San Rafael, CA – As the COVID-19 pandemic eased in 2022, local government inspectors who check the accuracy of pricing in the Marin County marketplace doubled the number of on-site inspections when compared with the previous year. The result was a 241% increase in items found overcharged to customers.

In fact, there was a larger increase — 281% — in items found to be undercharged to customers.

Those were some of the key figures mentioned in the new 2022 Marin County Consumer Protection Report, presented to the Marin County Board of Supervisors on March 7. Staff from the Marin County Department of Agriculture / Weights and Measures (AWMs) performed 12,537 inspections (up from 6,449 in 2021) at 387 businesses (up from 307) to ensure accuracy of measuring devices and checking the prices charged to consumers.

AWMs Inspector Raoul Wertz said there were 467 overcharged items discovered during unannounced routine inspections in 2022, up from 137 in 2021. Undercharged items went from 87 to 332.

The department responded to 41 customer inquiries, concerns, and complaints about Marin businesses, a 70% increase from the prior year. Complaints often involve retail overcharging, allegations of gas pumps “shorting” customers on fuel, or credit/debit card skimmers. The complaints are typically shared via a phone hotline – (415) 473-7888 – an email to staff, or an online form on the department’s website. Staff investigates complaints of posted prices not being honored or inability to view prices when a purchase is being rung up at the checkout stand.

Wertz also pointed out that 4.5% of all retail items randomly price-checked by inspectors in 2022 rang up at a higher price than posted. For instance, a grocery cart with 25 items likely includes one overcharge, he said.

“We attribute the increase in complaints in 2022 to consumers being more aware of prices in the wake of pandemic pricing and media coverage of price gouging,” Wertz said.

AWMs Assistant Director Scott Wise acknowledged that since the pandemic brick-and-mortar retail stores have faced significant challenges such as reduced sales, increased online competition, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and worker shortages. “In short, this has been an incredibly challenging time for businesses with many closing for good.  Please remember to support our Marin County businesses by shopping locally whenever possible,” he said.

Weights and Measures inspectors urge consumers to shop with care, pay attention to posted prices and promotional offers, and always retain and check their receipts to ensure the correct price was paid for merchandise and services.

There were 226 notices of violation issued in the 2021-22 fiscal year to 169 local businesses. When AWMs inspectors find violations, businesses receive a notice of violation. If the violation is egregious or the business has repeatedly received the same type of violations, there would likely be a fine. The department’s goal is to gain compliance through education and outreach.

This marked the seventh consecutive year the AWMs staff produced a Consumer Protection Report. The department’s weights and measures inspection staff has only 2.3 full-time positions, but employees spent 4,599 hours serving t­he public’s interest by ensuring accuracy and equity in the marke­­­­tplace and protecting the health and welfare of Marin residents.

Want to watch out for yourself and others more closely? There are helpful consumer tips on the Ag, Weights & Measures website.

By Kathy Chouteau

The historic Hotel Mac’s Restaurant and Bar in Point Richmond has been leased to the owners of the city’s Mi Casa Grill, according to Restaurant Realty Company (RRC).

Mi Casa Grill’s owners, Blanca Zepedalomeli and her husband, Juvenal Magna, plan to open Biancoverde (Italian for “green and white”) in the Hotel Mac space sometime in late 2023. RRC said that their concept is to offer a menu “that embraces their heritage with an Italian twist.” The restauranteurs intend to feature both “classic and unique options” in the bar, while also having entertainment in the lounge.

“They will bring their vision of elegance and charm that the space deserves, while maintaining the historic elements of existing architecture,” said RRC, which added that Andy Mirabell of the company handled the lease for both parties.

Aside from Hotel Mac’s restaurant space, lounge and bar, it also has a wine cellar and banquet room and has long been “recognized for its exceptional dining and a vibrant cocktail bar,” said RRC. The company said the previous restaurant fell victim to the pandemic.

RRC referred to the Hotel Mac as an “anchor business” in the hamlet’s center that was originally built in 1911 and was then called the Colonial Hotel. The Claremont Hotel’s former manager, M.V. McAfee, bought it in the ’30s and changed its name to the Hotel Mac.

The Hotel Mac Restaurant and Bar is located at 50 Washington Ave. in Point Richmond. Find out more at TheHotelMac.com. Mi Casa Grill is located on the corner of Macdonald and San Pablo avenues in Richmond.

By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media

Last week, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) joined a diverse panel of women legislators at the “Women in California’s Legislature: 2023 Speaker Series on California’s Future” luncheon to discuss the essential roles they play in shaping governmental policies benefiting Californians.

The event was hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.

This year’s class of legislators includes the largest number of women in state history — 18 senators and 32 assemblymembers. Joining McKinnor on the panel were state Senators Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro).

McKinnor said she made the decision to get into politics after seeing the video of police officers beating motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992.

Over the years, McKinnor said, a major influence on her policy decisions are the lessons gleaned from raising a family.

“I think (women) bring diversity to the table because we are about taking care of our families,” McKinnor said. “So, the legislation that you see coming out of this (panel), I believe, will be around housing, jobs, equity and public safety. The women here are going to make a tremendous difference because we take care of our families differently.”

Before McKinnor was elected to the California State Assembly in June 2022, she served as civic engagement director for the nonprofit LA Voice and previously served as operational director for the California Democratic Party and chief of staff to several members of the State Assembly. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from California State University Dominguez Hills.

Left, Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, PPIC’s president and chief executive officer, was the moderator of the event. Left to right, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), District 61; state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), District 36; Assemblywoman Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), District 20; and Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) of District 9. The Women in California’s Legislature event was hosted by PPIC in Sacramento on March 8, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

McKinnor is currently chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. She serves on other policy committees, including the Business and Professions Committee, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and the Governmental Organization Committee.

McKinnor’s legislative priorities include California’s continued COVID-19 recovery, increased funding for public education, expanded universal access to healthcare, the state’s housing and homelessness crisis and reforming the state’s criminal justice system.

“I never thought I’d be in politics in 1992. I thought I had better get off the sofa and pay attention to what’s going on,” McKinnor said. “After that, I didn’t sit down, and I got involved in the community.”

Black women are 7.7% of the total U.S. population and 15.3% of the total number of women in the country, according to the U.S. Census.

In the 2021 study, the State Innovation Exchange (SIE) — a group that advocates for representation in state legislatures — and the National Organization for Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women) took a deep dive into their analysis of women serving in government.

SIE and NOBEL Women reported that Black women fill just 4.82% (356) of 7,383 state Legislature seats across the United States. That same year, eight state legislatures convened without a single Black woman in their ranks: Vermont, South Dakota, Hawaii, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota — all places with Black populations falling in a range from 2% to 6%, the study revealed.

Currently, there are five Black women in the California Legislature: McKinnor and Assemblymembers Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa) and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights). They are also members of the California Legislature Black Caucus.

Smallwood-Cuevas is the lone Black woman among 40 state senators.

“I am the 20th Black woman to be elected to the (California) Legislature,” McKinnor said at the event held on International Women’s Day. “Sen. Lola Smallwood became the 21st Black woman. So, we still have a lot of work to do.”

PPIC, the nonprofit that organized the event, bills itself as a nonpartisan think tank with a mission to inform and improve public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. Former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is PPIC’s president and chief executive officer.

Ophelia Basgal, an affiliate at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at University of California, Berkeley, and a senior executive consultant for Inclusion INC, provided the opening remarks.

All the women legislators who participated in the event are members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, a political body that represents and advocates on the behalf of the diverse interests of women, children, and families.

The panelists discussed gender diversity in state politics, how personal interests play out in politics, legislation they are currently working on, setting better policy for the state, and offered advice to women who are interested in running for office.

“In addition to the vision and experience, we bring that voice into the room that is often unheard and unseen,” said Ortega, a longtime labor leader and activist from an immigrant family. “We will make sure we are seen and heard and deliver (policies) for all in the state of California and the United States.”

The Sheraton Ballroom in downtown Sacramento was filled with women and men listening to the 60-minute conversation between the women that was at times passionate, thought-provoking, reflective and lighthearted.

“We’ve been truly inspired by this distinguished panel for their questions, insight, and answers,” Cantil-Sakauye said to the audience. “Thank you for making this (speakers’ series) memorable.”