On Tuesday the Los Angeles City Council withdrew a measure from the March 2024 ballot that would have required hotels in the city to house homeless people alongside other hotel guests.

The ballot measure was originally proposed by UNITE HERE Local 11, a union that represents Southern California hotel and restaurant workers.

On December 1, L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian proposed a compromise draft ordinance as an alternative to the union initiative, with UNITE HERE agreeing to remove the original measure from the ballot if it was adopted.

The ordinance, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1 of next year, underwent several changes prior to the December 5 vote by the city council.

In the original proposal, hotel operators would have been required to inform officials of their nightly vacancies and allow those rooms to be filled with homeless individuals in exchange for government housing vouchers that covered their daily rates.

Under the adopted compromise, which becomes an ordinance not requiring voter approval, hotels can choose to opt-in to a homeless housing program that would pay hotels the “fair market rate.”  Hotels that opt-in to the program would report their available rooms to the city but would not be required to reserve or hold rooms for homeless program beneficiaries.

“We have said all along that our contract campaign has been about two things: housing for our members where they work and a living wage,” said Co-President Kurt Petersen of UNITE HERE Local 11. “With this ordinance, we have done more to protect housing than any single contract demand would have done. The fight for a living wage continues.”

In addition, proposed hotel developments will also be required to obtain a permit from the Department of City Planning.  That process will involve a public review of a proposed development’s impact on the existing housing supply and require developers of new hotel properties to replace any permanent housing lost in the building process.

The original proposed measure was one the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) strongly opposed, drawing the ire of AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers.

“For nearly two years, UNITE HERE created an atmosphere of dangerous uncertainty for hotel employees, hoteliers, and the City of Los Angeles by clinging to a proposal virtually everyone thinks is outrageous – forcing hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests,” said Rogers. “Today’s vote by the council removes UNITE HERE’s ridiculous homeless-in-hotels proposal from the ballot and the union’s consent to this vote makes clear that its irresponsible demand was just a bargaining chip, rather than a serious attempt to address the homelessness crisis gripping L.A.”

He further states that AHLA thanks the L.A. City Council for brokering a compromise to get the homeless-in-hotels measure off the ballot.

“With its actions in L.A., UNITE HERE showed that even the safety and security of its own members is up for negotiation. We urge leaders in L.A. and other cities to use this episode to inform their future interactions with UNITE HERE and to put hotel employee and guest safety first, even when UNITE HERE refuses to do so,” said Rogers.

The ordinance further includes provisions to bolster public oversight over short-term rentals, hotels, and other properties, and increase the supply of interim housing available to the city.

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