A message from our friends at United Neighbors

10/2/2026

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to all that hopped on the zoom call yesterday and spoke beautifully in opposition to the Missing Middle Ordinance. Much to our surprise, more people spoke in opposition to the ordinance than in support. We now must wait and see whether public comment is taken seriously by Planning or whether they simply ignore it and move the draft ordinance forward without changes. The Planning Commission hearing will be Nov 12. The next draft will be released shortly before that hearing.

Now about the Mayoral Race:
As an organization, we generally stay out of politics. Our focus has always been working collaboratively across the political spectrum to find constructive solutions for local planning and land use. However, when evaluating the upcoming mayoral race through the lens of housing and neighborhood preservation, the candidates couldn’t be more different.

We agree with you if you feel the mayor hasn’t been the champion for our communities we had hoped. She stated in her last campaign that “communities must have skin in the game when adding more housing in their neighborhoods”. Could she have done more to make this true- YES, but the mayor has demonstrated a genuine commitment to hearing local neighborhood concerns and we have had a good working relationship with her Planning Department that has yielded real, tangible wins for our communities: We want more from the mayor and we need to keep pushing her to do better but we feel she is willing partner to take local control concerns to Sacramento.

We know from working with Councilmember Raman (our council person) that the ideology of DSA runs deep in her veins. We respect her position to protect renters and the immigrant community but when discussing better housing solutions that won’t require ending single family and low density multifamily neighborhoods those solutions are really non-starters for her. She has made that quite clear numerous times in public forms like the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Mayoral Debate where she clearly stated LA had not done enough housing and she supports opening up our neighborhoods to get more housing.

Los Angeles does not have a shortage of zoning capacity for new housing. Housing development has been slow due to high interest rates, rising insurance and labor costs, the ULA transfer tax, complicated approval and permitting processes, and other broad economic headwinds—not because of a lack of multi-family zoning in single-family neighborhoods.

We are actively working with state legislators for legislation to clean up SB 79, but they need a mayor and a city that will stand with them in that fight. Mayor Bass seems to be that person.

As Sacramento continues to strip local communities of democratic oversight through mandatory ministerial approvals and developer-focused land use policies, having leadership in City Hall that values neighborhood preservation is vital.

We encourage all of you and your neighbors to make your voices heard in this election. Not voting out of frustration only guarantees outcomes that undermine our neighborhoods. Both candidates are very clear about their views on housing and neighborhoods. Let’s make a choice this November that keeps us moving forward and demanding better urban planning.

We respectfully believe that Karen Bass should be elected to a second term. Further, City Council races are equally important. Make sure we elect candidates that will represent us in City Hall.

Thank you all again for the letters and public comments on Missing Middle Ordinance. You can still send in your comments till Oct 16. click here to send your letter ACT NOW!

Best regards,

Maria, Cindy, Jeff, Marc