Mansionization shadows Homelessness

The council agenda for today opened the floor to public hearing on ordinances for both residential hotel preservation and mansionization baseline establishment; the former recognizes the roughly 18,000 units in LA reserved for and used by low income persons; the latter lays the groundwork for maximum residential square footage allowances in certain neighborhoods. The juxtaposition of the two back to back issues was glaring and serves as an appropriate analogy for the socio-economic struggles facing the city. In a passionate display of begging and pleading, people one step above homelessness fight to keep roofs over their heads contrasted by mega-rich developers determined to tear down modest homes and rebuild mega-mansions in their places - all in the same city, even in the same neighborhood.

As usual the city council aims to have it both ways - appeasing the political base while finagling to get every greedy dollar. This council doesn't want to appear responsible for throwing people out into the street so they pass the ordinance to preserve these hotels with the stipulation that at least 30% occupancy will be reserved for low income residents. They also included the caveat that the property owner may not demolish the building unless an equal number of low income units are rebuilt within 2 miles of the original site or pay a hefty fine for violation.

In the next segment we heard in grueling minutia the figures put forth by the housing committee (a 3 year study BTW -what did that cost?) about what constitutes a mansion. Homeowners are contending that their privacy is being encroached upon and neighborhood charm destroyed by behemoth structures replacing original modest homes. This issue was hotly contested and ended in a near stalemate given the tax revenue at stake.

It's a sad day when quibbling over mansions garners more attention than people living on the street.