Joshua Preven wrote, “I am heartbroken to share that my brother Eric Preven died suddenly on Saturday [November 8] from a suspected heart attack. He was a big, beautiful bear of a man full of passion and warmth, and I loved him so much, and he was my hero.”
Los Angeles lost one of its most vocal watchdogs when Eric passed away on November 8 in Studio City. He was 62.
His work has appeared in The Intercept, the LA Daily News, The New Republic, and the New York Times—and has three times won LA Press Club awards.
Growing up in Larchmont, New York, Eric attended local public schools before going to the University of Michigan for college. He later moved to Los Angeles in 1985 to pursue a career in television.
He started as an assistant producer on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara in 1988 and later became an associate producer before being promoted to coordinating producer.
He launched his writing career on the Fox sitcom Partners in 1995, penning three episodes. Next it was writing episodes of the NBC comedy Boston Common from 1996-97, the 1996-98 ensemble comedy Something So Right and the short-lived Fox sitcom Holding the Baby.
He joined The WB comedy Reba as a consulting producer in 2002 and then as a supervising producer before leaving the show in 2003. He produced the 2009 telefilm A Year with Freeway Rick Ross.
His path into local activism began about 15 years ago after his mother’s two chocolate Labrador retrievers were removed by the county’s animal control department following a fight with an off-leash dog. The dogs were held for six months. Eric felt that they were unjustly confiscated and fought the county’s action at the Board of Supervisors, asking for a legal process before a neutral third party (rather than an internal animal control official).
Even after the dogs were returned, Eric continued his advocacy for animals, including improved shelter conditions, and ending euthanasia for space for additional animals.
He started attending city/county meetings and became a fierce advocate for the public’s right to know.
“He started listening to the meeting and looking at the agenda, and he became just appalled at so many things that he saw,” said brother Joshua.
In 2016, Eric was co-plaintiff with the ACLU in a landmark case forcing the County of Los Angeles to disclose legal bills paid to outside law firms.
In 2019, he won a Brown Act case against the City of Los Angeles, establishing the right of the public to comment during “special meetings. “It’s not a single incident,” he said then. “The city has been engaged in a pattern of abuse on the Brown Act.”
Eric was one of the original writers for CityWatchLA, with his column, “Eric Preven’s Notebook.” Jim Hampton, Editor and Publisher wrote: “Eric’s presence on the CityWatchLA roster was more than that of a contributor: he was a steadfast voice for greater transparency in Los Angeles, a respected local watchdog, and a tireless advocate for open government.”
His most recent piece, for the Daily News was October 7 “(Paperwork is the Crime: Los Angeles’ Settlement Machine Needs Sunlight”) attacked the city of Los Angeles’ secretive approach to litigation: “Los Angeles will spend roughly $320 million this year settling lawsuits — from police shootings to sidewalk injuries — without a single trial or moment of public scrutiny. City Hall handles it all behind closed doors. Councilmembers vote in secret, the city attorney announces the amounts after the fact, and by the time the public hears about it, the checks are already in the mail.”
He explained this system mainly benefits lawyers (who get much of this money) and politicians (who can avoid accountability).
Eric was equally vocal about Los Angeles County’s handling of a $4 billion payout this year. “I’m not outraged that survivors are receiving compensation,” he said. “I’m outraged that the system that failed them for decades is now failing the public, again, by hiding behind settlements instead of seeking justice. What’s being built here isn’t healing. It’s a legal mill enriching attorneys while accountability and reform are quietly buried.”
In addition to his brother, Eric is survived by his sister, Anne Preven, his mother, Ruth Preven, his father, David Preven, and two children, 28-year-old Isaac Rooks Preven and 26-year-old Reva Jay Preven.