Flipping Tables, Third Millenium Style

After years of stagnation at the Hotel Cecil, voices rang out in City Council Chambers saying, "We deserve better!!"

One of the most important things I do as a chaplain, especially at the Hotel Cecil, is listening to people, letting them know they are heard. One of the most often heard topics is that the tenants at the Cecil don’t feel heard outside their own walls — and frequently not even there.

Rather than languish in silence and isolation, I encouraged my friends at the Cecil to march with me to Los Angeles City Hall on July 30, 2024. The idea was met with excitement, and understandably a little fear. We began the march in front of the Cecil, equipped with banners, signs and whistles.

As we walked, we talked about what message we wanted to send, what we wanted to say, collectively and individually. Citizens have one minute to make general public comment on items that are not on the formal council agenda. I was worried that our tenants would spend their one minute placing blame rather than telling their stories.

Regardless of what they would say in their one minute, this was a courageous move. It wasn’t just a march and one minute to tell a story. This was an act of defiance, calling out the most broken of SROs in a broken housing system in a very broken city. The residents and supporters who joined us on this historic march were flipping the proverbial tables, telling the real stories of life on Skid Row in the Temple of city government.

Overhead, a news helicopter followed us as we trekked down Main Street. David Wagner from LAist walked with us to City Hall and Eyewitness News spoke to several residents after they told their story to an unusually attentive City Council.

The Cecil has become a sort of icon for financial neglect and disregard to for basic human dignity. The overarching theme of the dozen or so public comments was that residents of the Cecil felt neglected and disregarded by the City, that the City needed to step in to fix what private owners and private lenders have failed to fix time and time again. From chronically broken elevators in the 15-story structure to building hygiene and maintenance, to people dealing with mental health crises and drug abuse leading to vandalism and rage-filled attacks on the tenants and the building, a grim and frightening picture was painted that showed real life at the Cecil. The stories told to City Council all said “We deserve better!”

The residents who marched felt empowered. The strength of their voices being heard was the beginning of a new page in the life of the Hotel Cecil. While the path forward isn’t yet defined, we have taken the first vital steps. As the meeting was wrapping up, I had to opportunity to talk with several CD14 staffers, who all expressed the desire to walk with us on this journey from indignity and neglect to hope and renewal. Stay tuned here for all the latest!

A huge thank you to our friends at Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles and DTLA friend and advocate Shawn Smith for helping organize the march. It couldn’t have happened without their help!

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