Credit: Ken Conley
So it’s not exactly a clean slate when it holds a town hall meeting next Tuesday for business and citizen input. The meeting is 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. In addition, the Chamber already made a presentation to the City Council about its general plans.
Needless to say, there’s plenty of skepticism in town whether the Chamber really plans to listen to the input, or go on its own merry way. Others see the “restructuring” as just another small-town political power struggle. As far as listening to input, sometimes people get a vision formed in their minds and consider other ideas “interference.”
The real challenge for the Chamber is one of inclusion and whether the group can “bury the hatchet” about previous disagreements, many of them personality based.
The stakes are high: The Chamber needs more money to sustain itself, so it’s going to have to persuade more people to join and donate money at fundraisers. If it ticks them off (again), it won’t succeed. Experience and the ability to embrace diversity will count. Many people won’t join the Chamber until it works out its differences.
Some observations:
*Kathy Whittlesey does a good job managing the chamber’s day-to-day operations with a motivated corp of volunteers. They like working with her, and without them, the Chamber could not function. Few if anyone in the chamber have a better knowledge of the city’s history than Steve Cottrell, who is a regular contributor. Both are big assets with years of Chamber experience.
*The board has done a poor job of providing strategic direction to Kathy and her staff of volunteers. In some cases, there are signs of “all hat and no cattle” execution by the board. Not all board members live in Nevada City, either, and there’s concern about self-interest. Some also downplay the “sustainability movement” that has been so successful in the recession. The city’s Farmers Market is a shining example, a true “grassroots” community effort.
*Some board members have done a splendid job of alienating the community with their “my way or the highway” or name-calling approach, and I’m not talking about the so-called “dissidents.” They will need to mend fences to gain broader support. Some board members also were appointed, not elected, including officers.
*Business people such as Tom Coleman, Chuck Shea and Gary Stollery are not “dissidents” but contributors.
Tom’s National Hotel has brought much attention to town: through a recent article in the S.F. Chronicle and a Fox News national broadcast. (Tom has kept the National chugging along while the Holbrooke in Grass Valley is struggling). Chuck rode a horse-drawn carriage through town when another rider couldn’t show up consistently. Stollery’s bookstore is popular with customers including novelist and resident Monte Schulz.
Stollery also helped forge an advertising deal to draw visitors from outside our area to town – a badly needed strategy beyond Christmas shopping inserts in the local media. Shea also understands this, having organized a TV station tour of the town.
*Merchants in the 7 Hills business district complain they have been ignored at the expense of downtown merchants.
In short, it’s a tall order for the Chamber. Residents such as Karin Marinovich and Paul Matson are on the strategic planning committee. Can it succeed? It’s much too early to tell. The first step is “getting real” about the issues.
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Is this a case of former BID members who are now embedded in the Chamber of Commerce trying to take control and causing a degree of dysfunction? I don’t know……just asking.
Jeff , Good report and right on point!
Steve,.. you got it right!
The latest is that the New former BID folks on the Board have scared the entire Board(except Tom Coleman) into buying additional E&O insurance for $750.00 to cover the Board members personally in the event of bring sued.
All this at time when the Chamber is loosing revenue and is struggling on how to maintain at all!
There never has been a suit in the Nevada City Chamber.
The BID Group failed asthe NCDA those monies went astray and now we have those same folks driving the Chamber
This townhall meeting is operating on the premise that nothing has been done in the past and they are reinventing the wheel !
This deserves a close watch!
Jeff, A mighty fine report. I am sure that no one is surprised that a complete takeover of the Chamber by Paul, Karen and others is indeed the hidden agenda. Bryce Lee
Jeff:
If you take a look at the minutes of the March 24 city council meeting, you’ll see (at least according to the draft minutes in the April 14 packet) that Karen Marinovich advised the council as follows: “She acknowledges that current Chamber of Commerce sees City Council input as important, unlike the past.”
SAY WHAT???? Was she serious?
That’s an incredible thing for a chamber representative to say at a city council meeting. I can only hope that the minutes are in error, because Karen is absolutely wrong if she made such a ridiculous statement on behalf of the current chamber board of directors.
It’s an insult to all the good men and women who have served on the chamber board in years past — and if she actually said it, then to them she owes an apology.
Steve Cottrell
Jeff,
Your article was thought provoking for anyone that is out of the loop on what is really going on regarding the chamber board.
I attended, and was involved, in almost all of the merger meetings at city hall . . . And, NOTHING that was discussed, or agreed upon, was ultimately done!
We are fed up with the way things have turned out, so we have let our membership in the chamber lapse. We also have no plans to attend the meeting, as it will only be lip service to those attending who do not go along with the new regimes plans.
I found the comments from Steve, Chuck, Bryce and Steve very interesting and right on.
Thank you for your comments about me. I took a lot of heat, from certain people on the chamber board, for my part in trying to promote Nevada City.
Gary J. stollery
On a totally unrelated note, are you the Gary Stollery that gave my sister, brother and me an SF tour many years ago? I lost your address and would like to keep in touch.