Hospitality Night Vendor Makes Holiday Event Political In Laguna

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce publicly apologized on behalf of a vendor at the organization's annual Hospitality Night event who promoted profanity-laced political items rather than the dog rescue and local business she promised to showcase at Friday's event.

A Los Angeles resident identified as Randi Berger asked for and received permission from the chamber to share information about her Recycled Pets Rescue and Laguna Beach's Naked Dog Bistro, chamber Executive Director Sandy Morales told Patch.

But instead of promoting the rescue and the bistro, Berger handed out profanity-laced stickers attacking President Joe Biden, as well as political T-shirts and flyers that disrupted the event, attendees said.

Berger "completely duped us into thinking they were displaying rescue information and passing out flyers for the Naked Dog Bistro," Morales told Patch.

The chamber has banned Berger from the Laguna Beach chamber and from participating in any future chamber events, Morales wrote in a Facebook post.

"We offer our sincerest apologies to our guests and those impacted by the actions of this vendor," she said.

A Family-Friendly Event

Hospitality Night in Laguna Beach is typically a family-friendly event that kicks off the holiday season, according to organizers. It has been two years since the city has gathered in person for the lighting of the pepper tree.

After Friday's community holiday singalong, a special visit from Santa and the tree-lighting, businesses, galleries and restaurants opened their doors to the community to kick off the holiday season.

Vendors signed up with the Chamber of Commerce to share information about nonprofits and to pass along holiday cheer to passersby.

Berger was a late addition to the event.

"We had a vendor fall out, so it was perfect timing, we thought," Morales told Patch. The chamber placed Berger's area in a parklet outside of Candy Baron on Forest Avenue, along with a handful of other vendors.

Morales said her event coordinator checked the vendor tables before the event started. Before the evening began, Berger and others had "puppy and informational flyers about the pet rescue" at the table, adding to her legitimacy. It wasn't until later that the political paraphernalia was put on display.

Both the Laguna Chamber of Commerce and Patch have been unable to contact Berger, whom Patch has learned is a political activist.

Laguna resident Charlotte Bloom, owner of the Naked Dog Bistro that Berger promised to promote, told Patch that she had no affiliation with Berger or the Recycled Dog Rescue.

"I walked in on Monday, and someone had dropped off [Berger's] card," Bloom said in a phone interview with Patch. "I've never heard of her or her rescue before this."

"How Were They Approved?"

Local business owner and Laguna local Heidi Miller expressed her distaste on Facebook for the items Berger handed out during the holiday affair.

"How were they approved?" Miller asked. "It was embarrassing to my guests to see the T-Shirts for sale, the Confederate Flags, F—k Joe Biden stickers and more! How did this happen and with all the chamber and City Council attending, how was it not immediately removed? Either side, right or left, ... politics have no place in a community event like this. So extremely unprofessional. And masked as a pet rescue company that hasn’t had a public event for years?"

The booth "looked like one of those popup [Donald] Trump merchandising stands," said Patch staffer Brian Barwick, who attended the event and was in the area around 6:45 p.m. "The table was covered with 'Let's Go Brandon' stickers and other items just a few stalls down from the line for Santa." There was nothing dog-related about it, Barwick added.

The chamber offered its apology in a letter and detailed how it would avoid such problems in the future.

"On behalf of the Laguna Beach Chamber, we would like to issue a sincere apology to all of our guests.

"We do not endorse nor support any political activities at any of our events.

"Our goal is to help local businesses connect with our community by creating safe, welcoming and family oriented events and programs.

"We are shocked and disappointed that this vendor deceitfully took advantage of our family holiday event and saw it as an opportunity to promote their political agenda.

"This behavior is unacceptable.

"We would like to thank our guests who informed us of the situation so that we could take immediate action."

More To Be Done In The Future

The chamber reached out to Berger, who has not responded.

"We notified them that we do not support nor condone any political activity, or promotion at any of our Laguna Beach Chamber events," Morales wrote in her Facebook apology to the community.

"We will remind our vendors of our non-political policies," Morales said on social media. "We will increase our surveillance of all vendors on-site at our events. In this particular situation, the vendor brought the items out after our initial introduction and check-in."

"I found out Saturday morning that this had happened," Morales said, adding that if she had learned of it sooner, she would have shut down the vendor during the event. "We are not a political organization, and we would not have willingly allowed this into our family-oriented event."

Morales agreed that more should be done in the future to ensure non-Laguna-based businesses and nonprofits are more thoroughly vetted.

"This has been a painful learning experience for the chamber," Morales said. "Definitely moving forward, we will have more strict checks in place during our events."

As for the Candy Baron, it did not notice any disruption outside of the shop, co-owner Luz Ong told Patch.

"We had someone selling candy and giving candy away, and everyone I saw was happy," Ong said. "We thought after so long without a Hospitality Night event, it was the best ever."

Related:

Mission Viejo Curbside Vendors Must Go Easy On The Swears

Southwest Pilot Uses 'Let's Go, Brandon' Phrase On Houston Flight