City Council Orders Woodfin to Pay Workers $200,000 in Back Wages

by Brian Donahue

Current and former Woodfin Suites Hotel workers, cheated out of $200,000 in wages by the company, won a major victory Thursday when the Emeryville City Council ordered the hotel to make good on its debt. The Council rejected Woodfin's appeal of the city manager's finding in 2006, ordering the hotel to pay the additional wages to comply with city ordinance. Failure to comply would result in the Woodfin being denied a renewal of its permit to operate.

In a 2-2 vote, the Council rejected Woodfin's argument that it is in compliance with Measure C, a 2004 initiative that established a "living wage" for workers at Emeryville hotels, and also set guidelines for working conditions. The hotel needed a majority to win its appeal.

The Thursday council vote capped a marathon five-day hearing -- yet another skirmish in the war of attrition between supervisors and hotel room cleaners that has dragged on since activists began gathering signatures for Measure C four years ago.

"Its bad business," Council Member John Fricke said after the meeting. "They've already spent more on fighting this than what the workers are asking for."

Fricke and Council Member Ruth Atkin voted in favor of the workers. Mayor Dick Kassis and Council Member Nora Davis voted against the workers, and in favor of the Woodfin and its owner, Sam Hardage, former chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party and major Republican fundraiser.

Drama reached a crescendo when Woodfin attorneys accused Fricke and Vice Mayor Ken Bukowski of a pro-worker bias and asked them to recuse themselves. Bukowski agreed, but Fricke refused, stating that he harbored no such bias and could vote objectively.

The Woodfin has consistently argued that room cleaners are not owed the $200,000 in pay because they received help with their work from supervisors. When asked to elaborate, Woodfin attorneys said that supervisors helped clean the rooms "with their eyes and their heads," and therefore the wages owed to rank-and-file employees are considerably lower.

Woodfin Suites Hotels, a privately held company, was founded by CEO Hardage, who earned the rank of "pioneer" in the 2004 George Bush re-election campaign by raising more than $100,000 in contributions. In 2008, Hardage raised about the same amount for Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. Hardage also was a major contributor to the re-election campaign of Randy "Duke" Cuningham, now serving time in federal prison for accepting kick-backs from military contractors.

A Christian evangelical, Hardage may wish to re-read the biblical story of David and Goliath and discern its meaning.

Please Attend City Council Meeting to Oppose Demolition of Historic Brick Building

Edited version of email to residents from Council Member John Fricke (sent Jan. 13 2008)

On Tuesday, Jan. 20th, Barack Obama will begin restoring Lincoln’s promise of government for the people. But in Emeryville, Tuesday will mark yet another day when the City Council grants developers whatever they ask, with little concrete benefit to the residents.

The City Council majority is poised to grant another demolition permit so that a developer can tear down an old brick commercial building on Adeline Street at 39th Street:
http://www.johnfricke.com/39th-Adeline1.jpg

Last November, the Council granted a demolition permit to tear down an old brick commercial building at Doyle and Powell streets:
http://www.johnfricke.com/Doyle-Powell1.jpg

Two years ago, the City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the demolition of a significant structure absent Council approval. Both the buildings cited above both meet the criteria of a significant structure. One would think that passing such an ordinance would result in significant structures being preserved.

Please attend this Tuesday's meeting and urge the Council to save the building at 39th and Adelines streets. Please contact your neighbors and urge them to join you at the meeting:

Tuesday, January 20th, 7:15 p.m.
1333 Park Avenue (@ Hollis Street

If you are interested in helping contact neighbors, please email jfricke@johnfricke.com

Comments From Our Readers

We had a chance last year to significantly change the composition of the City Council, when 3 of the members were up for re-election. Why Emeryville residents did not do so is a mystery to me. I support any effort to make our council more accountable to the people who live here - not just the people who build here.

K.H.
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Open Letter to the Emeryville City Council

I would like to voice my protest of the apparently inevitable issuance of a demolition permit that would allow the destruction of the historic buildings at the corner of 39th and Adeline as well Powell and Doyle.

Emeryville has a wonderful stock of older buildings that could be parleyed into a successful marketing approach to attract potential residents, tourists, and businesses. The apparent over-willingness of the city government to destroy the unique cultural resources which separate Emeryville from surrounding communities only serves to diminish the future potential for economic growth in the city. The potential for growth in Emeryville, as elsewhere, will lie in differentiating itself from other communities, as shoppers, businesses, and families decide where they want to spend their time and money.

Emeryville needs only to package their heritage resources properly to take advantage of the enormous opportunity it possesses to tap into the niche-appeal of unique communities. I encourage you to peruse the National Trust's Main Street Program website at http://www.mainstreet.org/ to see what so many other communities have accomplished by using the “Main Street Approach.” This is a program begun by the National Trust over 30 years ago. It has been incredibly successful, benefiting cities both small and large across the country by showing them approaches to set themselves apart from other cities by highlighting their cultural and architectural uniqueness and desirability, and combining it all into a marketable package. This can lead to enormous economic opportunities using many resources that the city already has, along with opening up state and federal grants to rehabilitate and rejuvenate historic neighborhoods, as well as individual buildings. Emeryville has used a similar approach in the past by taking advantage of Brownfields grants to bring many contaminated parts of the city back to useful operation. Emeryville can do the same thing with the Main Street Program to improve its other residential and commercial districts. This is especially important during these trying economic times.

I would direct you to Pleasanton, Berkeley, and Livermore as some examples that illustrate the success of this program. All of these cities are participants in this program and have benefited greatly. The Book, “Main Street Success Stories” has more details on how many cities around the country have very successfully utilized this approach in both good and bad economic times: https://www.mainstreet.org/content.aspx?page=4327.

Thank you.

Douglas Bright
Environmental Planner (Architectural History)

To Ring in the New Year, Emeryville Poised to Drop the (Wrecking) Ball

Two of Three Buildings Slated for Demolition Designated by City as "Architecturally Significant"

by Tracy Schroth and Marc Albert

City Hall is poised to issue a flurry of building demolition permits to ring in the new year, hastening the extinction of Emeryville's architectural and cultural past -- for a future filled with -- you guessed it -- more retail, residential rental units, and parking.

Plans for three particular projects have much in common. Each violates one or more city laws restricting density, building size, and height. Each is being pushed by three of the city's most well-connected developers. Each requires the destruction of some of the city's few remaining architectural gems.

Two of the endangered buildings are designated as "architecturally significant" buildings worthy of protection under Article 67 of the city's own preservation ordinance. Adding insult to injury, the proposed projects turn prime locations for a pedestrian-centered renaissance into more auto-centric development, exacerbating Emeryville's traffic woes.

For what it's worth, preservation figures prominently in the city's General Plan. The document declares that historic industrial-warehouses found "in many parts of Emeryville should be preserved," and that, "the City strongly endorses the reuse of heritage buildings." These buildings, if saved, not only provide a tangible link to the past and an aesthetic sense of place lacking in much new development, they serve as affordale space for small, entrepreneurial ventures for which Emeryville has long been known.

Many Emeryville residents have asked the City Council again and again for development that cultivates real neighborhoods and provides services to the community -- independently owned retail and restaurants, light industrial, and small start-ups. To no avail.

The Alder Building at Powell and Hollis

One of the three buildings slated for demolition is the Alder Building at Powell and Hollis streets. It will be torn down to make way for a 139,000-square-foot office building and parking structure to be constructed by Wareham Development. The property has the dubious added distinction of being acquired in a hostile land grab, orchestrated by the city. The property was sold by the owner only after the city had begun legal proceedings to take the property through eminent domain and give it to Rich Robbins, owner of Wareham, the city's biggest and most influential developer. The property was sold to Robbins and eviction notices were served to the occupants -- a small law office and an architectural firm.

While the Alder Building is not designated by the city as "architecturally significant," the other two buildings are -- the brick building at Doyle and Powell streets (photo, top left), and 3908 Adeline Street, at the intersection of 39th Street (photo, top right).

The building at Doyle and Powell streets will be torn down to make way for 14,000 square feet of mixed use including retail (10,500 square feet) and "flex space" (about 3,500 square feet) which can be office or retail, and residential (170 rental units), which exceeds the density allowed by city ordinance. The developer also wants to chop down 12 mature street trees.

The building at 3908 Adeline, which straddles the line between Emeryville and Oakland, will be replaced by more than 100 apartment units and 1,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space. The height of the new building will reach 49 feet in areas where 30 feet is the maximum height allowed. The project also requires a parking variance to allow 6 guest parking spaces where 23 is the required minimum. The building to be destroyed has also been designated as "historically significant" by Oakland's Cultural Heritage Survey.

For more information on these and other projects, click here.

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The City Council is sacrificing pieces of Emeryville's past for a future of more retail and rental units. Didn't they get the memo?