Gerda Spiegler; West Hollywood Community Activist

Gerda Spiegler, 72, community activist and former member of West Hollywood’s Rent Stabilization Commission. A native of Vienna, she fled to England to escape the Nazis and served in the British Army during World War II. Afterward, she immigrated to Canada and then to the U.S. Spiegler moved to West Hollywood in the 1950s and was an active campaigner for both rent control and cityhood. After the community was incorporated in 1984, she was immediately appointed to the rent commission, on which she served until 1987. Spiegler, a banker and financial consultant, later was deputy to West Hollywood City Councilman Sal Guarriello. She was a co-founder of Citizens for Seniors, a community group that informs elderly residents about government services and issues, and was active in other organizations including Good Neighbors, which distributes food baskets to the needy. On Tuesday in West Hollywood of lung cancer.