Culinary Union finds new political director

Alana Roberts

Monday, Feb. 14, 2005 | 10:36 a.m.

The Culinary Union Local 226 is starting Nevada's 2005 legislative session with a new political director.

Pilar Weiss, a former Culinary Union researcher, has taken the reins her predecessor, Glen Arnodo, held for 12 years. She took over the position last month.

D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226, said Arnodo left the position to join UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles to perform the same duties for that local.

"We're very sorry about that," Taylor said. "Obviously Glen helped develop our whole political program. At the same time he's only a short plane ride away."

He said the role Weiss has assumed is a very important one for the union.

"First we think the political operations are directly tied to what we do representing our members," Taylor said.

In her new role Weiss said she plans to help the push by Democrats to start a state lottery and to raise the minimum wage $1 an hour to $6.15 an hour.

"Right now I think we can say we have an interest in seeing the minimum wage passed and seeing (the state) lottery for textbooks passed," Weiss said. "We have a huge number of members with children in the system that have addressed that issue with us."

She said the state lottery proposal wouldn't pose a threat to the gaming industry's profitability or the livelihood of the union's members.

"I think the gaming community hasn't come out against it strongly yet," Weiss said. "I don't think the lottery will take away from the gaming revenue. We all see people come to Vegas, it's not just gaming, it's hotels, restaurants, it's the entire experience. A $2 lottery ticket being sold, that's not going to take away from the caliber of service our members are providing right now."

She also said she will be lobbying on health care issues and the property tax issue.

"We'll have an array of health care issues we'll be interested in we always tend to watch health care issues," Weiss said. "We think everybody agrees that there needs to be (property tax) relief."

She said the union has its allies in Carson City but noted that she will work with any group or person necessary to advance the union's initiatives. She said the union has several Assembly members and Senators who will likely support the union's issues, including Sens. Maggie Carlton, who is a member of the Culinary Union and Steven Horsford, who is president and chief executive officer of the Culinary Training Academy and CEO of Nevada Partners and Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce.

"Glen was in this position for many years and (he) has a lot of ties and is rooted in the community," Weiss said. "I learned all I could from him on how to approach things and how to work with people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats."

Weiss has worked for the union for 2 1/2 years and before that worked for Culinary Union's parent Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union in Washington. She said in her new role as political director it will be important to be able to work well with politicians and with the union's membership, which includes guest room attendants, cocktail servers and kitchen workers.

"I think compared to other organizations, it's not like I'm just a lobbyist," she said. "I work for our 50,000 members. It's important for me to always keep that connection. We hope the voice of working people gets heard and the lifestyle our members enjoy is strengthened."

Taylor said Weiss is well suited for the position. He said Weiss shadowed Arnodo for a year during the 2003 legislative session and that he made a good mentor. She also led the union's efforts to encourage its members to vote during the 2004 election season.

"Glen thought she had the capability of running both field operations, talking to a kitchen worker and also a politician, and that's a unique quality," Taylor said.

Weiss said last week that she didn't know what to expect of this legislative session.

"I think the tenor of the session will be very different than past sessions," Weiss said. "It's hard to say any dynamics there in the past will be repeated. You end up working with all kinds of teams depending on the issue. It's pretty fluid in terms of who's supporting what and who you work with. I think Glen was always good at that and I hope to follow in his footsteps as far as being a team player."