Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian has struck a deal with the politically powerful hotel workers union to remove a measure from the March election that required hotels to participate in a city program to place homeless residents in vacant hotel rooms.

Under the agreement, the city council would approve a new set of rules for the development of new hotels, which would require such projects to go through a more extensive approval process. Hotel developers would also have to replace homes that are demolished to make way for their projects by building new homes or purchasing and renovating existing homes.

In return, the union’s proposal to place homeless residents in vacant hotel rooms would be explicitly stated as voluntary, a move that would make it similar to Inside Safe, the program created by Mayor Karen Bass to combat homelessness. to fight. Hotel owners are willing participants in that program.

Unite Here Local 11, which represents 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, praised the agreement, saying it would ensure the city prioritizes creating housing, not luxury hotels. Many Unite Here members have been unable to find a reasonably priced home near their work, forcing them to endure tough commutes.

We have said all along that our contract campaign was about two things: housing for our members where they work and a living wage, Kurt Petersen, co-president of the union, said in a statement. With this ordinance, we have done more to protect homes than any single contract question would have done.

The proposal has already received signatures from five other council members Hugo Soto-Martnez, John Lee, Katy Yaroslavsky, Nithya Raman and Traci Park, leaving it two votes short. Park, who serves on the council’s commerce and tourism committee, said she believes the original measure would have had “catastrophic consequences” for local tourism if it had received voter approval by requiring hotels to accommodate homeless people residents without accompanying social services.

“The idea of ​​helping individuals, many of whom have very serious mental health and substance abuse issues, [in hotel rooms] without services on site is a recipe for disaster,” she said.

Wednesday’s agreement comes as Unite Here enters its fifth month of ongoing strike action as members fight for higher wages and better working conditions. So far, four hotels in Southern California have reached salary agreements with the union.

Unite Here has also fought against a number of hotel projects that would result in the elimination of low-cost apartments, especially those covered by the city’s rent stabilization law, which puts a cap on annual rent increases. Under the Krekorian proposal, the city would have to determine whether there is “sufficient market demand” for a new hotel project, while also determining whether it would impact demand for housing, child care and other services.

Unite Here has become a major force in LA politics, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into a campaign last year to elect Soto-Martnez, himself a former Unite Here organizer. The union is also adept at collecting ballot signatures in and around LA

Last year, Unite Here qualified a measure for the March ballot requiring the city’s housing department to create a new voucher program to serve the city’s unhoused population. Under that proposal, hotel managers would be tasked with informing the city daily of the number of available rooms they had. Hotels would also be required to accept temporary housing vouchers issued by the city under such a program.

The hotel sector responded by launching a publicity campaign against the measure and warned

That

it would put hotel staff at risk. The campaign repeatedly highlighted problems in the city’s Project Roomkey program, which placed homeless residents in hotels after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Project Roomkey, which is no longer in effect, has led to a wave of internal City Hall reports of property damage, drug use and violence at hotels in downtown, Westlake and the San Fernando Valley.

Heather Rozman, president and CEO of Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles, said her organization is still studying the proposal, but praised council members for their willingness to “listen to all sides of the issue.”

Inside Safe, the program launched by Bass to combat homelessness, is already using dozens of hotels and motels as temporary housing. Bass, who wants to reduce room rental costs, is also working to purchase hotel and motel properties for that program.

The proposed ordinance would also require both hotels and short-term rental operators, such as Airbnb, to obtain operating permits from the Los Angeles Police Department. Both Krekorian and the union said such a move would help neighborhoods fight back against short-term rental properties with “nuisance” activities, such as drug sales or loud parties.

“Irresponsible hotel and short-term rental companies should not be allowed to endanger public safety or diminish the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Krekorian said.