HOTELS RESPOND TO SAN FRANCISCO’S UNHEALTHY BUILDINGS ORDINANCE
VIRTUAL NEWS CONFERENCE 10 A.M. PT MONDAY, JULY 20
SAN FRANCISO, CA. – (JULY 20, 2020) – The Hotel Council of San Francisco, the California Hotel and Lodging Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the former chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health will announce a major response to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ so-called “Healthy Buildings” ordinance. The ordinance, approved July 7 and signed by Mayor Breed on July 17, will:
Endanger the health of hotel employees by mandating increased contacts with guests.
Fail to align with widely recognized federal and state infectious disease experts’ health guidelines for hotels.
Do financial harm to a specific industry that has an outstanding health safety record.
Ignore San Francisco’s environmental laws and mandates.
Serve the selfish interests of a union with no consideration of the employee harm it mandates.
WHO:
Kevin Carroll, President and CEO, Hotel Council of San Francisco
Lynn S. Mohrfeld, CAE, President & CEO, California Hotel & Lodging Association
Chip Rogers, President & CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association
Len Welsh, former Chief, California Division of Occupational Safety & Health
Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com
MCmarket brings “Gourmet to Go” to your front door
McCalls Catering & Events: Celebrating 40 Years as San Francisco’s Luxury Brand for Society & Corporate Clients Leans Into “New Normal” with Delicious Style and Contactless Elegance
14 July 2020 – San Francisco, CA: In 2020, “white glove service” has taken on a whole new meaning. In this their 40th Anniversary Year, San Francisco’s McCalls Catering & Events is cooking up something new: MCmarket (www.mccallsmarket.com) – bringing all the high-end elegance, world-class cuisine and international flair direct to your door from their kitchen with the highest standards of hygiene that are the “new normal.” MCmarket is an exciting and encouraging new play for the well-known legacy company and introduces a fresh twist to the current world of food delivery, and all with contactless delivery by McCalls superior and well-trained staff.
“It takes more than a global pandemic to stop San Francisco society, philanthropy and our need to party,” said Lucas Shoemaker, McCalls President. “Until our clients can once again come to our world- class tables, we bring our world-class cuisine to them. From our kitchen to your home or office with all the style that has made McCalls synonymous with good taste for four decades.”
As the hospitality industry came to a screeching halt and events quickly dropped off the calendar, the McCalls team spent the lead up to their big 40th anniversary brainstorming new ways to best utilize their fine-tuned skills and keep their hard-working employees. Catering and event production for the foreseeable future wouldn’t look the same.
In late March, McCalls was contacted by the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA), who were searching for a company that could help safely feed individuals in hotels who had been displaced due to COVID-19. Up for the challenge, McCalls dove head-first into the delivery business, shifting into a new business model, while striving to retain the company’s core values: make food with the freshest ingredients and a lot of heart. They learned to implement an array of clean and safe practices during this time as well as adapt to the demands of a delivery-focused business. Through this work with the city, the idea for MCmarket was born.
“MCmarket brings the McCalls mindset to new life, providing chef-prepared meals to your dinner tables, backyard get-togethers, and office lunches,” explains Lee Gregory, Executive Vice President for McCalls and also a member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce board of directors and herself a mainstay on Northern California’s society pages. “McCalls culinary team is creating beautiful and delicious menus for daily dinners that will change weekly to utilize the freshest, most seasonal ingredients.”
Also available are party platters for gatherings of 10-12 guests, perfect for hosting a micro-event or just reconnecting safely with loved ones. According to Gregory, there are lots of options and all with contact-less delivery. For those returning to the office and looking for an easy, healthy lunch option, MCmarket has a wide variety of fresh salads and grain bowls to feel nourished and taken care of.
“Keeping connected to the community and supporting small businesses has also been a priority for McCalls during this time, “ says Gregory. “So MCmarket has partnered with local farmers, breweries and wineries to bring customers the best quality product on a hyper-local level.”
MCmarket’s offerings are adaptive and all-encompassing. Whether you’re seeking family weeknight dinners after weeks of cooking fatigue, or hosting a small backyard get together, micro or virtual event, MCmarket is there to meet that need. All packaging is compostable or recyclable and delivered via no-contact delivery to your doorstep by a friendly McCalls face.
What MCmarket Offers
Weekday meal deliveries
Weekday meal subscriptions
Office lunch catering
Large-format Party Platters & Holiday Menus
Safe, no-contact delivery as well as pick-up
Packaging compostable or recyclable
Fresh locally sourced ingredients
Partnerships with local food and beverage providers
Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc/David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com
So Called “Healthy Buildings” Ordinance Would Cost Hotel & Commercial Building Owners Millions to Implement.
Will Keep 10,000 Hotel Workers from Returning to Work.
SF Supervisors Slated to Impose Redundant Standards on Industry Already Reeling Under COVID Economic Downturn.
Ordinance Would Exempt Government Buildings Including SF City Hall
6 July 2020 — San Francisco, CA: In the midst of the unprecedented health and economic crisis when politicians should be listening more than talking, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is set to vote into law a redundant and dangerous piece of legislation that will cost hotels and commercial buildings tens of millions of dollars while at the same time exempting those same buildings in which they pass such legislation. The so-called “Healthy Buildings” ordinance is slated to be voted on by the full San Francisco Board of Supervisors tomorrow, July 7, during their regular session. Pushed by organized labor, the ordinance mandates additional hiring during a time when all such employees are already out of work due to the COVID-forced economic downturn. At present, hotels in San Francisco will not reopen to tourism until mid-August and many office buildings in downtown San Francisco are at less than 10% occupancy. “The ordinance imposes significant financial burdens to implement, puts our employees at greater health risks by demanding they enter rooms more frequently and further delays hotels’ ability to reopen for tourism,” said Kevin Carroll, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “No industry is more capable of implementing health, hygiene and safety protocols than the hospitality industry.”
California’s Employment Development Department reported July 1 that 10,484 San Francisco hotel workers were laid off or furloughed from 54 hotels. San Francisco has delayed reopening of hotels until mid-August at the earliest. Complying with the proposed ordinance will increase costs for hotels delaying further their re-openings, already an uncertainty as guests are slow to resume travel.The so-called “Healthy Buildings” ordinance was written by and pushed by members of San Francisco’s Union Local # 2 and would mandate additional cleaning of rooms and public spaces in hotels even though new COVID-19 protocols from the Hotel Council of San Francisco, working in concert with multiple health and safety experts, already exceed CDC guidelines. “The well-being of our employees is paramount for the well-being of our guests,’’ Carroll added. “The guidelines our hotels have implemented follow the recommendations from national and state infectious disease experts to ensure our employees safety.”Additionally, the proposed ordinance will adversely impact office buildings. “The ordinance is plainly redundant when we have guidance from agencies such as Cal/OSHA and the California Department of Public Health covering the same topics,” said Marc Intermaggio, Executive Vice President for the Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA). “Having multiple authorities issuing guidance and standards is confusing and accomplishes little. The other agencies are the ones tasked by law with issuing this type of guidance and they have done so and the City should be aligned with these health authorities.”
If put into law, the ordinance would add hundreds of thousands of dollars – per month – to business owners in downtown San Francisco. The cost on an annual basis would be in the tens of millions of dollars, all at a time when due to COVID roughly 90% of all commercial buildings are now empty. According to BOMA, the increased costs would likely force further layoffs as the reduced occupancy of buildings continues across 2020 and into 2021.
“This is not the year and now is not the time for un-needed and redundant legislation that will keep our hotel community and tourism based economy from recovering,” said Rodney Fong, President & CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce . “We urge the Board of Supervisors re-think this misguided ordinance.”
David Perry & Associates, Inc. David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com
SF HOTELS CALL OUT CLEANING PROPOSAL AS UNSCIENTIFIC, COSTLY
SF Board Panel Measures Contradict CDC Guidelines, Risk Closures
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – (June 29, 2020) – Hundreds of members of San Francisco’s hotel community assailed the costly, unscientific, environmentally harmful and job-killing proposed “Healthy Business” ordinance at Monday’s Land Use and Transportation Committee meeting.
Members of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, California Hotel and Lodging Association, American Hotel and Lodging Association, environmentalists and the San Francisco business community expressed frustration at the proposal’s lack of scientific support and, if approved, the economic harm it will impose on hotels already expected to be closed for several months.
San Francisco hotel managers called out the proposed ordinance’s lack of alignment with public health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Department of Public Health and San Francisco’s County Public Health Department. They also assailed the ordinance’s impacts that:
Would risk permanent closures of San Francisco hotels
Target only one industry during a global pandemic
Ignore all constituents to serve the wishes of one union
Create unnecessary environment waste and costs
Once again, failed to engage with hotel managers on an issue relevant to their businesses
“This ordinance does little to serve the public good, harms the No. 1 industry in San Francisco and further delays the return of more than 25,000 San Francisco hotel employees to work,’’ said Kevin Carroll, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee approved the proposal with minor amendments and forwarded it to the full Board of Supervisors for its July 7 meeting.
On behalf of the more than 200 hotels in San Francisco and 6,000 statewide, we, respectfully, fail to understand the need for the proposed Cleaning and Disease Prevention Standards in Tourist Hotels and Large Commercial Office Buildings.
San Francisco hotels have worked closely with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gov. Newsom, the California Department of Public Health and your own county’s public health officer to develop the Hotel Council’s Prevention & Enhanced Cleaning Guidelines that exceed, short of hospitals, the standards of any other industry. On April 30 – almost two months ago – the California Hotel and Lodging Association issued its 10-page Clean + Safe certification guide with customized plans for employee trainings, appropriate signage, regulatory forms and updates. In May, the American Hotel and Lodging Association released its comprehensive Stay Safe program aligning with CDC recommendations and AHLA’s authoritative Advisory Council.
We adhered strictly to the governor’s guidelines on June 12, when 51 of 58 California counties reopened for tourism. San Francisco, painfully, has not reopened nor does it have immediate plans to do so. We also partnered with Gov. Newsom’s Office of Emergency Service to supply personal protective equipment to San Francisco hotels and those throughout the state.
We employ tens of thousands of people directly and support hundreds of thousands of other businesses. Because of the San Francisco’s shelter-in-place mandate – now the longest in the state – our hotels and small businesses have had to lay off thousands of workers. This legislation will stop hotels from reopening and keep these hard-working employees unemployed.
Your so-called Healthy Buildings Ordinance has nothing to do with health or business. It’s a sell-out to politically connected union leadership. The ordinance is not based on CDC recommendations, but on the self-interests of the largest hotel union in the country. It puts labor protections ahead of proven health protections. There is nothing progressive about it.
The ordinance, drafted by the labor union, is designed to add new positions at every hotel while also supporting the hotel union bosses to legislate the end of incentive programs that allow guests to opt-out of daily cleaning. This is unsafe and harms the environment. The legislation, selfishly, exempts all City, State and Federal buildings. Why are these standards targeting specific industries and not the public buildings where the legislation is being heard?
San Francisco’s hotel community has been in the forefront of stepping up to respond to the pandemic, housing first responders and our most vulnerable populations. No industry was safer, cleaner or more committed to the health and welfare of visitors and employees.
Once again, the Board of Supervisors is out-of-touch with the reality hotels and our employees face. Once again, the hotels were not invited to participate in the legislation. And, once again, San Francisco’s over-regulation puts hotels closure to the brink of not surviving.
This ordinance does little to serve the public good, harms the No. 1 industry in San Francisco, pollutes the environment and further delays the return of more than 25,000 San Francisco hotel employees to work. Please stop this ordinance now and let science, not politics, guide our public health decisions.
