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Susana Barrios
From:Lupe Ramirez <ljr71551+yahoo.com@advocateslink.com>
Sent:Tuesday, June
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Order a Special Election - Hotel Worker Initiative
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 Anaheim City Council,
On June 13 you will consider an ordinance which would drastically impact hotels throughout the City of
Anaheim. While promoted by UNITE HERE Local 11 as a measure to increase hotel worker safety, this poorly
drafted proposal contains wage and work rules requirements that would devastate Anaheim hotels, with ripple
effects that would gut Anaheim’s budget.
A majority of the council was correct to reject outright adoption at its May 16 meeting and instead direct an
economic impact study. We urge adoption to be rejected again. Instead, the City Council should place this
matter on the ballot for the people to decide in a special election later this year.
As a matter of policy, the hotel proposal written by UNITE HERE Local 11 would be a disaster.
Imposing the proposed wage and work rules on Anaheim hotels would be a costly new mandate. Many workers
who were supposed to benefit will likely see their hours reduced or their jobs eliminated. Larger hotels will
raise their prices for rooms, amenities, and services, resulting in fewer hotel stays and less tax revenue for the
city. Smaller hotels, including family owned “mom and pop” hotels, will likely just go out of business.
The increased costs of doing business in Anaheim overall will make it tougher for Anaheim to attract and retain
the big trade shows and conventions, like NAMM and Natural Products, and make it tougher for families and
tourists to justify the costs of a vacation to the Anaheim Resort.
Those increased costs could also result in a chilling effect on economic development throughout Anaheim, but
especially where tourism matters most: in the Anaheim Resort. Tourism developments, including new hotels,
could slow down or be canceled outright because no business will want to make a significant investment in a
city where costs are going to skyrocket.
From a practical standpoint, the proposal’s 10-day implementation window is one that would be
impossible to meet during the December 2024 holiday rush, which is exactly what hotels would be faced
with if the measure was successful in the November 2024 General Election. If passed in a special election,
the measure would at least be somewhat less difficult for some hotels to implement within 10 days.
We hope that it will not come to this, however.
Once the voters of Anaheim learn how the UNITE HERE Local 11 measure will devastate the city’s finances,
and threaten the ability of you, the City Council, to properly fund services such as libraries, parks and
recreation, street maintenance, and police and fire protection, they will reject this measure. The City Council
should give the voters that opportunity by placing it on the ballot in a special election.
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When city staff present you with the findings of its economic impact research, the consequences of the proposed
ordinance will be clear. It is imperative that voters be able to have their say as quickly as possible. We cannot
wait until November 2024. Please: Order a special election.
Lupe Ramirez
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