Friday, May 29, 2009
Page 3
LACBA Declines to Host Exhibit During State Bar Annual Meeting
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Los Angeles County Bar Association will not be hosting an exhibit at this year’s State Bar Annual Meeting so as to not give any semblance of supporting the venue slated to host the event.
At a meeting late Wednesday, the LACBA Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of a motion to not have an exhibit displayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego or participate in any activity held at the hotel in light of the hotel owner’s $125,000 contribution to the campaign to overturn same-sex marriage rights in California.
LACBA General Counsel W. Clark Brown advised the board that the organization was “not in any jeopardy” should it cancel its contracts with vendors and cancel its planned exhibit during the September convention.
Board members noted that the hotel is being boycotted by Californians Against Hate—a non-profit organization devoted to drawing attention to the major donors to the Yes on 8 campaign—and the hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE, and expressed a reluctance to cross those picket lines.
In other news, the board voted to approve the formation of a search committee to select a new executive director to succeed Stuart A. Forsyth upon his retirement from the post in November.
The committee is chaired by former State Bar President John K. Van de Kamp, and includes LACBA President Danette E. Meyers, President-Elect Don Mike Anthony, Senior Vice President Alan K. Steinbrecher, Vice President Eric A. Webber, and Treasurer Linda L. Curtis, as well as former president Andrea S. Ordin and former executive director Richard Walch.
A release from the organization indicated that the committee expects to select a new executive director by October and have that person assume the post by December.
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company