Los Angeles proposal would require hotels offer vacant rooms to homeless

The Los Angeles City Council met on Friday to discuss a proposal that would require both hotels and motels to accommodate homeless people in an attempt to bring California’s homeless situation under control.

The name of the bill is the “Responsible Hotel Ordinance.” The Los Angeles Times reported that the bill will be on voters’ ballots in 2024.

Opponents of the bill have said that it is not the correct way to solve the homeless problem. “The initiative mandates that we have to accept those vouchers,” said Ray Patel of the NELA Hotel Owners Association.

Hoteliers made their voices heard at the city council meeting on Friday and said they lacked the training to meet the mental health and social needs for those who have had short-term or long-term homelessness.

Thomas Franklin, who is a nightshift auditor at the Beverly Hills Marriott in West Los Angeles, said he experienced homelessness a decade ago years ago and discussed the “chaotic” experience living in a halfway house that had 24-hour security and staff on their books.

“With all the drugs, all the fighting … we did not have the support in order to make it a successful program there,” he told council members on Friday. “Without having a clearly defined support from policing and mental services, there’s no way that I think that this is something that we should be able to do.”

One of the owners of the Hampton Inn Suites in Los Angeles echoed Franklin’s concerns, noting that his staff are “absolutely scared and fear not just for their lives and their safety, but also for how we are treating the homeless and unsheltered.”

“There has to be a more humane way to take care of this problem,” he continued. “My staff is here with me today … this is no joke to them. If this passes, they will look for other opportunities.”

Workers union staffer Carly Kirchen, who backs the bill, has hit out at hotel owners for spreading the “myth” that “every person experiencing homelessness is so sick that they are a danger to the people around them.”

Bambian Taft, who is a housekeeper and mini-bar attendant, spoke of her own homeless experience, despite being consistently employed. “Even as a union member with a good-paying job, I was recently homeless due to the housing crisis in our city,” Taft said.

Richard Earle, who works as an executive at hotel insurance provider Petra RiskSolutions, spoke of his concern about hotels becoming uninsurable. Earle said the bill would open the door for insurance companies to “legitimately withdraw cover” from hotels.

“It won’t be available because it changes the whole business,” he said, adding that coverage for hotels adhering to the initiative would be four to five times more expensive than their current rates. “It will be a direct devastating punitive impact on their business,” Earle said.