Legislative Affairs Agency sent scathing letter to new owners of Driftwood Hotel for breaking contracts, evicting guests

Recently, the Landmine published an article, “New owners of the Driftwood in Juneau have transformed a charming hotel into a nightmare.” The article detailed how guests in Juneau for session were abruptly told by the new owners, the Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, that their longstanding reservations had been cancelled and they would either have to leave or pay exorbitant prices to continue their stays. The decision by the hotel to refuse to honor their reservations shocked guests and forced them to scramble to find last-minute accommodations.

The next day, Tlingit & Haida President Richard Peterson issued a lengthy statement about the article. In his statement, Peterson said, “The article is also vast with misinformation and inaccurate accounts” and, “The information Mr. Landfield shared in his article describing situations with other guests is not accurate and leaves out a tremendous amount of information on how hard staff worked to accommodate all guests whose signed agreements had a check-out date prior to the end of the legislative session.” He went on to say, “Every effort was made to work with each guest who needed to amend their reservation.”

Peterson concluded by saying:

The Driftwood Lodge looks forward to maintaining a good working relationship with the Alaska State Legislature and all our guests. I am confident this matter has not compromised our relationship or ability to ensure legislators and staff have access to affordable and reliable housing during the legislative session in Juneau, Alaska.

The Landmine recently obtained a May 17 email from the executive director of the Legislative Affairs Agency, Jessica Geary, to Sherry Aitken, the Tlingit & Haida employee who oversees the Driftwood. One of the duties of the Legislative Affairs Agency is helping legislators and staff find accommodations in the isolated and expensive town of Juneau, where housing is extremely scarce.

Geary’s email was sent 15 days before Peterson’s statement, and contradicts many of Peterson’s claims. In the letter, Geary stated that another Legislative Affairs Agency employee had spoken to the new Driftwood management in early April about the housing needs for legislators and legislative staff.

According to Geary, Tlingit & Haida took “no responsibility for this situation and has no interest in building or maintaining a relationship with the Legislature.” Geary stated, in part:

I understand you and The Driftwood are in a difficult situation due to an ineffective transition and perhaps you had little choice in what actions you could take; however, I want to share my takeaway from your response to Mr. Hayes and it is this: The Driftwood’s current management takes no responsibility for this situation and has no interest in building or maintaining a relationship with the Legislature.

The email was in response to an email Aitken sent to legislative staffer Joe Hayes, who has stayed at the Driftwood for the last eight years. Hayes’ reservation, which continued until May 31, was voided without explanation by Tlingit & Haida. His key card stopped working on May 12, and he was told he had to start paying nearly $300 a night to stay or else leave immediately.

In the email, Geary told Aitken:

As you know, Mr. Hayes is not the only legislative employee who was evicted from The Driftwood before the end of session and as a result of the inadequate ownership transition. Some of those guests were unable to find alternative housing on such late notice and could not fulfill their obligation to work through the end of session.

She went on to say:

The Legislature has had a good relationship with The Driftwood for decades, with many legislators and staff returning year after year to stay for session. It appears that relationship has now been damaged with the transition to new ownership and it is unfortunate that the contracts/agreements made with the previous owner were not transferred to the new owners/management. While I believe this oversight was unintentional, it certainly was not the fault or responsibility of the guests who made their reservations in good faith prior to arriving in Juneau in January and had a reasonable expectation of being housed through the end of session. Though certainly frustrated, Mr. Hayes was respectful and kind in his inquiry, so it is troubling that you accused him of bullying your staff.

She concluded by telling Aitken the Driftwood will no longer be on the Legislature’s housing list and will advise legislators and staff not to stay there:

If my takeaway is correct, going forward, LAA will no longer include The Driftwood on the housing list as we do not list places that fail to honor commitments or, at a minimum, communicate the reasons for being unable to honor them. Further, we will advise legislators and staff that The Driftwood may not be available for the term of a legislative session, so if any choose to stay there, they do so with a clear understanding that they will likely need to find alternative housing beginning on or around April 1 as you noted.

After the email was sent, Geary told the Landmine she met with Tlingit & Haida to discuss improving the situation. But the damage has been done.

You can view the full email here: