Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, April 2, 1993 Page: 3 of 40
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NEWS
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DC hotel cancels Dallas reservations
Omni Georgetown says 'computer glitch' caused
errors in reservations; DGLA leader vows lawsuit
By Dennis Vercher
A Washington, D.C. hotel where the
Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance had
blocked a large set of rooms to house
Dallas individuals attending the March
on Washington abruptly cancelled
DGLA's reservations this week, officials
said.
The cancellation sent DGLA leaders
scrambling for alternative hotel
accommodations. On Thursday, officials
said, accommodations had been located
LOCAL
for all persons holding a DGLA-blocked
reservation. But the officials added that
the alternative accommodations would
not be as conveniently-located.
DGLA officials vowed to file a
lawsuit against the hotel, claiming that
hotel employees acted in bad faith and
handled the reservations without due
care. One local travel agency which had
reserved about half the DGLA block for
its customers also plans the join the
lawsuit or file a separate one, claiming
damage to the firm's reputation.
On Tuesday, the Omni Georgetown
Hotel informed DGLA leaders that the
hotel was cancelling DGLA's reservation
for a block of 50 rooms at the facility,
located near DuPont Circle in northwest
Washington, the heart of the D.C. gay
and lesbian community. Hotel officials
blamed a "computer glitch" for the
problem, according to DGLA president
Deb Elder.
Elder said hotel officials offered to
place DGLA reservations at the Dulles
Marriott Hotel, which DGLA leaders
rejected because the Marriott is located
more than 20 miles from Washington
and is not accessible on public
transportation systems.
Instead, local officials have obtained
ten rooms at the Savoy Suites
Georgetown and another 40 rooms at
the Hyatt Bethesda. Although the Hyatt
is located outside D.C. in nearby
Bethesda, Maryland, it is accessible by
Washington's subway system. Officials
also expressed the hope that
negotiations with another hotel located
near Washington's National Airport
would be successful in providing more
centrally-located accommodations.
"This is a totally ludicrous situation,"
Elder charged. "We did everything by
the book. We began initial negotiations
with the [Omni Georgetown] hotel last
summer, and began formal arrangements
in September." Elder said her group met
all deadlines imposed by the hotel for
making deposits and filing reservations.
Although the DGLA board must
authorize lawsuits, Elder predicted that
board members would approve a suit
against the Omni Georgetown, claiming
damage to DGLA's reputation. A
separate lawsuit from the DGLA Credit
Union, which handled local financial
arrangements, also is possible, Elder
said, but must be authorized by the
Credit Union's board of directors.
David Taffet, a partner in Travel
Source — which had filled about half
the DGLA block with its own customers
— also said his firm would file a lawsuit
against the Omni Georgetown hotel.
At this point, Elder said, the good
news is that the organization has located
alternate accommodations for everyone
who had planned to stay in a DGLA-
blocked room — and all
DGLA president Deb Elder . . . predicts
DGLA board will approve a lawsuit
against the Omni Georgetown Hotel,
which abruptly cancelled DGLA's block
of rooms on Tuesday.
accommodations are convenient to stops
on Washington's Metro public transpor-
tation system. Elder said DGLA officials
would contact by telephone everyone
who had reserved a room through
DGLA, explaining the situation. ▼
Hutchison predicts revelations
won't hurt his Dist. 3 campaign
'82 arrest in Florida was based on fraudulent charges,
he says; he won lawsuit in '83 based on the incident
By Dennis Vercher
District 3 City Council contender
Mike Hutchison predicted on Thursday
that recent revelations about his arrest in
Florida in 1982 will not hurt his
campaign.
"The feedback that I've gotten has
been very positive. We've had incredible
CAMPAIGNS
response over the last few days to the
campaign in general, and I feel like the
momentum is on my side."
Hutchison, who is gay, accused
opponent Bob Stimson of distributing
zeroxes of court records from Sarasota
County, Florida in 1982, which showed
that Hutchison was arrested that year on
four counts of controlling property
belonging to someone else. The
documents, which Hutchison said were
placed in mailboxes in north Oak Cliff,
did not include follow-up documents
from the next year, in which charges
were dropped.
Hutchison said the situation arose
when he obtained a $132,000 bank loan
in 1981. He obtained the loan based on
the expectation that he would receive a
$400,000 bonus from his employer, U.S.
Homes Corp., in 1982.
But before he collected the bonus,
Hutchison was fired as regional
president of the company.
Subsequently, the bank sued U.S.
Homes for repayment of the loan, and
filed 3 charges against Hutchison,
contending he never meant to repay the
money.
U.S. Homes, contending that
Hutchison had failed to repay $6,000 in
expense advances, filed the fourth
charge against him.
District 3 City Council contender Mike
Hutchison, who is gay, said recent
revelations about Florida arrest won't
affect his campaign.
Court records, however, show that
the money was repaid and charges
dropped in 1983- Also that year,
Hutchison sued U.S. Homes for
malicious prosecution, and obtained a
$150,000 settlement.
Hutchison said he believes the
revelations will backfire on Stimson.
Stimson denies taking part in the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Marchers
given OK
to use Mall
Re-seeding by U.S. Parks
Service held up approval
By Dennis Vercher
Following months of sometimes
difficult negotiations, officials of the
March on Washington last Friday finally
obtained permission to stage the after-
March rally on The Mall.
The U.S. Parks Service had objected
to the plan because the Service has
begun a project to re-seed the lawn on
the Mall, a project which will not
conclude before June.
Instead, officials had suggested that
the March contingent — predicted at
one million people — be divided into
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
APRIL 2, 1993
i
DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, April 2, 1993, newspaper, April 2, 1993; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616188/m1/3/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.