Comments
LA WATCHDOG - Councilmember Kevin de Leon has filed two motions calling for Development Incentive Agreements involving the construction of two hotels that will divert over $100 million from the City’s General Fund to the well healed real estate developers. But the City cannot afford these subsidies because the City is looking at a river of red ink for many years, including a cumulative deficit of $900 million over the next four years.
The City also has more pressing needs, including, but certainly not limited to, services for the homeless; affordable housing; the repair and maintenance of our streets, sidewalks, and parks; and reducing budget deficits.
So, the question for Jurado is: Do you support these two Development Incentive Agreements that are being sponsored by KDL, your opponent in the November election to represent the constituents of Council District 14?
These two hotels are in Council District 14, one near the Convention Center and the other in the Arts District, both of which have little in common with other parts of CD 14, including Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Highland Park, and Eagle Rock.
The subsidy for the Venice Hope Hotel is an estimated $60 million, paid over a fifteen year period from the 14% hotel tax. It is within walking distance of the Convention Center and is part of a $303 million development that includes a 300 room hotel ($132 million) and a 23 story, 250 unit apartment complex ($171 million), both of which appear to be profitable ventures. While the purpose of the Development Incentive Agreements was to encourage the construction of new hotels near the Convention Center, it appears that the policy goal of 8,000 rooms will be achieved without the addition of the Venice Hope Hotel.
The subsidy for the 236 room luxury hotel located at 670 Mesquit is estimated to be $50 million, again paid over a fifteen year period from the 14% hotel tax. This hotel is a small part of a billion dollar, 1.8 million square foot development, raising the question of whether the developer really needs the subsidy. Furthermore, 670 Mesquit is three miles from the Convention Center.
Jurado is favored to win the election, in large part because of fallout from KDL’s participation in a secretly recorded meeting where three members of the City Council and a prominent labor leader were discussing - rife with racial overtones and disparaging remarks – the lack of proportionate representation of Latinos on the City Council. Nevertheless, this is an opportunity to further distance herself from KDL, eliminate his pork laden deals that are not in the best interests CD 14 residents and all Angelenos, and free up funds for her priorities, including, but not limited to, affordable and homeless housing and limiting the impact of climate change in underserved communities.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
