Reva Jay Preven.
Preven ran a number of instances for public workplace, launching idiosyncratic campaigns for mayor, metropolis council and county supervisor. He barely fundraised and wasn’t allowed in lots of the debates, mentioned his brother, who helped out as his marketing campaign supervisor.
“We didn’t know what the hell we have been doing in any respect,” Joshua Preven mentioned. “However he stored displaying up.”
Instances reporters Dakota Smith and David Zahniser contributed to this report.
