Will Los Angeles Vote To House Homeless People Alongside Paying Hotel Guests?

08.09.2023 - 11:57 / forbes.com / Chip Rogers

Is the luxury hotel an endangered species? In Los Angeles, hotel operators say it may be if the “Responsible Hotel Ordinance” passes on the March 2024 ballot. The measure would essentially compel hotels with vacancies to house homeless people alongside guests.

But does the hotel industry, or any industry, have an obligation to help its workers find housing?

As a column in the Los Angeles Daily News put it, “Imagine the dismay of the people who work in the hotels if they have to manage that situation. Business travelers, tourists and visitors will be side-by-side in the corridors, elevators, lobby and breakfast room with people who have been relocated from a nearby tent encampment to enjoy the same accommodations, paid for by city taxpayers.”

The measure would require hotel operators to report their vacancies to the city of Los Angeles each afternoon. The city’s homeless agencies would then send individuals or families to the hotels, “market rate” voucher for payment in hand. The hotels would not be allowed to decline these guests or their vouchers.

In addition, the measure (text here) calls for the creation of a “citywide replacement housing program for new hotel development.” The sponsor of the measure says such requirements will help address the housing shortage in Los Angeles.

Chip Rogers, President of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, (AHLA) says, “The housing problem was not created by the hotel industry.” Of the voucher concept, he says, “It’s a taking, if I’m a hotel you’re forcing me to do it at a non-negotiated rate.”

Hotel operators, many of which are small businesses, are up in arms. Rogers said in an interview. “Putting homeless people in hotels alongside paying guests with no wraparound services is a bad idea and will put hotel workers in danger.”

Interestingly, it was the hotel workers union, Unite Here Local 11, that led the petition campaign. The idea of the measure, according to a spokesperson, is to have the hotels address homelessness and housing insecurity in Los Angeles.

Hotel industry spokespeople have said they believe the ballot measure is a negotiating tactic by the union, which is currently on a rolling strike against unionized hotels in Los Angeles.

“We are fighting for a wage that is living for achievable,” says Kurt Petersen, copresident of Unite Here local 11. Currently, the goal of the strike against unionized hotels is “an immediate raise of $5 from $25 for room attendants.”

Petersen says the hotels’ position “is that they don’t care that employees move further and further from their workplace, they don’t think they want to talk about housing. The smart ones know that they need to talk about it so they can a steady flow of workers.”

“Our proposal was that the