Letters to the Editor: These L.A. Democrats are blocking new housing in California
To the editor: It is sad that in Southern California, someone who works cleaning a posh hotel in Hollywood can only afford a home 100 miles away in the desert communities outside Los Angeles.
This is a result of the Southern California politicians opposing bills to force more housing construction in California. If we had more homes, hotel worker Leticia Ortega de Ceballos could have afforded a home in the San Fernando Valley or Highland Park, like my in-laws were able to do 40 years ago. Instead, she goes home to California City only on the weekends.
Senate Bill 827, which would have allowed high-density housing near transit anywhere in the state, was opposed by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) in 2018. The successor bill SB 50 was opposed by Sens. Allen, Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) and María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles). In 2021, Allen and Stern didn’t vote on the housing bills SB 9 or SB 10.
Though Allen and Stern supported Assembly Bills 2097 and 2011 last year, they quickly reverted to their old ways. This year, Allen, Stern and Portantino were three of the seven Democrats who didn’t support extending SB 35, a bill that has built thousands of deed-restricted housing units across California.
The biggest reason we have a housing crisis is because local politicians with local control have made sure new housing isn’t built in the areas they represent.
Josh Albrektson, South Pasadena
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To the editor: I read with sorrow, admiration and compassion about the two extraordinary women named in your article and the superhuman lengths they go to ensure a better life for their children.
There has to be any better way. The American hotel industry has predicted that its occupancy rate will be 63.8% in 2023. Couldn’t huge chains like the W and Hilton set up a few rooms to provide safe sleeping and shower quarters for such long-term and valuable employees?
Seems like a win-win solution to me.
Elizabeth Alexander, Ojai
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To the editor: During a recent visit to Cabo San Lucas, I rode in a taxi on the highway from the hotel to the airport. Numerous pitched tents were strewn in the desert along the way, and I remarked to the driver that Los Angeles has the same unhoused problem.
He said, “They are not homeless, they are hotel workers who cannot afford to live closer to work.” Two countries, same problem.
Karen Marks, Los Angeles
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To the editor: It’s not only L.A. hotel workers who cannot buy homes.
In L.A. County, there is very little housing for sale. People want to buy single-family homes, condos, town houses or multi-generational housing, yet much of what we see being built are studios, one-bedroom apartments and commercial properties.
In L.A., there is plenty of blighted land and empty retail and commercial buildings. It’s time that the city starts building housing for sale in these areas.
Allowing multifamily rental units in single-family neighborhoods may help house some, but it won’t increase inventory of what people want, which is single-family homes, multi-generational housing, town homes and condos. People want to buy, build wealth and live close to work.
Janet Gegan, Culver City
