The Washington Post
December 20, 2002 Friday
Final Edition
The Reliable Source
BYLINE: Lloyd Grove, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: STYLE; THE RELIABLE SOURCE; Pg. C03
LENGTH: 829 words
Some powerful friends of Neery Carrillo — a 54-year-old Honduran immigrant who came to this country 30 years ago and became an American success story — are rallying to fight the eviction of her hair salon from the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
Loyal customers such as pundit Robert Novak, former transportation secretary William Coleman and Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have been trying to persuade Hyatt executives to reverse the ruling of local General Manager Michael Smith, who told Carrillo this week that she and fellow stylist Margie McKesser must be out of their 460-square-foot salon off the hotel’s parking garage by New Year’s Eve. Smith’s plans for the space were unclear but yesterday Carrillo told us, “They want it for storage.”
Carrillo, who has cut hair in the Hyatt since 1981, said that if she is evicted, she would be out of a job for seven or eight weeks, until a new salon in the Carpenter’s Union headquarters building is ready for occupancy. “The loss of income will be devastating,” she told us.
Novak, who has written two letters to Hyatt officials in support of Carrillo, told us: “It’s really outrageous that this Honduran immigrant, who is a great success story and couldn’t speak English when she arrived, is being treated this way. All she’s asking for is six more weeks. If they don’t let her have it, I will never set foot in this hotel again.” We hear that a Kennedy aide recently phoned Smith in an attempt to work things out. “The senator wants to do what he can to help her and thinks what is happening is grossly unfair,” Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter told us.
But Smith — who didn’t return our phone call seeking comment has apparently been unmoved. Carrillo quoted one of his subordinates as warning her, “Mr. Smith says your friends should keep their noses out of his business.”
But Snowe, who will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Small Business Committee next month, remains hopeful. “We’re trying to reverse this because Neery is a wonderful small-business owner and we’re just looking for fairness so that she can survive while making this transfer,” Snowe told us. “She’s a woman who is struggling and willing to work as long and as hard as it takes, and we just want to see her treated fairly.”