THE CITY-I was going to do my usual flip and cynical kind of a piece on the Airbnb hearing, but the issue is too important, and just maybe, all is not lost.
The Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee hearing was scheduled in the Public Works Hearing Room, but so many people attended that they had to move it to City Council Chambers where there was standing room only crowd. All sides were ready to put on a full court press, proving that this is a serious issue that will not go away quietly.
Of course, since this is LA, a movie company had rented the City Hall Rotunda, so we had to carefully cross over their “set” to get to Council Chambers.
At the hearing, the crowd was about two-thirds against the Airbnb folks. Among the anti-people, there are significant differences. In places like Venice, where affordable housing has been wiped out, the “shared economy” turns apartment units into hotels without employees. In places like Benedict Canyon, residents believe that their very nice tightly-knit community has been turned into a site of transient hotels, increasing already serious fire hazards and choking up the streets.
To generalize, the folks against a short-term rental proposition seemed to be a loose alliance of homeowner groups, hotel industry representatives, affordable housing and rent control people, as well as non-profits.
The affordable housing folks made the very real point that, even as LA becomes super-expensive, the stock of affordable housing is disappearing faster than the dodo bird. I find this a little weird, since City Council is supposed to be in charge of rent control housing. Maybe they just don’t like the idea.
The opponents of the Airbnb model had the same bevy of complaints about existing laws: Code- enforcement is nil. Police response, ditto. Building and safety…on hiatus. No city agency seems to have any interest in upholding the laws of the community when it comes to short-term rentals.
Since I have had the same experience, I believe their testimony but still wonder, how this can be? If our elected officials won’t enforce the current laws, then why would anyone believe that they are capable of coming up with a set of rules for Airbnb that they will actually enforce?
In real neighborhoods, people who own their homes interact with other people who have those same interests. This does not square with others whose interest is in quick short-term rentals made to people who have no real interest in those communities. I am told that when you look at the numbers, something like 90 percent of the income earned in the Airbnb market goes to commercial developers and real estate movers and shakers.
The Airbnb folks were very organized and disciplined. There was a guy outside the Chambers with a portable computer, connected to a young, very active staff via smart phones and lists. Every time the pro-Airbnb speakers testified, they would wave their hands in the air…maybe standing for Airbnb? They also had a miraculous ability to read their pitches from their smart phones.
I have to point out that while the Chair wouldn’t allow people to waive their time so that one speaker could speak for a group, he had no clue that modern technology was allowing the opposition to do just that…coordinate via smart phone technology. Airbnb 1, Bureaucracy 0.
Anyhow, the “pro” side’s stories varied from elderly folks trying to make ends meet, to people who use the cash to cover their mortgage, to a few who attempted to convince us of the value of the “hosting experience” and how their “world view” had improved by meeting their “guests” (and sure, by the money they received).
Underneath, however, it was all the same message. The proponents all make bucks via Airbnb and they like it that way. One person said that the “sharing economy” is here to stay…so get over it.
I don’t know. Back in the day, there was an expectation that if you got a mortgage or lease, you were going to make your payments, stay there and be a part of a community. And maybe even participate in your local government. People who couldn’t do this got in trouble and were foreclosed on or evicted. I don’t recall the financial services industry getting too bothered about it.
Now you can join a website, get an app, and become part of the whole new “sharing” economy. Sharing profits with Airbnb maybe, at the expense of the neighborhood where you bought your property, assuming that you actually live there.
Anyhow, as a climax to their presentation, the Man, Mr. Airbnb himself, Christopher Nulty, graced the Committee with his sure knowledge that everyone else’s statistics showing the harm of Airbnbs were BS…and his brand new “I have it in my briefcase” statistics were gold!
{module [1177]}
He could have been making the same pitch in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or to the Venture Capital folks where he probably perfected the pitch.
What Airbnb seems to be, underneath its software, is a creature of the Venture Capital industry: Some very smart folks broker hotel/condo/house rooms for big fees…while they themselves accrue absolutely no liability for anything that happens. Wonder where they will be when it hits the fan?
Anyhow, when it was all over, the Committee did what they had already decided to do. They directed the Planning Department to conduct at least three outreach events and report back to the PLUM Committee. In case you wonder how deliberate this outreach will be, Chairman Jose Huizar, instructed them to do it quickly. After all…tax revenue is at stake!
I wonder how many of the existing laws will actually be enforced between now and then. I bet the City’s zoning and regulatory framework will absolutely be ignored and not enforced by the City and these Councilmembers between now and the report back. Stay tuned...
(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 70
Pub: Aug 28, 2015
