Los Angeles City Council plans to adopt legislation that would allow homeless people access to hotel rooms. Every Los Angeles hotel will have to report any vacancies if the legislation is passed. This is the measure:
“Each hotel shall communicate to the Department or its designee, in a form that the Department prescribes, by 2 p.m. each day the number of available rooms at the hotel for that night.”
Los Angeles City Council has taken the wrong approach. Of course, some families lost their jobs, couldn’t afford rent, and were forced to become homeless. If a family or individual is not suffering from addiction, mental illness or has children, they should be provided shelter.
However, those with an addiction problem, whether it’s a drug or alcohol problem, and those with mental illness, should be approached differently. Los Angeles and California, under governor Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom and Mayor Eric Garcetti have been failing to address the issue of homelessness for many years. The main causes of homelessness are addiction, mental illness and the fentanyl epidemic. Fentanyl is flooding into the United States and leaders need to stop it.
Los Angeles should follow the Helping Up Mission model in Baltimore. During their grand opening of the women’s center, the mission showcased former homeless women, who went through the mission’s rehabilitation program and now work for the mission and have returned to their regular lives.
Drugs and substance abuse issues are ravaging LA’s unhoused population. I plan to take down illicit drug manufacturing, and offer support for those most in need. Learn more about my plan to help Angelenos get back on their feet at https://t.co/ukOEBhVdZh. pic.twitter.com/mAOQFX1KwW
— Rick J. Caruso (@RickCarusoLA) July 29, 2022
Thomas Franklin, who is a night auditor at the Beverly Hills Marriot in West Los Angeles, was homeless 10 years ago, and he described a “chaotic” experience while living in a transitional housing program. It had security guards and staff on call 24 hours a days. The city council was informed by him:
“With all the drugs, all the fighting … we did not have the support in order to make it a successful program there … 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.”
Mina Dahya has a Hollywood hotel; she opposes this proposition.
“I am compassionate of the homeless people. It is my desire to help them. But I don’t think my staff and I are ready to do the combination where I have a paid guest staying with a homeless voucher guest next door.”
Juan Martinez, the hotel manager, also opposed this proposal. He stated:
“This is a bad idea. It is not safe for people. My staff is not going to feel safe, so I think this is wrong,”
Los Angeles Council Member Joe Buscaino said:
“What the measure does is hurts our tourism industry, which we heavily rely on, in a time when we are getting ready for the Olympics.”
He called it:
“The dumbest measure I’ve seen in my 10-year tenure as a City Council member … It’s the worst of all options as it relates to solving homelessness in the city of LA.”
Los Angeles City Council needs to reconsider this proposal as it does not address the problem of homelessness.
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