Chamber’s political bent attracting newcomers
DOWNTOWN — In the game of Santa Monica politics, the local chamber of commerce has found itself playing on the defensive side — a strategy not executed until recently.
That’s because the rule book has changed in the past decade, chamber officials say. In a typical city, the traditional role of a chamber of commerce is to solely advocate for and promote businesses, as well as tourism. But in Santa Monica, which is anything but typical given the nature of its liberal majority in politics, the chamber has been forced to fight City Hall rather than be on the same team.
“It used be that it was the good guys fighting the good guys,” said Bob Gabriel, who first joined the chamber in 1955 and is a current board member. “Now we’re forced to protect the viability of business.”
Many perceive that City Hall has its own agenda and, therefore, has become anti-business. That theory is based on policy decisions, a perceived lack of response to the business community’s concerns and inaction on specific issues, like the number of vagrants who reside here.
“It’s become more confronta-tional in recent years,” said Dick Lawrence, president of Encino State Bank, who also sits on the chamber’s board of directors and is a past president.
Two decades ago, the chamber acted more like a convention and visitor’s bureau, promoting tourism and business. Back then, City Hall was a member — something that would never happen today because the two entities are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, presenting a conflict of interest for both sides.
Today’s chamber is the most political it’s ever been. It has created a political action committee, Mission statement:“The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce advocates and represents business’ interests and issues affecting the community.We provide the environment to help our members prosper and succeed through a proactive working partnership with all levels of government and community organizations to achieve a healthy local economy and quality of life.” which takes on key issues within City Hall, and it plans to endorse and raise money for city council candidates this fall.
“We can’t do anything without starting from the top,” said Kathy Dodson, the chamber’s president and CEO. “We are putting out a lot of brush fires. We can talk all we want, but they aren’t going to deal with the homeless and they aren’t going to deal with the inefficiencies of government.”
Those two issues, as well as parking and traffic, are the chamber’s top priorities. The committee will be looking for a slate of candidates to run on that platform, among other pertinent issues facing businesses in Santa Monica.
It wasn’t until the living wage issue was introduced in 1999 that the chamber found itself fully engaged in politics, said local attorney Tom Larmore, who has been involved in the chamber for 20 years and heads the political action committee.
“Back in the 1980s, the council was more balanced,” he said, adding there were more business-minded politicians elected to office. Today, the majority of the council are members of a liberal group called Santa Monicans for Renters Rights.
“It was a lot more reasonable then,” Larmore said. “It wasn’t so essential (to be involved politically). It’s not the role the chamber seeks out in a normal setting.”
Still, the chamber’s relationship with City Hall isn’t always adversarial, working together on many programs that are positive for businesses and promoting a healthy quality of life here. One of them is awarding local businesses with sustainable quality awards, which recognize merchants for being environmentally and socially responsible. Santa Monica is known for being a leader in environmental stewardship.
“That was a great city-chamber project,” Dodson said, adding the awards will be issued in May at a chamber luncheon.
Another project the chamber worked with City Hall on was an audit of the plan-ning department in an effort to make it run more efficient. In that case, the chamber worked closely with city staffers for a mutually beneficial outcome, Dodson said.
POLITICS A DRIVING FORCE The Santa Monica Chamber is one of the largest on the Westside and it continues to grow. A few years ago, membership was at 840. Today, it’s 1,050. Dodson said, based on feedback from members, they believe the chamber is headed in a positive direction.
“We’ve got people joining because we’re getting more involved in politics,” Dodson said, adding it’s the chamber’s intent to encourage people to get involved in the community.
The chamber is considering establishing a candidates academy for individuals thinking about running for political office — everything from exposing them to a media specialist to educating individuals about what to expect once elected.
Other political committees include government affairs, public safety and land use. The chamber also endorses ballot measures and supports other political groups — most recently the charter amendment brought forward by “Community For Excellent Public Schools,” which is attempting to force City Hall to dedicate $6 million to the local school district each year. Voters are expected to decide on that this November.
And Dodson just became the head of the Westside Chamber, which includes 14 chambers from Hollywood to Santa Monica to LAX. It advocates for businesses and the local economy on the state and federal level on issues ranging from light rail to worker’s compensation.
WHAT DOES THE CHAMBER DO FOR YOU? “Nobody knows what chambers of commerces do,” Dodson said. “Chambers represent cities, not city government.”
While that may be clear in Santa Monica because of the political lines drawn, it’s not always apparent to the public.
Politics aside, the chamber also focuses on quality of life issues — advocating for businesses and residents. It markets Santa Monica by promoting the community, and provides educational opportunities to its members. Several expos and seminars are held annually, as well as a weekly update e-mailed to members that informs them of current issues facing the city.
“It’s our job to represent businesses and to promote them,” Dodson said. “We’re not just focused on hard core, right wing positions.”
Through the chamber’s marketing, members are able to network and promote their businesses within the organization’s events and publications. The chamber allows members to develop relationships by making contacts, as well as giving and receiving referrals.
Through the chamber’s six annual events — the Westside Business Expo, the Taste of Santa Monica, Health Festival, Education Celebration, the championship golf tournament and the installation dinner — members can showcase their businesses by sponsorships and participation.
It also provides members with educational and informational products to help grow individual businesses through seminars, consultants and forums.
The organization has a $600,000 annual budget and a 35-member board. Individuals are nominated by a committee and then elected by chamber members. There are between five and six past presidents who serve on the board to keep the continuity and historical perspective alive, Dodson said.
“We are so lucky... people on this chamber board care so much,” she said. “They care about this city, and you better be doing things right.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.