SAN FRANCISCO, 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.
