FR EE
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002
Volume 2, Issue 25
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Luxury hotel may allow union greater access
Christmas going to the dogs
Possible agreement comes after defeat of living wage BY ANDREW H. FIXMER Daily Press Staff Writer
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel management may allow its workers a greater choice on how to unionize. The hotel’s management and officials with the Hotel
Employees & Restaurant Employees Union have agreed that workers should be able to choose between whether there should be a card check election — which is supported by the union — or a secret ballot election. A secret ballot election would allow both the union and the hotel to run competing campaigns over whether workers should unionize, while a card
check election would allow only the union to campaign and then hold a public vote. Union officials have said they want a card check election because under the secret ballot system they believe a hotel can strongarm its employees into voting against unionization. However, union and hotel officials are holding their cards closely and See HOTEL, page 6
Landmarks initiative sparks special election in March For the first time, city will conduct vote by mail BY ANDREW H. FIXMER Daily Press Staff Writer
Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press
“Kisses” plants one on Fox News Channel 11’s microphone at Santa Monica Place Wednesday as part of “pet night,” when dozens of animals got their pictures taken with Santa. Kisses’ owners Jeanine Plute and Andy Gomez have brought their dog to Santa Monica Place for the past two years. Proceeds of the event go to SPCA-LA, the oldest humane organization in Southern California.
A controversial initiative was scheduled Tuesday by the City Council for a special election in March, which for the first time in Santa Monica will be conducted entirely through the mail. The election was called for the Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative, which proposes
Auditorium will be named after King By Daily Press staff
When Santa Monica’s new library is completed, its auditorium will bear the name of Martin Luther King Jr. The Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday naming the auditorium after the celebrated civil rights leader on the recommendation of the Library Board and the Martin Luther King Jr. Westside Coalition. “This has been the subject of very delicate discussions over a very long time, and it’s good to see it culminating here in our vote,” said Mayor Richard Bloom, who has worked to
find naming opportunities for King. “This is a great thing to do on my first night as mayor.” Bloom was appointed by the City Council in a 6-0 vote on Tuesday to be mayor for two years. Since 1992, the council has stated the need to name a public space or building after King. Santa Monica is one of the few cities in Southern California that hasn’t named anything in his honor. “It’s a good idea to name the auditorium after him — I just wish we could name the whole library after Martin Luther King,” said Paul DeSantis, a local resident at the coun-
cil meeting. “In this small way, we can teach the youth of our community to cherish that dimming value of nonviolence in our society, and which seems to be quickly being replaced with hate, intolerance and violence.” The Main Library at the corner of Sixth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard will be razed in the next month and a $50 million new library will take its place. The Martin Luther King Westside Coalition has pledged to raise the necessary funds for a bronze plaque to be placed in the auditorium of the new library proclaiming its name.
making historic preservation voluntary for owners of single-family homes. Ballots will be sent out to every registered Santa Monica voter in February, and voters will have until Friday, March 21 at 9 p.m. to get their ballots into the city clerk’s office. “In the case where people are not used to going
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BY COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press Writer
DENVER — After 20 years of ski vacations in the Vail Valley, all Cynthia Hunt had to show for it was a turtleneck from the Beaver Creek resort. That is until last week when the Chicago marketing executive plunked down $65 for a 6-pound water valve cover just like the ones embedded in Vail’s streets. It will fit in better on a table in her entryway back home than the 52-pound manhole covers also being sold by the ritzy resort town to raise some cash. “This doesn’t look like something you’d find in a curio shop,” Hunt said of the cover, emblazoned with the Vail logo, 1962 founding date and its elevation, 8,150 feet. The town, home of the nation’s largest ski resort, started using the custom cast-iron covers in its pedestrian villages last year. It didn’t take long before people looking for authentic souveniers began stealing them See MANHOLE, page 10
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out to the polls and voting, it’s the job of government to bring the election to them,” said Councilman Mike Feinstein. Holding the election by mail is anticipated to cost about $110,000, but elections by mail in other states and towns in Southern
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