Helen Albert; Former Mayor Helped Form W. Hollywood

Helen Albert, a community activist who was instrumental in forming the city of West Hollywood and then served as one of its first City Council members, has died at age 85.

Albert, who also served as mayor of the neophyte city for one year, died Thursday, city officials said Monday.

The former teacher was 73 when she and four others outpolled 35 other candidates to form the city’s first council in 1984. She headed hearings that led to the West Hollywood Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and she helped develop the West Hollywood Homeless Organization, which provides meals, clothing and job training to the homeless.

During Albert’s council tenure, she helped appropriate funds for AIDS education in West Hollywood and dealt with problems of older citizens through the city’s Senior Advisory Council.

Albert was on vacation in 1988 when her colleagues elected her to the largely ceremonial position of mayor. From April 1988 until the following April, she was one of the oldest women mayors in the United States.

A West Hollywood resident since 1970, Albert was a steering committee member of the Coalition for Economic Survival, the tenants rights organization that campaigned for cityhood.

Albert also was a crusading activist for Common Cause, the California Nuclear Freeze Campaign and the Older Women’s League.

Her considerable community efforts were recognized with a special achievement award from Los Angeles County in 1985.

Born in Omaha, Neb., Albert moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and attended Los Angeles High School, UCLA and Cal State L.A.

She is survived by three children, Bob and Edward Brostoff and Natalie Kuhlman, and five grandchildren.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to AIDS Project Los Angeles.