Miramar Employees Get Good News From New Hotel Owners

Carolanne Sudderth

Mirror Staff Writer

   Employees of the Miramar Hotel can relax, as their jobs are secure. 
The Santa Monica landmark is in the process of being sold and fears were that the new owners would replace all current employees with staff of their own. 
   Maritz, Wolff and Company are in the process of acquiring the hotel and, on August 23, they announced that if the deal goes through, they will retain all current employees. 
   Last week, letters from Santa Monica City Council member Kevin McKeown State Senator Tom Hayden and Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl were delivered to Maritz, Wolff, along with a 150-signature petition assembled by McKeown and Gail Escobar, a hotel worker and a member of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Local #814.
   McKeown told the Mirror, “First thing Thursday, Matt diNapoli (executive vice-president of Maritz and Wolff) and I had a very cordial conversation. They told me that they going to do the right thing.” 
   On August 23, letters went out addressed to “Dear Miramar employee and family,” 
   McKeown was obviously delighted. “Saving these workers’ jobs is a victory for our community and the responsiveness of the new owners bodes well for the Miramar’s future as a Santa Monica treasure.”
   “Do you know that in this entire time, I have never met or spoken with William Wooster (current manager of the hotel) and yet Matt diNapoli called me back the very next morning. What a change!”
   Lewis Wolff, chairman of Maritz Wolff told the Mirror, “We don’t know how to run a hotel without employees.” There are still outstanding issues relating to the purchase of the hotel, he said, but he and his colleagues are looking forward to closing the deal as quickly as possible.