Hotel Ordinance on March Ballot Would House Homeless Next to Paying Guests

By: Angela McGregor | Published: October 12, 2023

LOS ANGELES – The “Los Angeles Responsible Hotels Ordinance” came before the City Council on August 5, 2022 after the hotel labor union which authored the motion — UNITE HERE Local 11 — gathered enough valid signatures (roughly 120,000) to qualify. The council had two options — either to vote in favor of putting the ordinance on the ballot in an upcoming election, or to adopt it outright. Public commentary on the motion in favor of the ordinance going before the public was robust.

Dozens of hotel owners were present at the hearing, applauding the President of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles [HALA], Heather Rozman, when she told the council members, “Our hotel community is here today because their livelihoods, their family-owned businesses, and in some cases their homes, are at stake.” Hotel workers commented that they were simply unprepared and untrained to provide the mental health and addiction services this population required.