City to fund Chamber of Commerce business development effort

The City of Sonoma and the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce agreed to a landmark arrangement at last night’s City Council meeting which transfers activity previously managed by the city to the Chamber.

Specifically, the agreement creates a new entity, the Sonoma Business and Economic Vitality Partnership, which will take the lead in providing the business community with a “one-stop shop” for learning about doing business in the City of Sonoma. Laurie Decker, who acted as the Business Development Manager for a jointly-funded City/Chamber program previously, will now be the Economic Vitality Program Manager.

The total budget for the new arrangement is $125,000/yr. and the term of the agreement is for two years. This represents an increase of $50,000 over the currently budgeted amount provided by the City for Ms. Decker’s services.

Though some audience members expressed reservations about the contract, the four council members present all voted in favor.

Concerns about the Chamber’s political advocacy activity were addressed when the Chamber’s Executive Director told the gathering that the Chamber will no longer be taking political positions on local matters such as endorsing council candidates or taking sides on ballot measures. The agreement takes immediate effect.