How many STRs does the McKenna family own anyway?

The reason we're going to lose the STR fight.. (already have lost it, frankly).. is that the landlord faction, very early on in the process, managed to define the narrative on their terms. They've basically written the exploited victims of the affordable housing crisis out of the narrative altogether and replaced it with a story about, well, landlords fighting for their cut of that exploitation.  In order to do this, they've enlisted members of their own wealth-holding class to promote the landlords' cause as a matter of racial justice.

Members of the pro-STR Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity — including Eric Bay, the group’s president — have also claimed that organizations like Jane Place, working against the unchecked proliferation of STRs, are funded by “pro-Confederate monument” groups.

The reality is quite different: Jane Place has never accepted money, worked with, or spoken with any pro-Confederate monument groups or individuals, and we are sickened that the Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity would stoop to insinuating that we are working with white supremacists. Jane Place abhors all forms of bigotry, and we support ongoing movements to remove all symbols of white supremacy in New Orleans.

I hate that Jane Place had to write this Lens op-ed.  Responding to wild falsehoods spread by bad faith actors can be cathartic. But it's usually also self-defeating. Loudly denying stuff like this only helps to spread it.

Another really good way to spread it, though, is to own a newspaper.

In an editorial titled “Profits, Not People are at the Center of the STR Debate,” the New Orleans Tribune’s October edition conveyed the more detailed but equally false claim that Jane Place received $400,000 in 2017 from unspecified sources.

Again, the reality is quite different. Total donations for 2017 came to $126,000, less than a third the imaginary number reported by the Tribune. We also received $56,000 in grants from local and national foundations for the creation of permanently affordable housing and to support the monthly Tenant Assemblies where we offer pro bono legal support to renters who are facing housing issues. The $126,000 in donations for the year came from more than 100 individuals giving an average of $100 apiece.

We have shared this information with the New Orleans Tribune and requested that they run a correction, but we have yet to receive a response. We would also like an apology from the Tribune for spreading falsehoods.

At least the McKennas took a moment in their editorial to disclose that they own and operate short term rentals themselves. Jane Place should have mentioned it in their response. Actually, it should have been the only point amid the rest of that filth they even lowered themselves to address.

Not that it matters now, anyway. This is an issue that is pretty much set and done.  In October the City Planning Commission refused to tighten down our extremely pro-STR regulatory regime. City Council is well on the way to endorsing those do-nothing regulations. Meanwhile, even the housing activists are tired of talking about this issue. Lately, most of the statements coming out of Jane Place or Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance emphasize the point that STRs are just one of many factors contributing to the housing crisis.   And this, while true, also is a pretty clear signal that they are ready to concede on this one.

Probably for the best. There's a whole new argument on inclusionary zoning happening now and we only really have the energy to lose one fight at a time.