Chapter 13 - THE EMPLOYEES
Hart Harbor employed 612 people across three properties.
Until the audit, they existed in my mind mainly as payroll files and department names.
Then the employee representative on the trust committee asked me to meet.
Rosa Delgado.
Housekeeping director at Harbor Point.
Twenty-two years.
She sat across from me inside a conference room.
“Your father says the refinancing saves jobs.”
“It may.”
“You say the books need review.”
“They do.”
“What happens if the bank walks?”
“We may need an alternate facility, asset sale, equity contribution, or restructuring.”
“English.”
“Some version could mean cuts.”
“Thank you.”
I appreciated her intolerance for finance fog.
“What do employees need from me?”
“Not promises.”
“What then?”
“Stop making family pride part of whether we get paychecks.”
Fair.
She asked whether I planned to take control at twenty-seven.
“I don’t know if I’ll be approved.”
“Would you if approved?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then decide what the role is for.”
That sounded like Grandmother.
Rosa showed me something the audit had not emphasized.
Maintenance capital had been deferred.
Roof repairs.
Employee housing near the marina.
Kitchen ventilation replacement.
Meanwhile, executive family distributions continued.
Including mine.
I had received $24,000 annually from a family beneficiary pool.
I barely noticed because taxes consumed part and I saved the rest.
It still came from company cash.
“Should those distributions have stopped?” I asked.
Rina later answered:
“Probably reduced earlier.”
“Mine too?”
“Yes.”
I agreed to suspend mine pending restructuring.
Not grand sacrifice.
Alignment.
Tawny suspended hers after two days.
Mom did not.
Dad said distributions were contractual.
May you like
They were discretionary under covenant.
Another fight.
