Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 6

i FINAL A8 The Arizona Republic Friday, November 9, 1990 mm Hotel offers King Day funds Paid King Day called effort begins "gladly trade four consecutive Super Bowls to have a Martin Luther King holiday statewide." Johnson added that snatching the league's crown jewel from Phoenix was "one of the greatest injustices" the league could inflict on the Valley. "I'm concerned that they've drawn a line in the sand and backing up now wouldn't be politically expedient" for league officials, he said. However, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said later Thursday, "We won't speculate on 'what We would act on the circumstances that are presented to us. Our position is, and has been all along, not to interfere with the voters of Arizona." Because the 1993 Super Bowl will be played during the same month that Phoenix celebrates its King Day, King issue. "Everybody's in a state of shock," Walker said.

"How can we do this to ourselves? The backlash will be unbelievable." "Won't give up yet But Ron Spellecy, vice president of marketing for the Phoenix Valley of the Sun Convention Visitors Bureau, said the hospitality industry has not given up on the Super Bowl. "Like they say in sports, it isn't over till the fat lady sings," he said. Robert Rudder, sales director for the Sheraton Phoenix Hotel, said he is calling on the business community to raise $500,000, the estimated cost of giving state employees a paid holiday. "We will pledge 10 percent of that, $50,000, to fund a holiday every year, if necessary," Rudder said. "We want to take the economic aspect out of it (the controversy)." Rudder said he believes many people voted against the holiday because of the potential cost to the state.

He said the Sheraton will give its employees a paid day off on the third Monday in January, recognized by several Arizona cities, the federal government and most other states as King's birthday. Since the vote Tuesday defeated propositions for a King holiday, Rudder said, "two groups have canceled (conventions)." More cancellations expected "That was a quarter of a million dollars," Rudder said, "and we don't know who else is out there lining up options. Maybe they'll call us tomorrow." The two conventions that backed out were scheduled for 1992 and '93 and would have attracted 3,000 visitors, Rudder said. "It could mushroom," he said. "We want the message to go out to anyone, not just the NFL, that this state supports a King holiday.

It's just a question of who pays for it." Larry Hilliard, vice president of the Convention Visitors Bureau, said the Phoenix convention cancellations were from four industry groups, but he would not identify them or the number of visitors they would have brought. "We're not giving up," Hilliard said. "Sure, they've canceled, but we're still trying to negotiate with them to get them back. It's just like in 1987, when this whole thing started." Hilliard was referring to the cancellation of a paid King holiday by thcn-Gov. Evan Mecham, who contended that his predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, had created the holiday illegally.

Mecham's actions Mecham took his action because of an opinion by Attorney General Bob Corbin, who said Babbitt's action was illegal. But Babbitt, himself a former attorney general, based his action on the advice of former Attorney General Jack LaSota, who said it was legal. Mecham later established an unpaid KingCivil Rights Day on the third Sunday of January, but King Pledges $50,000 for paid holiday, seeks some help By Don Harris The Arizona Republic The Sheraton Phoenix Hotel pledged Thursday to contribute $50,000 toward underwriting a paid state holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King while at least four groups have canceled plans to hold conventions in Phoenix. Two of those cancellations will cost at least $250,000 combined, a Sheraton official said.

The flurry of action came after Arizona voters narrowly rejected a paid King holiday Tuesday. Valley hoteliers were cautiously pessimistic in the wake of National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabuc's announcement Wednesday that he will recommend pulling the 1993 Super Bowl game from Arizona because of the King issue. However, on Thursday, Tagliabuc said he has not ruled out playing the game in Arizona. "I've told the people in Phoenix that we're trying to keep the door open and trying to act in a fair-minded and responsible way," Tagliabue said. Margaret Walker, executive vice president of the Arizona Hotel and Hotel Association, predicted a wave of hotel cancellations because of the MOURNING THE LOSS Phoenix Municipal Judge Jean F.

Williams weeps at a Martin Luther King rally at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church. The Rev. Henry Barnwell, pastor of the south Phoenix church, said Thursday that the fight for a holiday honoring King is "not over until it's over. We have been delayed but not defeated." supporters do not recognize it. Spellecy said he is encouraging hoteliers not to release any of the 16,000 rooms reserved for the Super Bowl.

"It hasn't been officially pulled yet," said. "We're still working very diligently to see what can be done to this piece of business." If Arizona loses the 1993 NFL championship game, Valley hotels would have three years to find other tourists to fill their rooms, he said. "We could probably do a pretty good job of reselling those rooms," but there still would be major losses," Spellecy said. Although Valley hoteliers have pledged not to gouge Super Bowl visitors, room rates at many of the top-of-the-line resorts would be higher than normal, he said. Room rates could deflate Rooms that rent for $50 to $60 would go for about $100, and those that rent for $200 to $250 would cost $300 to $350 a night, Spellecy said.

If the Super Bowl is pulled, hotels would revert to usual rates for that period and' would be in a position to honor reduced rates for commercial and government travelers, he said. Besides, he said, Super Bowl tourists traditionally are big spenders, which means they probably would spend more on food, beverages and entertainment than the typical tourist. "Even taxicab drivers benefit from the Super Bowl, and he spends his extra money on groceries or other things," Spellecy said. "It has a ripple effect." John SamoraThe Arizona Republic America again looks at Arizona By Sam Stanton Republic Washington Bureau WASHINGTON "Well, how bad are they laughing at us?" Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Freestone wanted to know during a phone call to the East Coast. Well, pretty bad, Tom.

Reaction to Arizona's rejection of a paid holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. among the Eastern media monoliths harkened to the days when then-Gov. Evan Mecham's daily imbroglios were chronicled nationwide. National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, after saying he would recommend the 1993 Super Bowl be taken away from Arizona on Wednesday, said Thursday he has not ruled out playing the game in Tempe.

"NFL: Ariz, fumbled Super Bowl," read a front-page story Thursday in USA Today "In Arizona, unusual still the norm," its article stated inside. The cover of the sports section of "the nation's newspaper" explained further with the headline: "Super Bowl site in doubt." The Washington Post chronicled the matter Thursday on its sports-page cover, ending its 16-paragraph story with a quote from former Arizona House Speaker Joe Lane explaining that in Arizona, "there is still a lot of racism out there, whether people will admit it or not." The Post's crosstown rival, The Washington Times, weighed in with a front-page story and a banner headline on the sports page that read, "Arizona UnSuper, NFL Says." The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBCs Today show, you name it Arizona was winning prominent mention Thursday as the state that had thrown away a $200 million plum. t' ft ft' klfJu PAID, from page A 1 mately $200 million in revenues. Additional boycotts and event cancellations would mean further economic losses. Mofford appeared at Phoenix Cardinals headquarters Thursday in Tempe for an interview with CBS Sports reporters from New York.

"I think it's savable," she said as she was leaving. "Phoenix recognizes the holiday. Tempe recognizes the holiday. I'm going to do everything in my power to get that holiday. "We don't want to be viewed as a racist state.

We don't want to jeopardize our economy. But it's not an economic issue; it's a moral issue." Although King Day supporters have urged quick action, including the possibility of Mofford's simply proclaim a paid King Day, the governor said, "I don't think it's something that has to be done today. 'Will they want to "Maybe we lacked something so that people realized the importance it (the holiday) has to the state. Will we be able to attract doctors and lawyers? Will we be able to attract businesses? Will they want to come and invest here? Will they want to live here?" Mofford offered no specific plans, but her press spokesman, Vada Manager, said Wednesday that no options have been ruled out. However, Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson said Thursday that he "cannot afford to wait" for the governor or the Legislature to move forward with plans for a statewide holiday.

Economic losses to Phoenix and the Valley resulting from the holiday's narrow defeat in Tuesday's general election could be of "extreme proportions," Johnson said. Johnson held an afternoon meeting with business representatives, the Governor's Office and the Phoenix Valley of the Sun Visitors Convention Bureau. Afterward, he said he will concentrate on spreading the word that "I am committed to the Martin Luther King holiday my voters are committed." "Phoenix has had a Martin Luther King holiday for five years and it is an active, not a passive, holiday," he said, expressing frustration that NFL staffers had told him they were unaware of that fact. Preparing fallout list The mayor said those at the meeting are preparing a list of businesses, conventions and sports facilities that could be most affected by fallout from the holiday's defeat. "Everyone in the room understood the severity of the economic issue, but everyone also understood that the most important issue is Martin Luther King.

It's a matter of doing what's right," he said. Among those attending the meeting were officials from Scottsdale and Tempe; a representative from House Speaker Jane Hull's office; Bill Shovcr, Phoenix '93 Super Bowl Committee chairman and public-affairs director for Phoenix Newspapers which publishes The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette; John Zanotti, publisher and chief executive officer of the newspapers; C.A. Howlctt, vice president of Phoenix '93; Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks; David Radcliffe, president of the convention bureau; and Manager. Johnson Thursday called for the NFL to accept part of the blame for the defeat of Proposition 302, which would have created a paid King Day. NFL partly blamed "The NFL has to shoulder a portion of the burden," Johnson said during an interview with sports commentator Greg Gumbel of CBS' This Morning show.

Gumbel on Sunday reported that the NFL was prepared to urge the owners to vote to strip Phoenix of the Super Bowl if a statewide King holiday were not passed. Many holiday supporters, including Johnson, blame Gumbel's report for a backlash that sent what had been a 14 percentage-point lead in pre-election polls plunging. Voters defeated the holiday measure by 17,000 votes, or 1 percentage point. Johnson said that, after the CBS report, he received more than 100 "calls of outrage" from constituents who "felt they were being leveraged" into voting for the holiday. "We were working for the Martin Luther King holiday because we believed in it," Johnson told Gumbel.

"We told people, 'Don't do it (vote for the holiday) because of any economic leverage that any group would apply. Do it because it's the right thing to do to celebrate civil Gladly trade Super Bowls' In fact, the mayor said, he would Johnson said he will suggest to Tagliabue that the game be dedicated to the slain civil-rights leader, Special holiday events could be tied to the Super Bowl and generate funds for activities that embraced King's ideals, he said. Meanwhile, the fallout over the probable loss of the Super Bowl created some strange allies as King Day foe Julian Sanders and King Day advocate Arnie Zaler are trying to develop a compromise they believe could please both sides. Both said negotiations have been difficult. Civil-rights day Sanders said he believes 85 percent of Arizona voters would support replacing the current paid state holiday celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday with a "generic" civil-rights day on the third Monday in January.

Zaler, however, said supporters of his organization, UNITY, would object to a civil-rights day that did not mention King. "We've got to keep Martin Luther King's name on it," Zaler said. "King is the symbol of civil rights. Everything that happened was because of him." Zaler met with gubernatorial candidate Terry Goddard early Thursday afternoon. Afterward, Goddard released a statement saying that, if elected in an expected runoff, he would call a special legislative session and push for the adoption of a King Day that would replace Lincoln's Birthday.

Sanders, meanwhile, said he would be willing to support a Lincoln-King Day, as long as Lincoln's name was mentioned first. Some states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Virginia, have created holidays that honor both King and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. In Utah, the third Monday in January is called Human Rights Day.

Mecham, who led the anti-King Day petition drive that put Proposition 302 on the ballot said he would be "totally opposed" to a holiday named for King. "The people of Arizona have spoken," he said. "Now it's incumbent upon people to shut up." Bias against 'white people' Mecham also said that he and some of his supporters plan to ask Attorney General Bob Corbin to consider suing the NFL on the grounds that the league never mentioned King Day in its Super Bowl negotiations and that rescinding the game would be "discrimination against white people who don't want a Martin Luther King holiday." "Of course it's reverse discrimination," Mecham said. "They're saying, if you don't honor Martin Luther King, who is a black, we're not going to It's a race issue. And it's our position that the attorney general should lead the way and sue." Corbin was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, members of the No-No Committee, which opposed a King holiday, expressed disgust that the issue was not resolved on Election Day. "The public spoke," said Shirley Whitlock of Mesa, a member of the No-No Committee. Sharing 'real reasons' In south Phoenix, the Rev. Henry Barnwell, pastor of New Life Missionary Baptist Church and a strong advocate of King Day, encouraged his followers not to give up the fight for King Day. "A lot of people come to church for the wrong reasons, and my position as a pastor is to teach them the right reasons," he said.

At Barnwell's church Thursday night, religious and civic leaders prayed for guidance, saying it is difficult to put their anger aside. "They can kill the dreamer they did but they will never kill the dream," Phoenix Municipal Court Judge Jean F. Williams said. "It's not over until it's over," Barnwell said. "We have been delayed but not defeated." Debate on paid-holiday vote around Valley heated, too late "For others, it's just that economy is terrible here in the first place, and this (King Day defeat) on top of it is something we just don't need." National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, after saying he would recommend the 1993 Super Bowl be taken away from Arizona on Wednesday, said Thursday he has not ruled out playing the game in Tempc.

"I've told the people in Phoenix that we're trying to keep the door open and trying to act in a fair-minded and responsible way," Tagliabue said. The state already reportedly has lost millions of dollars in canceled convention business because of its opposition to the holiday, which is observed in 47 other states. None of these 47 states has put the issue of a King holiday to a popular vote. Diane Sturhahn, a secretary in the corded hotline currently criticizes efforts to get minority-group members named to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I certainly have to congratulate Julian Sanders (an anti-King holiday activist) as well as every Arizonan who loved freedom enough to take a stand for democracy and majority rule," Barrett said of Tuesday's King vote. As a result of the election, Barrett said his group plans to boost its efforts to get its programming about "skinheads," flag burning and freedom of religion onto Arizona cable outlets. Barrett's organization, based in Learned, has televised its programs in about 30 communities nationwide. The group is scheduled to expand within the month to channels in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. Besides showing documentaries and interviews that Barrett describes as P0 'r 1 -fc state Department of Transportation, said she walked away from a co-worker Wednesday who was defending his "no" vote.

"I told him I didn't want to listen to any bigot," Sturhahn said. Legal secretary Sheila Buchanan said an argument over the holiday erupted in the lunchroom of her Phoenix law firm Wednesday. "I think the supporters of the holiday were pretty quiet before the election because they were confident it would pass," Buchanan said. "Now, they're regretting that they didn't bring it up before." Bob Piclsticker, a Phoenix business owner, said, "I've heard a lot more discussion yesterday and today than I ever did before the election. "I just hope there's more discussion.

That way maybe we can resolve this thing." broadcasts "our pro-majority programming," Barrett said the television programs are "also a good recruiting vehicle for the Nationalist Movement." Barrett said his group's shows are meant to bring people together. "We have a lot of friends as well as a lot of members in Arizona," said Barrett, who would not release the number of members. Elizabeth Boyd of a group called Klan Watch said Barrett's group has a small membership and has conducted some paramilitary training. "They're a white-supremacist group," she said. Barrett said some communities, such as Springfield, have tried unsuccessfully to ban his programs.

"AH these left-wing groups have tried to oppose us, and they have failed," Barrett said. "They are the past, and we are the future." By Karen McCowan The Arizona Republic The debate over a holiday honoring slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has become decidedly less civil since Tuesday's election, many Valley residents say. Construction workers and professionals say tempers are hotter and some work sites chillier in the wake of the narrow defeat of Proposition 302, which called for the addition of a King Day to the roster of paid state holidays. "There's a lot more heat than there was before the election," said Darryl Lutzker, a construction worker.

"Before, people just talked about it in a normal tone of voice. Now there's a lot of swearing and yelling." For some of his co-workers, the anger stems from moral outrage, Lutzker said. 'Supremacists' plan state By Steve Yozwiak The Arizona Republic Boosted by Arizona voters' defeat this week of a paid state holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King a Mississippi-based organization that has been criticized as a white-supremacist group is making plans to expand its cable-television network to Arizona. The Nationalist Movement is described by its founder, Richard Barrett, as "pro-majority as opposed to pro-minority." "We're calling for one union, one people, one way of life," Barrett said, adding that his group's goal is the repeal of state and national King memorials, civil-rights legislation and the end of "the entire civil-rights era." Critics describe the organization as "a white-supremacist group." The Nationalist Movement's re.