CH&LA JanFeb 2017

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2 California Lodging News
414 29th Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
916-444-5780
Executive COMMITTEE
Chair
Elvin Lai
Ocean Park Inn
Vice Chair
Scott VandenBerg
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Immediate Past Chair
Terri Haack
Terranea Resort
Secretary/Treasurer
Michael Pace
Clift Hotel
Government &
Legal Relations Chair
René Boskoff
Monterey Marriott Hotel
Audit & investment
Committee Chair
Laurenne Douglas
Pacific Plaza Hotels
2017 Board of Directors
Matt Adams
Manchester
Grand Hyatt San Diego
Bhupen Amin
Lotus Hotels & Investments
Rick Anderson
Casa Tropicana, a
Beachfront Inn
Ed Bear
AutoClerk, Inc.
René Boskoff
Monterey Marriott Hotel
Javier Cano
JW Marriott, LA Live
Michael Collins
University of San Francisco
Russ Cox
Interstate Hotels & Resorts
Vipul Dayal
VNR Management
Laurenne Douglas
Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc.
Mike Getto, CHA
The Hills Hotel
Paul Gibbs
Crowne Plaza LAX
Terri Haack
Terranea Resort
Jon Handlery, CHA
Handlery Hotels, Inc.
Elvin Lai
Ocean Park Inn
Mark LeBlanc
The Rim Corporation
Hee Won Lim
Pacific Palms Resort
James Lim
Omni San Francisco
Robert Mayer, Jr.
The Robert Mayer Corporation
Stephanie McCaffrey
McCaffrey House
Michael Pace
Clift Hotel
Bijal Patel
Coast Redwood Hospitality
& Management
Bimal Patel, CHA
Concept Hotels
Pragna Patel-Mueller
Samata Management, Inc.
Tom Patton, CHA
Ramada Limited
Candace Savage, MHS
USA Today
No. California/Hawaii Region
Pat Seminario
Newport Beach/Irvine/
Bayview/Costa Mesa
Marriott Hotels
John Spear
Hotel Drisco
Jeffrey Thurrell
Fisher & Phillips, LLP
Wes Tyler, CHA
Chancellor Hotel On
Union Square
Scott VandenBerg
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Advertising & Design
LLM Publications
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Design & Layout
Juliette Miratsky
Sales Representative
Dan Hartzog
Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved
message from the chair
I have some pretty big shoes to fill following Terri Haack. Think about
it—this past year’s effort was a complete success—the advocacy, communications, and
events of 2016 were all ‘wins’ for the industry and under her leadership, the association
is in excellent shape in terms of CH&LA’s ability to affect change in the future and is
financially stable. Thank you, Terri.
I’m honored to be the incoming chair of CH&LA and I look forward to working with Lynn
Mohrfeld and his incredible team to protect your interests. We’re very lucky to have Lynn
leading our association and it’s with great confidence that I can say membership dues are an
excellent investment in the industry that we all love.
As an owner of an independent 70 room hotel, the opportunity to lead the nation’s most
important state lodging association is really something. It’s a testament to CH&LA’s
diversity in their membership and the inclusiveness of all segments of the industry. Large
and small, branded or independent, CH&LA is there for us.
With any luck and a lot of hard work, the industry will continue its success going into
the next year. That said, we have our issues—short term rentals, excessive regulations,
unscrupulous attorneys, a never-ending barrage of new legislation, and a constant effort to
tax our industry into being non-competitive. One issue I’ve been involved in locally and that
I hope to elevate is homelessness and what I refer to as bad street behavior.
While this issue is not solely related to the hospitality industry, it’s an issue that keeps
getting worse and impacts a lot of our operations and certainly our guests’ experience. Let’s
remember those that are less fortunate than us and endeavor to become part of the solution.
Again, thank you Terri and Lynn and team. And a very big thanks to my significant other,
Nan, for providing understanding and support and sharing my passions. I couldn’t do it
without you.
Thank you. 
Elvin Lai
Owner, Ocean Park Inn
CH&LA Chair