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   From: obama.sucks.dicks@splcenter.org   
      
   On 18 Aug 2023, Mad Dogs Barking  posted some   
   news:ubpb40$jldo$35@dont-email.me:   
      
   > A nigger Democrat mayor running LA handing out money, move along,   
   > nothing to see here.   
      
   Faced with reports of wrecked furniture, torn up carpet and other types   
   of damage, the city of Los Angeles recently paid $11.5 million to a   
   boutique hotel used for two years as homeless housing.   
      
   That money won't go toward any repairs in the building, even though the   
   city is on the verge of acquiring the property, officials said this   
   week.   
      
   The City Council is set to vote Friday to approve the purchase of the   
   294-room Mayfair Hotel, which will serve as a key part of Mayor Karen   
   Bass' fight against homelessness. In the run-up to that vote, city   
   officials explained that the seller, Mayfair Lofts, won't be obligated   
   to use any of the $11.5 million in city damage payouts to repaint rooms,   
   replace light fixtures or fix other parts of the building.   
      
   That information was delivered during a hearing Wednesday, after   
   Councilmember Bob Blumenfield asked whether the seller would be required   
   to provide receipts showing he had made repairs at the Mayfair in   
   advance of the sale to the city.   
      
   "The $11 million in damages that was already paid for — did they   
   actually fix, did they have to show receipts for actually fixing [the   
   building]?" Blumenfield asked. "Or are we getting a building that has   
   $11 million worth of damage?"   
      
   Melody McCormick, assistant general manager for the General Services   
   Department, responded by pointing out that the city agreed to certain   
   terms when it leased the Mayfair for Project Roomkey, which provided   
   rooms to unhoused Angelenos during the pandemic. That agreement required   
   the city to restore the hotel to the condition it was in when Project   
   Roomkey began at the hotel in July 2021, she said.   
      
   "We are buying the hotel in its 'as is' condition, meaning ... in its   
   damaged state," she told council members.   
      
   The Times reported Wednesday that the city received extensive reports of   
   damage to the Mayfair during Project Roomkey, with building residents   
   shattering windows, vandalizing bathrooms and in one case, punching a   
   hole in a wall in the lobby. Project Roomkey workers also responded to   
   overdoses, threatening behavior and violent acts, according to emails   
   obtained by The Times.   
      
   The city plans to buy the Mayfair for $60 million and carry out an   
   additional $23 million in renovations and upgrades. Bass plans to use   
   the building, in the near term, as interim housing for homeless   
   residents from Skid Row, some of whom are currently staying at the L.A.   
   Grand Hotel. The city is leasing that building for nearly $4,700 per   
   room per month.   
      
   The mayor's proposal for the Mayfair has drawn strong support from   
   nonprofit groups, particularly those working in Skid Row, which has the   
   highest concentration of homeless people in the city. The plan is   
   opposed by a number of people who live or work near the Mayfair, who say   
   the city did a poor job of overseeing the facility when it was used as   
   homeless housing during the pandemic.   
      
   Over the past four months, the city has made three payments to address   
   damage claims at the Mayfair, according to City Controller Kenneth   
   Mejia's office. The final $6 million payment was paid Aug. 9, the   
   controller's office said.   
      
   Nearly a third of the city's payout represents payments for furniture,   
   including $310,000 worth of ottomans, $239,000 worth of nightstands and   
   more than $940,000 in beds and mattresses, city officials said.   
      
   Although some damage at the Mayfair was confined to individual hotel   
   rooms, other problems had repercussions for much of the building.   
      
   For example, in January 2022, a hotel manager informed officials with   
   the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority that a resident on the   
   seventh floor had flooded a toilet “without telling anyone.” Water   
   reached the lobby, causing a "major flood," he wrote.   
      
   "Given it traveled seven floors to the lobby it might be costly,"   
   McCormick responded in one email.   
      
   During this week's hearings, McCormick told council members that the   
   costs at the Mayfair were "an anomaly." Other Project Roomkey sites   
   generated much smaller damage claims, she said.   
      
      
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