MALLS WANT ST. NICKS WITHOUT RAP SHEETS
By Dan Reed
Mercury News
When a sweet child with Christmas twinkling in his eyes visits Santa in the mall, is he sitting on the lap of a boozy loser who's done hard time?
Mall managers -- and especially parents -- hope not.
They want their Santas pure as the driven snow. So, those in the business of hiring Santas are turning to agencies that run background and drug testing on would-be St. Nicks.
Just ask Santa.
``It has gotten more stringent lately,'' said a 10-year veteran of the business now working his magic at the Great Mall in Milpitas. ``Parents are concerned about their children, and rightfully so.''
But the large man with a real-McCoy white beard said parents shouldn't rely on just company checks. ``Security belongs to all of us. Every parent can increase his child's security by walking up here with the child,'' he said, motioning to his throne.
Some parents waiting as their kids told their secret Christmas wishes to the jolly old soul said it didn't occur to them to be worried, but they were glad to hear Santa had been checked out.
``I just wouldn't think that anybody would do something like that -- a crime against a child -- in the Christmas season,'' said Jenny Renteria, whose son Jordan, 5, was talking to Santa. ``To tell you the truth, it's never crossed my mind.'' This mall Santa insisted his name was Santa, a bit like the character in ``Miracle on 34th Street.'' A spokesman for his company later said it's policy for Santas not to reveal their real names.
At least the background checkers know.
One national survey this season found that screenings weeded out about 7 percent of the applicants, keeping them from the malls' winter wonderlands for such crimes as indecent exposure, soliciting prostitution, battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Kelly Smith, media relations manager for Pre-employ.com, the Redding company that ran the sample, said the percentage of criminals in the job-seeking population at large runs a bit higher, about 9.6 percent. Convictions, which are checked back seven years, can also include common offenses such as drunken driving. It's up to the mall to decide whether that's enough to keep a Santa or Santa's helper from the job.
Pre-employ.com screens applicants for Cherry Hill Photo, a ``Santa vendor'' from New Jersey that supplies the cheery characters and sets up photos for parents to purchase.
Dee Dee Paft, a spokeswoman for the Stanford Shopping Center, said the mall contracts with Cherry Hill Photo to ensure the safety of the children.
``They're the Santa people,'' she said. ``We've never had any problems.''
The money-making end of the Santa business is selling photos to parents. Photos at the Great Mall, for example, range from $12.95 for a single to almost $40 for an elaborate set.
Smith said three years ago Pre-employ.com was screening Santas for only one client; now it has almost a dozen. ``Some are small and some are doing placements all over the country,'' she said.
The Great Mall gets its Santas checked out by Amusematte of San Fernando Valley, as does San Jose's Eastridge Shopping Center. Bob Bordeleau, the company's general manager, said Santa operations have become more professional over the past few years as digital photo packaging has become more sophisticated and upped the ante.
Twenty years ago, many Santas wore fake beards and suits with built-in fat bellies, such as the one the Dan Aykroyd character donned in the movie ``Trading Places.'' Now, Bordeleau said, ``they're all overweight guys with bleached-out beards who are earning between $10,000 to $20,000 for a five- to six-week season.
``On top of that,'' he added, ``they're working bell to bell; they work the entire shift all season. If they were keeping a flask in their pocket or any of that, they wouldn't make it.''
Media Contact:
Desiree Bryant
Media Relations Advisor
Pre-employ.com Family of Companies
dbryant@pre-employ.com
800-300-1821 x 255