Guest Editorial: Two Proposed Ballot Measures That Will Take Our City From Bad to Worse

You may have noticed, Los Angeles has a few issues to rectify ahead of the 2028 Olympics and certainly before next year’s World Cup. These are many of the same issues you may notice while commuting to work, having a stroll at the park or going to Erewhon to grab a $22 smoothie (yes, I am judging that last one). 

Homeless encampments, trash, graffiti, a shortage of city buses, a potential shortage of hotel rooms and a shortage of service workers are all concerns ahead of the world’s largest events coming to Los Angeles. In the middle of all this, the hospitality union United Here Local 11 is proposing two new ballot measures that will have a devastating impact on our city’s businesses, residents, budget and our city’s ability to welcome visitors. 

 You may have read that our city council recently approved a minimum wage of $30 for hotel and airport workers in Los Angeles by 2028. This same group has filed paperwork on a new ballot initiative that proposes a $30 minimum wage for all employees in the city of Los Angeles regardless of industry, size of business, etc. The current minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.28 so this is an increase of almost 100%. Some larger businesses in Los Angeles that have healthy profit margins and/or don’t rely on minimum wage workers can afford it, but most businesses simply cannot. 

Unfortunately, the question of whether businesses can afford this new minimum wage is not part of the conversation. If this ballot measure passes it will absolutely lead to lost jobs and closed businesses. That’s not me being dramatic, for most businesses their largest single expense is labor – and to double that cost within a very short time is simply not feasible. Perhaps this leads to businesses only having to lay off people but for many businesses, it will make their business model impossible and will lead to the closure of that business. Businesses in Los Angeles struggle in a city that has more taxes and more regulations than pretty much any other city in the country. This will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Oh, and that’s just the first ballot measure. The second piece would require voters to approve new hotels or event spaces being built in the city. This would specifically apply to hotels with more than 80 rooms and event spaces more than 50,000 square feet. It’s already incredibly difficult to build just about anything in Los Angeles, adding a law that requires these new buildings to be voted on by city residents is completely insane. This means if you are a builder and you have the land, financing, blueprints and permits to build a hotel you still need to wait until the next general election to get approval. That is insane.

I understand the goal of at least the first ballot measure on the minimum wage piece. I would also love to see Angelenos make more money. The idea that someone must work two or three jobs to afford rent is sickening. When I was 19 and bankrupt, I worked during the day in an office and then the graveyard shift for a fulfillment center taking calls for all those late night infomercials you would see. That experience sucked. Unfortunately, if all we do is increase the minimum wage for everyone, rents will go up right along with it. High housing costs are a supply and demand issue, and we desperately need more housing supply. The reason we don’t have more housing is because of city regulations, yet we continue to create rules that make building in Los Angeles incredibly difficult and unprofitable.

The city is in an incredibly perilous position, not the least of which is our one billion dollar budget shortfall. If the first measure gets passed, it will result in fewer jobs and businesses/services for our residents, as well as less business tax revenue for our city. For the businesses that stay open, any increase in labor cost will be passed along to the end customer – which is you. If the second measure gets passed, we could potentially have no new hotels and limited event space for the upcoming World Cup, Super Bowl in 2027 and the 2028 Olympics as well as missing out on desperately needed transient occupancy tax dollars for the city.

These two initiatives will hurt not only our city but the very people they are intended to help. I am hopeful voters will understand the consequences of these ballot measures and vote no (assuming the city council does not approve them before that which could happen). 

That being said, given the types of laws and regulations our city has put in place over the last several years, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Tim Gaspar is the founder of Gaspar Insurance in Woodland Hills and a candidate for City Council in District 3 which covers the West Valley.