HOTROC UPDATE

As many of you are well aware, the issue of Labor Peace has been hotly contested in recent weeks. There have been a series of events that have led up to a big showdown, which took place in the City Council meeting on Thursday, August 3rd. It all started on June 15th when the possibility of a Labor Peace Deal could be worked out between HOTROC, Mickey Palmer (a prominent local developer), and the Marriott in regards to the proposed construction of a Hotel on Canal Street.

Much to the surprise of all parties concerned, Councilman Troy Carter urged the meeting to take place and a tentative agreement was reached. The Greater New Orleans Business community was stunned when HOTROC leadership announced the deal and Councilman Carter offered his full support of the proposed plan.

Under the auspices of the "Small Business Coalition to Save Jobs" (which incidentally, is made up of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater New Orleans Business Council, and the Greater New Orleans Hotel-Motel Association), an all out assault was launched on HOTROC's Labor Peace Agreement. The majority of the efforts of the "Coalition" were geared towards pressuring the individual members of City Council coupled with an extremely well timed media blitz of anti-Labor Peace propaganda (including press releases and op-ed pieces).

When City Council met again to finalize the deal; the fervor that had been generated by the "Coalition" had reached the ears of both the development team and the Marriott management. Obviously, the tentative arrangement that was once held was now in question. After a series of"11th hour"meetings between the HOTROC lead staff, the members of Councilman Troy Carter's staff, Mayor Marc Morial's staff, the developers, and the Marriott; it was decided by HOTROC that the best thing to do would be to remove the Labor Peace language from the deal and to proceed as scheduled.

This move was precipitated by the fact that HOTROC made this deal voluntary with the developers and Marriott, but could be potentially blocked if City Council had been forced to vote on the issue. The possibility of losing this deal by act of City Council would have been a serious blow to the Labor Peace movement, and especially our ability to link City legislation to future deals. It was decided that it was ultimately not worth the risk.

We are now in the process of redoubling our efforts 'in regards to Labor Peace and this proposed project. We still have verbal commitments from both the developers and Marriott that a final deal can be reached. We have also received assurances from the city that we will have full support on this issue. As our energies our directed elsewhere, we have not given up on this project and we will keep you abreast of any new developments.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact us at HOTROC.

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