In a heated meeting Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to again delay a decision on giving new eviction protections to tenants who lost income because of the fires.
After a contentious debate, the council voted, 10-3, to send the plan back to the Housing Committee for further consideration. Councilmember Curren Price recused himself from the vote because he is a landlord, and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was absent.
Heated debate
The proposal has sharply divided the council. Some councilmembers accused others of using the fires as a pretext to advance an overly broad, tenant-friendly agenda.
Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, took aim at one part of the proposal that sought to cancel rent increases for one year. The District 11 councilmember said she could not support any proposal “that is using a disaster in my district as a pretext for some other political agenda.”
Those who support stronger post-fire rules on evictions and rent increases said if the vote keeps getting delayed, unemployed nannies and gardeners who lost their jobs in the Pacific Palisades could soon find themselves in eviction court.
“It is not a political agenda — I’m talking about people,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-wrote the proposal and represents District 1.
The council first decided to delay the vote two weeks ago. In the same meeting, the council passed other emergency items intended to help those harmed by the fires.
“When it’s for one community, we’re willing to do everything we can,” Hernandez said. “But when it’s for another community, we keep putting up barriers to help them, and that’s ridiculous.”
What the rules would do
As currently written, the proposal would allow tenants…
Read the full article here
