And she punts

Councilmember is disappointed to learn that people have strong opinions about an important issue. Decides to put them all in detention... or before the Planning Commission... whichever is worse.

Lambasting both sides of the issue for taking what she considers unreasonable positions on rules to govern the short-term rentals proliferating in New Orleans neighborhoods, City Councilwoman Stacy Head kicked the issue over to the City Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Taking to task both those who want the city to grant an unfettered right for residents to use homes as hotel rooms and those she described as “affluent and influential enough” to file private lawsuits against nearby rentals, Head said that if the latest attempt to craft regulations fails, she’s done with the yearlong talks that so far have yielded no results.

“I will not be a party to sucking the efforts of city government and my staff away from more important tasks because of irrational behavior, vitriol and outright lies,” she said

Short term rentals are kind of a big problem right now. Not only New Orleans, but other "destination cities" worry their neighborhoods are being converted into hollowed out tourist enclaves where nobody actually lives. Some are taking bold action to try and reign in this trend.  Our leaders, in the meantime, are punting. Because they can't be bothered with the "vitriol."