Seems everyone is really getting into the spirit this year, and with the words of John Lennon “Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.”
As usual everyone had a smashing time at the Brits in LA annual Christmas party at the No More Heroes Cocktail Lounge in West Hollywood. Thank you to Welshman Steve Kelly and the staff for hosting us. The night was sponsored by Beltran Brito Casamayor Immigration Attorneys. The wonderful crisp Gin and Tonics were supplied by “Silent Pool Gin” and Air New Zealand kindly supplied the main raffle prize of two round trip premium Economy Tickets to London, which was won by member Fred Hulls. Other prizes won were seats to the upcoming “Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella” and tickets to both the Lythgoe Family Panto “Winter in Oz” and “Come From Away” at the Ahmanson. DJ Bas from Plastic Love got the crowd all excited spinning songs from the 80s and 90s and guests danced the night away while pulling crackers, feasting on mince pies and twiglets.
The space was totally extra for the holidays, not one inch of wall was free from decorations, complete with a huge tree and a snow machine. Oh what fun we had. Thanks to everyone who came and bought an unwrapped toy for Adopt-A-Letter, the charity that answers Santa’s letters from impoverished children in the Los Angeles area. Visit their website at adopt-a-letter.org to see how you can still help.
Our brilliant pub quiz master Maestro Sandro Monetti was away this week so I had the honour of filling in for him and they were some mighty big shoes to fill. I switched it up a bit this year and added in an unexpected arts and crafts round – teams were challenged to make Christmas cards in five minutes using materials found in some wrapped up boxes. We all had a great time and congratulations to team “Fat Schlagers” who were first-timers but won the grand prize of $75 cash. We had a Christmas sing-off and “Ashley from Cloverdale” won a signed Chris Isaak framed poster and her hubby won a nice bottle of Jameson Cask whiskey for having the worst Xmas jumper.
New Year is almost upon us and with it come some new rules. Thanks to member and real-estate advisor Frank Sanford for sharing this nugget for property owners: new rules adopted unanimously by the City Council will take effect in July 2019 across the whole City of Los Angeles, including vacation hotspots like Venice, and will need to be signed into law by Mayor Garcetti.
Under the new short-term rental rules:
•All hosts will have to register with the City and pay an annual fee of $89.
•Only a primary residence can be rented out, defined as the place where a host lives for at least 6 months a year.
•Renters can’t home-share without prior written approval of their landlord
•Rent controlled units are not eligible for home-sharing, even if you own your own RSO unit
•Hosts may not register to operate more than one home-sharing rental unit at a time in the city
•Hosts cannot home share for more than 120 days in a year, unless they have registered with the city for ‘extended home sharing’
•The extended home sharing opetion allows hosts to rent out residences for an unlimited number of days. To get approval from the city, hosts have to pay an $850 fee. To qualify, they’ll have to have been registered for at least 6 months or hosted for at least 60 days.
•Hosts who have received a citation in the past 3 years will be disqualified, unless they pay an $8,500 fee to have their case reviewed.
•Non-residential buildings and temporary structures are not eligible for home-sharing; that includes vehicles parked on the property, storage sheds, trailers, and tents.
Now you know about all these draconian new rules, you may want to review and change your strategy!
And finally The Lythgoe Family Panto is in full swing, “Winter in OZ” is playing at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, tickets available at ticketscenter.org, good for all ages, not just the kids.
So until 2019, Merry Christmas, Happy Hogmanay and in the words of Paul McCartney “Have a simply wonderful Christmastime”.
Best,
Craig Young
