TRANSCRIPT: Public speakers beg for housing; L.A. City Council approves a luxury Marriott hotel instead, on site that used to be a public library and had been promised to the community for years.
Dozens of citizens pleaded with L.A. City Council for housing instead of a luxury hotel at several January 2023 meetings. After allowing their comments, council went ahead and voted in favor of another luxury Marriott to be built on public land, with public and support, just weeks after Mayor Karen Bass declared homelessness in the city a first priority emergency.
Speakers opposing the Marriott project are alarmed at its timing during L.A.'s current homelessness and housing crisis, speakers pro the hotel claim Marriott jobs will stimulate local economy, [not saying where hundreds of employees will afford to live while getting paid hospitality wages].
I've transcribed many of those comments from the public about the Marriott project here in this post.
Why am I doing this? If you come across the Minutes of L.A. City Council meetings, you find they do not include the ideas, suggestions, and pleadings from members of the public who speak during the Public Comment period of the meetings. Public comments take up half of each city council meeting yet are not even mentioned in the minutes of council meetings published at the LA City Clerk website.
So I've started transcribing the words of these passionate plaintive citizens and posting them here on City of Angels Blog. There will be more posts like this coming soon.
At the January 11 meeting first speaker on the Bethune / Marriott issue is at 39.20 in the video on YouTube (Transcript continues below).
[FIRST SPEAKER ON MARRIOTT ISSUE]
[Spanish translator] My name is [SOUNDS LIKE] Irma Favian from SAJE. We are very upset with our council member because he wants the public land to be for a hotel. The commission of Los Angeles voted not to use that land for the hotel. A council member wants to make it a hotel. This has been work for the community for ten years because they've been fighting for this land for the community.
Now we have the opportunity with the ULA measure for them to help us to build housing for the community. We ask the council members to listen to us because we do not have housing for us. So we don’t have anymore people living on the streets.
[NEXT SPEAKER ON THE MARRIOTT ISSUE]
41.30
Good morning my name is Maria Gutierrez and I'm with SAJE and the Unidad Coalition. We are deeply disappointed in council member position to veto the South L.A. Planning Commission decision to deny a conditional use permit for a hotel on public land. Our organizations and coalitions have been working for over a decade to ensure a meaningful community engagement process for development at the Bethune Library site.
The Zoning animator denied the conditional use permit, the South L.A. Planning commission denied the conditional use permit. And now the council member believes that there hasn’t been enough community engagement or process?
Hundreds of community residents submitted a letter of concern, we've done public comment and signed onto a petition against the development. We have the opportunity with Measure U L.A. to allocate this site for affordable housing and for public good. We are deeply disappointed and concerned and we ask the rest of the council to side with the South L.A. Planning Commission, thank you.
**
At January 17 meeting video public comments begin on Item 17 Motion Harris-Dawson-Hutt at 33.00…
This 4500 word article continues at City of Angels Blog here:
URL: https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2023/05/transcript-public-speakers-beg-for.html
(More to come)