An exhausted Marilyn Crawford takes a break before continuing to pack up the Chamber Office, which had to be done before the remodel could take place. Her boss Arnie Wishnick (in back) is chatting with people who stopped by, including former Palisadian-Post editor John Harlow (right).
Administrative Assistant, Resigned July 1
The weeks before the Fourth of July in Pacific Palisades is one of the busiest times for the Chamber of Commerce, as it has traditionally been the source of information for the town’s morning-to-night celebration. For example, people call to ask, “When can we put out our chairs?”
Marilyn Crawford, administrative assistant to executive director Arnie Wishnick for 19 years, handled most of those calls.
Unfortunately for callers, July 1 was Crawford’s last day with the Chamber, following her resignation. Calls to the Chamber from people coming to Pacific Palisades for the Fourth went unanswered.
When Wishnick retired last August, Crawford was the one constant moving forward. She sat at the front of the office and was responsible for handling calls, greeting visitors, tracking membership, arranging Chamber events and street closures and putting together the Chamber directory.
Even though her weekly hours were cut from 40 to 24 when Wishnick left, the Mar Vista resident, who had spent so many years in the Palisades, stayed. If you needed to know something about a local nonprofit or a business, Crawford knew the person to contact. She was never late for work and rarely missed a day. She even volunteered for 14 years as a key member of the nonprofit Movies in the Park committee.
Why did Crawford resign? Circling the News learned that on June 21, her job was posted on ZipRecruiter, seeking an Office Administrator, Office Manager for the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce. The part-time job (20-24 hours a week, $20 an hour) required that the person respond to the President/CEO (Bob Benton).
The job description included everything that Crawford did but added managing the Chamber’s website and taking over social media.
Circling the News contacted Chamber President Benton and noted that the ZipRecruiter posting added to Crawford’s current job description. He was asked if Crawford had been alerted about the job posting and if she had been asked if she could or wanted to handle the added duties.
On July 10, Benton told CTN, “No comment.”
CTN spoke with Crawford on July 14. She is working on weekends at Rodeo Realty on Via de la Paz. She said she loves it there and invites people to stop by and visit her.
“I loved working at the Chamber with Arnie,” she said. “We had a lot of laughs.”
When asked what led up to her abrupt resignation, Crawford said “No comment,” but added that “Bob [Benton] was always good to me.”
Charitable to the end.
Where can we find people like that?