I don’t know if it will work, but I know it would be easier to recruit volunteers.

Hermosa Beach voters
are targeted at bars
Drive seeks to influence patrons to vote for candidates who are seen as "friendly" to the business.
By Andrea Woodhouse
Staff Writer

The patrons at Hermosa Beach bars got more than wasted these past few weeks.

They’ve also been schooled on the local political scene from workers recruited by bar owners to register voters and collect contact information so they can be steered toward City Council candidates likely to fight for their right to party.

"We know that Hermosa bars and restaurants have been fun, and we want to keep it that way," drive organizer John Gurrola said. "We want to find the most business-friendly candidates."

Bar owners in recent years have become a powerful lobbying group, and the handling of the city’s active night life has emerged as a key issue in the Nov. 6 election, in which six candidates are vying for two council seats.

To help advocate for bar and restaurant owners, Gurrola earlier this month posted an ad on an online classified service, craigslist.org, calling for "energetic, attractive, approachable and outgoing" people willing to talk to revelers outside Hermosa hot spots like Sangria, Blue 32, Dragon and Hennessey’s about voting in the upcoming election.

The operation along Pier Plaza goes like this, Gurrola said: When a doorman determines a patron lives in Hermosa, he sends him or her over to one of the recruits, who would tell the patron about the election and the issues and collect contact information.

But as word of the advertisement circled around town, some residents were upset by the tavern owners’ campaigning tactics.

"They’re akin to union organizers," said Shawn Darcy, a 12-year Hermosa Beach resident. "They are in there trying to sway them in one direction. They’re not trying to educate. They just want to rally a bunch of people to vote and come in based on what they tell them."

The temporary workers did not promote specific candidates or disparage others, Gurrola said.

The ad – billing the $9-an-hour gig as a way to meet bouncers and avoid waiting in long admission lines, or as a lead on future employment – drew interest from about a dozen people, he said.

And in the past two weekends, recruiters chatting up potential voters amassed contact information from about 500 people, Gurrola said.

They’ll be called later and reminded about the election and also told which candidates have been endorsed by the Hermosa Beach Restaurant Association, a group of eatery and tavern owners in town, he said.