SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The boycott against the Ken Garff Automotive Group may be over before it really gets going. Wednesday evening, John Garff told ABC 4 that he had the framework for an agreement with Fred Karger, the founder of “Californians Against Hate”, the group calling for the boycott. Karger accepted an invitation to meet with Garff in his office four hours after announcing the boycott.
The boycott was triggered by the revelation that a member of the Garff family had given $100,000 to the campaign to pass California proposition 8.
Jon Garff did not release details of the negotiation, but described what could be called a “win-win”. Local gay rights groups would benefit because the company would increase donations well above what it already gives to groups like the Human Rights Campaign. Garff said, “We supported the HRC when it was risky and probably bad business. We supported it for the right reasons then which is basically supporting equal rights and human rights. We're going to continue to support them in the future for that same reason -- boycott or not.”
The agreement to end the boycott will benefit Garff by avoiding a potentially costly hit to his business at a time when auto dealerships are already struggling through slumping sales. Garff said, “We all need to do a better job of listening to each other and recognizing and respecting that there is another side to every story. I think when people do that in good faith -- like Fred and I did today -- That's how we get our differences resolved.”
Garff has a lot at stake. His company owns more than 50 car dealerships in Utah, Nevada, Iowa, Texas, Indiana and Southern California.
Garff said Karger will draw up a written agreement based on their conversation Wednesday. He hopes a final agreement will be signed in a matter of days rather than weeks.
