19 (899)
Susana Barrios
From:Theresa Bass
Sent:Tuesday, May 16, 2023 4:25 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:FW: \[EXTERNAL\] Letter from AOCHLA RE: Item 19 on tonight's city council agenda
Attachments:AOCHLA Item 19 Letter_FINAL.pdf
From: Stephen Faessel <SFaessel@anaheim.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2023 2:49 PM
To: Theresa Bass <TBass@anaheim.net>
Subject: Fwd: \[EXTERNAL\] Letter from AOCHLA RE: Item 19 on tonight's city council agenda
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Samantha Marquez <samantha.marquez@aochla.com>
Date: May 16, 2023 at 1:42:54 PM PDT
To: Ashleigh Aitken <AAitken@anaheim.net>, Natalie Rubalcava <NRubalcava@anaheim.net>, Jose Diaz
<JoDiaz@anaheim.net>, "Carlos A. Leon" <CLeon@anaheim.net>, "Norma C. Kurtz"
<NKurtz@anaheim.net>, Stephen Faessel <SFaessel@anaheim.net>, Natalie Meeks
<NMeeks@anaheim.net>
Cc: Berenice Ballinas <BBallinas@anaheim.net>, "Melissa O. Cuevas" <MCuevas@anaheim.net>, Sarah
Bartczak <SBartczak@anaheim.net>, "Taylor N. Griffin" <TGriffin@anaheim.net>, Nam Bartash
<NBartash@anaheim.net>, Cameron Wessel <CWessel@anaheim.net>, Jim Vanderpool
<JVanderpool@anaheim.net>
Subject: \[EXTERNAL\] Letter from AOCHLA RE: Item 19 on tonight's city council agenda
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open attachments
unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
Dear Mayor Aitken, Mayor Pro Tem Rubalcava, and Members of the City Council:
I hope this email finds you well. On behalf of the members of the Anaheim/Orange County Hotel
& Lodging Association, we strongly urge the Anaheim City Council to direct staff to undertake a
comprehensive and thorough economic impact analysis of the UNITE HERE Local 11 sponsored
ordinance enumerated as Item 19 on tonight’s council agenda.
Attached to this email is a letter from the association on this item. If you have any questions,
please do not hesitate to contact me at (626) 373-3146.
1
Thank you,
Sam
Samantha L. Marquez
Executive Director
p: (626) 373-3146 . e: samantha.marquez@aochla.com
2
May 16,2023
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken
Mayor Pro Tem Natalie Rubalcava
Councilmember Jose Diaz
Councilmember Carlos Leon
Councilmember Norma Campos Kurtz
Councilmember Stephen Faessel
Councilmember Natalie Meeks
City of Anaheim
200 S.Anaheim Blvd.
Anaheim,CA 92805
Mayor Aitken,Mayor Pro Tem Rubalcava,and Councilmembers:
On behalf of the members of the Anaheim/Orange County Hotel &Lodging Association,
we strongly urge the Anaheim City Council to direct staff to undertake a comprehensive
and thorough economic impact analysis of the UNITE HERE Local 11 sponsored
ordinance enumerated as Item 19 on tonight’s council agenda.
AOCHLA is proud to be a partner in Anaheim’s success story.Our 152 member hotels,
and Anaheim hotels more broadly,contribute greatly through transient occupancy tax,
or TOT revenue,to Anaheim’s General Fund,to the tune of $172 million in the last fiscal
year according to the city’s projections.Those funds pay for services and amenities that
Anaheim residents count on.But those funds will be at great risk under this proposal.
The measure,while well intentioned,would have the exact opposite effect of its stated
goal:helping Anaheim’s hospitality workers.Further,the economic ramifications would
devastate the ability of many Anaheim hotels to maintain their workforce,and even
force some to close for good.
There is no debate or disagreement on keeping hotel workers safe.All parties agree on
that and in fact many of our member hotels already have effective panic button systems
in place,or will soon have them in place.We fear that “worker safety”has unfortunately
and cynically been used as a cloak to hide some of the proposed ordinance’s'more
onerous provisions.
Enactment of this badly written ordinance’s wage and workplace rules would result in
greatly increased labor costs which won’t simply be absorbed by the hotels.They will be
passed on to Anaheim visitors -including tourists,convention goers,and sports fans,
but the negative impact only begins there.
For some hospitality employers,compliance with the ordinance will require them to
reduce their overall workforce through layoffs in order to maintain cost effective
operations.Others,especially smaller and independently owned properties,may face
the grim prospect of going out of business altogether,and putting all of their employees
out of work.
In addition,with a more costly economic model in front of them,fewer hotels will
undertake renovations or expansions that would keep them competitive,and fewer will
look to Anaheim as a place to invest their dollars in new or redeveloped hotel
properties,resulting in many more lost job opportunities for construction and hotel
operations.Current planned development includes over 1500 additional hotel rooms,all
of which are at risk if this ordinance passes.
Passage of the ordinance will additionally make it harder for Anaheim to market itself as
a business and convention destination,or to retain existing marquee events such as the
NAMM Show,Natural Products Expo,and VidCon.Making the case and justifying the
costs of staying in Anaheim in an already competitive market for conventions and trade
shows becomes that much more risky.Our best estimate is that the ordinance as
proposed will cost the Anaheim Convention Center up to $12 million per year.
The direct and unintended consequences of this measure all add up to sharply reduced
revenues and a big hit to the Anaheim General Fund,which means the residents of
Anaheim and its neighborhoods face drastically reduced public services like police,fire
and paramedic services,parks and recreation,programming for kids and senior
citizens,and upkeep of public infrastructure like our city streets.
The UNITE HERE Local 11 proposal is too costly and too risky for Anaheim.
Before moving forward we strongly urge the City Council to exercise its option to direct
staff to undertake a comprehensive study of this ordinance and report back with the full
analysis of how it would affect the entirety of the Anaheim economy,including effects on
Anaheim’s destination and convention marketability,future and present development
potential,and impact on TOT and general fund revenues.
Sincerely,
Samantha Marquez
Executive Director
Anaheim/Orange County Hotel &Lodging Association
AOCHLA Members
WorldMark Anaheim
Visit Anaheim
The Viv Anaheim
The Anaheim Marriott Suites
The Anaheim Hotel
Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort
Peacock Suites
Park Vue Inn
JW Marriott Anaheim Resort
Hyatt Place at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
Hyatt House at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
Homewood Suites Anaheim Resort Hotel near Convention Center
Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area
Hilton Anaheim
Grand Legacy at the Park (formerly Ramada Inn Maingate)
Fairfield by Marriott Anaheim Resort
Doubletree by Hilton Anaheim/Orange County
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel
Desert Palms Hotel
Del Sol Inn
Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
Cortona Inn
Clementine Hotel &Suites Anaheim
Clarion Hotel
Castle Inn and Suites
Best Western Stovalls Inn
Best Western Pavilions
Anaheim Marriott
Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel
Alamo Inn and Suites