Council members undecided on Petersen appointment
Santa Monica hotel managers are enraged at the possible appointment of a local union organizer to the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau board.
Kurt Petersen, organizing director for the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union in Santa Monica, has been nominated to fill one of two vacancies on the board, which the Santa Monica City Council is scheduled to vote on this Tuesday.
The union is actively trying to organize the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, and it currently represents workers at the Fairmont Miramar and at the newly opened Viceroy Hotel.
Petersen said organized labor needs a voice in the city’s tourism industry because of its large stake in having a healthy local economy.
“As much as anyone else, I am for a healthy, vibrant tourism industry,” Petersen said. “The people I work with need that business to be healthy because that is how they feed their families.”
Hotel managers believe Petersen brings nothing to the tourism industry that isn’t already represented.
“I can’t see any benefit or good coming from his appointment,” said Klaus Mennekes, general manager of Casa Del Mar. “It is quite ironic in a way that someone whose actions in the past have cost us business... and caused great inconveniences to visitors to Santa Monica would be promoting its tourism.”
Some hotel managers went as far to say that Petersen’s interests run contrary to the goal of promoting tourism.
“Let’s look at the role of the unions. They do have a vested interest in two hotels only. All the rest of the city can count on the unions to (do is) destroy our business, by demonstrating, disrupting and annoying our guests to no avail,” said Francois Khoury, general manager of the Doubletree.
“Mr. Petersen’s agenda and profession does not coincide with this of the (Convention and Visitors Bureau). I understand that the majority of the city council is loyal to the unions or indebted to them. Let them find another way to pay (him) back."
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel general manager John Thacker agreed.
“It seems to me there are a lot more people qualified and knowledgeable about marketing Santa Monica, and that the key skill for that kind of position is marketing,” he said. “And I wonder what possible good is coming from having Kurt Petersen on the board.”
Convention and Visitors Bureau members also did not endorse Petersen. Instead, they recommended West Hooker, owner of a Third Street Promenade restaurant, and David Moughalian, dean of the Santa Monica-based Art Institute of Los Angeles, to fill the board’s vacancies.
“Personally, I am against anyone with a strong affiliation that is anti-tourism,” said board member William Crookston, a Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce appointee. “I do not believe the convention bureau can be considered a political entity.”
But Petersen said that many cities, like New York and Los Angeles, have union representation on their tourism boards.
“This is normal. It’s sad in Santa Monica that people have used it as an opportunity to attack workers,” Petersen said. “These people need to dig deep in their conscience because I’m not sure what their motives are.”
And Petersen notes that both hotels and restaurants have representatives on the board, while organized labor does not. He believes his presence on the board would add experience and perspective not already present.
“I’ll add a new voice,” the union rep said. “I thought this community was all about diversity and hearing from all sides of society.”
“One day this industry needs to work together,” he added, “and I hope this is one step closer to doing that.”
There has been an active letter and e-mail campaign by both supporters and detractors of Petersen to influence city council members. But many on the city council say they have yet to make up their minds on how to vote.
“I’m waiting to make my final decision, but I decided on a direction several weeks ago,” said Councilman Richard Bloom. “I think we need to focus on what the (Convention and Visitors Bureau’s) mission is and find the right people to fill that.”
Mayor Mike Feinstein said he was still unsure of how he would vote, though he said there is a need to “include various stakeholders in the visitor and tourism industry” on the board.
“While there is a difference between what hotels bring than what labor does, they are all still stakeholders,” Feinstein said. “Sometimes a contribution that isn’t the most apparent can be the one that is the most important.”
Petersen agrees. “The board should represent all the interests of the tourism industry in Santa Monica,” he said. “A representative of the workers seems to full an enormous void that exists on that board.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 9, 2002. Read the original PDF.