Rita Teresa Gionta Guarriello; West Hollywood Activist

Rita Teresa Gionta Guarriello, 75, community activist and former member of the West Hollywood Planning Commission. A native of Brooklyn who grew up in New York, she worked as an executive secretary in Los Angeles. She and her husband, current temporary Mayor Sal Guarriello, were active in the formation of the city of West Hollywood. Shortly after its incorporation, she helped develop the city’s general plan and was named to the Planning Commission in 1988. She stepped down to avoid conflict of interest two years later when her husband was elected to the West Hollywood City Council. She remained an activist and was a leader of the recall effort against Councilman John Heilman in 1991. On Sunday in West Hollywood.