The California Apartment Association is among the groups and individuals who are calling for an end to the COVID-19 state of emergency imposed by the Los Angeles City Council.
The Council voted 11–2 on Feb. 1 to extend Mayor Eric Garcetti’s declaration of local emergency by another 30 business days, which operates in tandem with eviction protections.
“It's very restrictive,” said Fred Sutton, senior vice president of local public affairs for the California Apartment Association. "It's allowing abuse and it is no longer necessary given that the state has provided relief along with federal dollars to be able to help those that have fallen behind but, at this point, it is only helping people abuse the system and it needs to be repealed.”
The state of emergency was originally enacted on March 4, 2020 and has been extended by the council every 30 business days ever since, according to media reports.
“Unfortunately, at this stage, it's becoming apparent that COVID 19 measures, at least as it relates to this, is being used politically and it's not right,” Sutton told the Southern California Record.
The county council extended their state of emergency for the remainder of 2022, according to Sutton.
“Getting through this pandemic ‘together’ really started to translate into on the backs of property owners, rental housing operators and small business owners while not allowing them a pathway to start to resume normal activities,” he said. “The Los Angeles eviction moratorium still allows people not to pay rent. We have individuals who have not paid rent for two years, have not applied for rental assistance and they're not even trying to work within the system that's there. A rental operator has no ability to access those funds unless the tenant cooperates.”
The city’s emergency declaration also includes a moratorium on parking enforcement for recreational vehicles (RVs) that homeless drivers use to shelter themselves while parked on residential streets.
“The City of Los Angeles has not changed their emergency orders that they passed in May 2020 at all,” Sutton added. “Everything else has opened up, the public health environment has improved and this is the one emergency order that hasn't changed at all. I think Los Angeles is probably one of the only jurisdictions in the entire country to not make any changes.”