Astrodome loses election

[Sandy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/te ... ml?hpid=z4

Among the unusual elections held last night, a referendum on a bond issue to put up money to turn the Houston Astrodome into a convention center failed. The likely result of that vote is that the building will be razed in order to make more room for parking at the Reliant complex.

When it opened, the building was known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." I've driven past it hundreds of times, and been inside at least a hundred times, mostly for Livestock Show and Rodeo events.

[Haruo]

Other unusual election results: it appears that the City of Seatac, Washington, has passed a $15-an-hour minimum wage (at least for the hospitality industry). I'm not sure of the details, and I doubt it will result in a lot of motels closing, or even significant reduction in compensation to the hoteliers. But we'll see.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Haruo]

[Sandy]

I don't know how close SeaTac is to the convention center in Seattle, but I would guess that the convenience of hotels, restaurants and other traveler services, including those run by contractors in the airport, will probably not be hurt by having to pay more, even if they do decide to raise prices to compensate.

When I was in seminary, I worked in a hotel in Ft. Worth that was located in a great spot. It was right off one of the busiest interstate highways in the state, across the street from the large Alcon Pharmaceuticals, and about a mile from a federal prison. The hotel had contracts with the US Soil Conservation Service, and with Alcon, which generated about half of the business. They also got a contract with the food service contractor at the federal prison, where all of the food service employees in the federal system were trained. The contract provided for transportation to and from DFW, which was a forty minute drive. That was my job, to drive the airport shuttle, and once I learned the ins and outs of picking up and dropping off at the airport, they were willing to pay me well above minimum wage to keep me there. Once the contracts were solidified, the restaurant and banquet service employees got a substantial raise as well. The hotel realized that paying its employees a living wage at the time increased their business and the better service enabled them to keep lucrative contracts.

[Haruo]