A Controversial Hotel Ordinance May Not Make It To The March Ballot

L.A. voters may not be able to weigh in on a controversial measure on the March ballot that would have required local hotels to make vacant rooms available to unhoused people.

L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian proposed a new ordinance on Wednesday to replace the previous measure, which Unite Here Local 11 championed to qualify for the ballot last summer.

Unite Here Local 11, the union representing more than 32,000 hotel and service industry workers in Southern California and Arizona, has been working on the “compromise ordinance” with the hotel industry, according to the motion.

Under the proposal, hotel developers would be required to replace any housing that is demolished during construction. The city would also be required to consider how new hotel developments would impact housing, childcare, public transit, and small businesses in the area.

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The unionized workers have also been organizing rolling strikes against dozens of local hotels since July, when their contracts expired and negotiations stalled. Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said in a statement that the proposed ordinance does more to protect housing for their workers than any single contract demand would have.

“We know hundreds of units have been lost in the last decades because of hotel developments, and that will end,” Petersen told LAist. “We think that’s a phenomenal step forward for our members, as well as all Angelenos.”

Contrary to the previous measure, this proposal does not require hotel owners to regularly report the number of vacant rooms to the L.A. Housing Department. If the ordinance is adopted, hotel participation would be completely voluntary.

The proposal was written by Krekorian’s office with consultation from the union and the hotel industry, according to the motion. Five other council members have signed on to support the proposal, including Hugo Soto-Martinez, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Nithya Raman and Traci Park.

“The shortage of affordable housing in Los Angeles doesn’t just drive the crisis of homelessness in our streets,” Krekorian said in a statement. “It hurts everyone who’s looking for a home in Los Angeles. The hospitality industry is a vital and necessary component of our local economy, and we need hotels to welcome the thousands of visitors we receive, but new hotel construction cannot come at the cost of our current housing stock.”

Unite Here Local 11 has until Dec. 1 to withdraw the original ordinance. The full city council is expected to vote on the new proposal in early December. If passed, the proposal would become law without going to the ballot.