Pub. 1 Issue 2

8 www.glancda.org LA. The recession hit California, Arizona, Nevada and South- ern Florida especially hard because of the housing bubble. For car sales to improve, housing needs to improve, and for housing to improve, employment to improves. California has a long way to go for employment to improve. Is there any pertinent legislation on the table that’s on your mind? There is quite a bit. The Franchise Bill authored by Sen. Alex Padilla and the modification of two recall bills, and time allowance of warranty repairs. Do you have past experiences that help your leadership in GLANCDA? My father Gerald Thomas is still active on my board and offers his years of experience. I have garnered a lot of education as a YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) member and am also a member of NCM 20 group. Vir- tually every night, I go home and talk to my wife about everything and she offers the emotional view. She really helps to balance me out. What keeps you involved in GLANCDA? What inspired you to serve as a leader in the Association? What really inspires me is my grandfather LaRue. He formed this association over 40 years ago to abolish the gross receipt sales tax in the city of LA. It was an egregious tax that lasted for 40 years. It was a myopic tax and ran a lot of car dealers out of LA. Local cities get 1% of sales tax pumped back into the community so when all the car dealers left, the city lost more money than it was receiving from tax. With the help of city government it was repealed in July of 2012. Since then, LA City has received a lot more in sales tax revenue due to dealerships coming back to LA. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away several years ago and wasn’t able to see that hard work and the purpose of GLANCDA being formed. What’s in store for the membership this year? Quite a bit. We are introducing the magazine and an- nual report, hosting charitable events, advocacy, seminars, dealer training curriculum and of course, the Los Angeles Auto Show. What is your approach to helping dealers face challenges at their dealerships? Through our network of members and directors, we have a first class group of individuals at GLANCDA behind the scenes: labor attorneys, government representatives, and so on. When you don’t have the answers, it’s easy to find someone who does through our association and network. What do you think makes GLANCDA membership invaluable? Seminars, the economic sales report, the advocacy on behalf of car dealers, to name a few. Car dealers donate a lot of time and money to philanthropic events. Dealers know that our success comes from the communities we serve, and many of us give back to those communities that help support our operations.   Ian Thomas — continued from page 7