Valley voters, lawmakers should stand up to California labor union

This column by the Arizona Chamber’s Danny Seiden and AzLTA’s Kim Grace Sabow originally appeared in the Glendale Independent.

An out-of-state labor-affiliated group has cast a shadow over the Valley’s economic development future. Voters and elected officials can help clear things up.

An example is Glendale City Council’s recent approval of zoning for a 39-acre site on the west side of Loop 101 across from State Farm Stadium, which is set to feature a mix of multifamily housing, retail and hotels. It’s the type of development cities typically welcome. They create jobs, generate tax revenues and generally improve a community’s quality of life thanks to new amenities.

Worker Power, the Los Angeles-based political arm of the hospitality union UniteHere, opposes the zoning approval and is poised to thwart development at the site. A representative was at the April 22 Council meeting to express the group’s opposition, specifically calling out the inclusion of a hotel in the development.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the group attempting to throttle development across the Valley. Worker Power was a significant player in forcing a referendum on the Axon corporate campus in Scottsdale, a development also anticipated to include a hotel. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs stepped in to ensure the project could proceed.

The group testified at the state Legislature earlier this session in opposition to legislation that would keep the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. It opposed the Tempe development that would have been home to the Arizona Coyotes and, perhaps not surprisingly, a hotel.

It was also behind last year’s Proposition 499, a measure that would have devastated Glendale’s tourism industry with new wage mandates, caps on hotel and event venue employees’ productivity, and the threat of stiff penalties. The motivation behind the proposal was made clear by a provision that would have exempted employers from the ordinance if the employer unionized their workplace. Voters wisely rejected the proposition by a wide margin.

Worker Power apparently hasn’t gotten the message that its narrow political agenda isn’t welcome in Glendale, hence its opposition to the 39-acre site approved in April, and its campaign against the VAI Resort near the 101 and Cardinals Way.

As it did in Scottsdale, the group forced a referendum on the zoning for a parcel of land adjacent to the new resort. The 10-acre dirt lot will feature an employee office building and parking lot. Before unanimously approving the parcel’s zoning and its inclusion in the resort’s overall plan, the City Council conducted regular public reviews and sought feedback from neighbors.

Despite support from citizens and the council’s unanimous approval, Glendale must hold a special election for voters to affirm or reject the council decision. Regardless of the election’s outcome, Worker Power’s actions threaten our cities’ economic development strategy. Must every routine hotel zoning decision first be validated by a California labor union?

We have two recommendations:

• In the near-term, voters should vote “yes” on Props 401 and 402 to uphold the council’s unanimous approval of the VAI Resort parcel’s zoning. Not only will it allow the project and the more than 2,000 jobs it will create to move forward, but it will once again send a clear message that Worker Power should pack its bags and head back to California.
  
• In the long term, we would urge state lawmakers and city leaders to work together to put a stop to the hijacking of the zoning process and the chilling of economic development. Developers won’t risk their capital if an expensive and drawn-out election campaign is going to be required even after a council gives the OK.

There’s too much doubt hanging over future development in Glendale and other Valley cities. It will be up to voters and elected officials to decide whether out-of-state labor unions will hold a veto over our ability to attract new jobs.

Danny Seiden is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Kim Grace Sabow is president and CEO of the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association.