2 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS 414 29th Street Sacramento, CA 95816 916-444-5780 www.calodging.com EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Tom Patton, CHA Ramada by Wyndham Santa Barbara VICE CHAIR Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Hotel IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality SECRETARY/TREASURER Dhruv Patel Ridgemont Hospitality GOVERNMENT & LEGAL RELATIONS CHAIR Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE AUDIT & INVESTMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kristi Allen Ensemble Real Estate Solutions & Investments Bhupen Amin Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE Vipul Dayal Days Inn San Francisco Airport West Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. Jeff Durham Redwood Fortuna Riverwalk Hotel Paul Gibbs, CHA Sonesta Redondo Beach and Marina Ross Gimpel Encore Terri Haack Terranea Resort Jon Handlery, CHA Handlery Union Square Hotel Niles Harris InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Wendy Heineke Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts Todd Hersperger Sunstone Hotel Investors Nic Hockman Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel Matt Humphreys Hyatt Regency San Francisco Daniel Kuperschmid Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Mark LeBlanc Aimbridge Hospitality Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Resort RJ Mayer The Mayer Corporation Michelle Millar University of San Francisco Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality Bimal Patel, CHA Hotel Zico Perry Patel BPR Hotels Pragna Patel-Mueller Samata Management Joe Piantedosi Park Hotels & Resorts Chip Rogers American Hotel and Lodging Association Pam Ryan The Inn at the Mission John Spear Hotel Drisco Jeffrey Thurrell Fisher Phillips Wes Tyler, CHA Chancellor Hotel on Union Square Bobby Walia Hyatt Hotels Corporation ADVERTISING & DESIGN LLM Publications 503.445.2220 | 800.647.1511 www.llmpubs.com Design & Layout Sales Representative Stephanie Pendell Grandt Mansfield grandt@llmpubs.com Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved THE WINTER OMICRON WAVE HAS receded and seemingly passed, and we’re now seeing health officials relaxing COVID-19 policies including most masking requirements. By the time this is published, the nation will have watched the Super Bowl in Los Angeles with weather in the 80s in the middle of February and the launch of California’s $22-million advertising campaign to rekindle the golden image of the Golden State. So in many ways, things are looking up. After two years of pandemic-fueled economic losses for California hotels, I wish this spirit was shared by our legislative and regulatory bodies. Yet, they continue to operate with a full-on pandemic mindset as they pursue policies, taxes, and mandates that will hinder our recovery, delaying the careers and return of hospitality workers throughout the state: • California recently passed a successor COVID-19 Sick Leave measure that provides up to 80 hours of paid leave for persons and their family members who become symptomatic from vaccinations, are exposed to COVID-19, and for many other COVID-19-related reasons. For no particular reason at all, this measure lasts until September and operates completely independently of the Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard. • In Los Angeles, two initiatives have been filed targeting the hotel industry. One seeks to implement what will be the most-restrictive square footage hotel housekeeping rules in the nation and the other is an affordable housing measure that unfairly burdens the hotel industry. • San Francisco’s image continues to be battered outside the Bay Area, despite strong steps recently by Mayor London Breed to address unchecked street behavior and lack of affordable housing. So, while the pandemic may be fading, our challenges remain, as does the need for us to engage in efforts to advocate for our businesses, employees, and guests. We have done it before. Throughout the pandemic, CHLA worked closely with the governor’s office, federal and state health regulators, like-minded coalitions, and directly with countless elected state and local leaders to shape and implement pandemic mandates. We did so with clear objectives. In the shortterm, it was to protect our employees and our guests. Overall, it was and is to protect our industry, knowing the hardships that employees, owners, and operators suffer from multiple, long-term shutdowns. Acting with both humility and pride, we used our unique position in the business community to obtain changes, adaptations, and outright wins where none were thought possible. While many uncertainties remain, we are optimistic that as we continue to re-open and return to normal operations, we can sustain these advocacy efforts and make strong cases for financial and policy relief, so that we can truly recover. As you know, we can’t and don’t do this alone. We partner with other business associations, politicians, regulators, and in some cases even with labor interests when we have like interests. But the most important partners in this fight are you, our members. We need your full support to ensure CHLA can engage fully—just like those whose agendas oppose ours do—so we can continue to provide a fair and equitable playing field for hotels in California. I hope I can count on your support to deliver strong results for you in 2022. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Lynn Mohrfeld CHLA President & CEO Clear Advocacy Objectives Will Define CHLA’s 2022 Focus
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