CommentsPERSPECTIVE-I recently wrote about the Neighborhood Integrity ballot measure proposal, an attempt to rein in the City Council’s tendency to play fast and loose with general plan amendments, especially when developers contribute to their re-election campaigns.
Just as the ballot measure is a grassroots-driven effort, so is a motion just passed by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition.
LANCC’s motion calls on the City Attorney to prosecute illegal short-term rental operators. If he does not do this, the City Council is to hire outside counsel to do so and charge City Attorney Mike Feuer’s budget for the cost.
Here is the motion:
Whereas, it is now clear that short-term rentals are illegal in Los Angeles’ residential neighborhoods, and Whereas the City Attorney has consistently refused to prosecute short-term rental violations in the City of Los Angeles, for a variety of reasons, Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the LANCC urge City Attorney Mike Feuer to enforce the law as required by the Charter, and immediately prosecute short-term rental zoning violations in the City of Los Angeles.
LANCC demands that if after 60 days of this notice, Mr. Feuer does not start enforcement, City Council take action to hire a private law firm to start enforce procedures and reallocate the City Attorney’s budget to pay for those services.
Is it asking too much for our city government to honor our zoning laws and respect the residents’ quality of life?
It probably is.
Our officials, along with their business and union allies, will spend untold amounts of money to fight the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative measure and turn a deaf ear to the LANCC request. For that matter, the City Council generally ignores the NCs on any significant issues.
If the individual NCs were to vocally support both of these endeavors and urge their stakeholders to do the same, they might just get some publicity in the media. While that alone would not be enough to influence policy, it would raise awareness of the selfishness that poses as governance in the city.
Ultimately, I see litigation in our future if the status quo persists.
But a better solution would be to defeat developer-friendly officials at the polls.
(Paul Hatfield is a CPA and serves as President of the Valley Village Homeowners Association. He blogs at Village to Village and contributes to CityWatch. The views presented are those of Mr. Hatfield and his alone and do not represent the opinions of Valley Village Homeowners Association or CityWatch. He can be reached at: [email protected].) Photo: LA Times. Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
