January 20, 1999

What's going on at the chamber?

Chambers of Commerce, like Teamsters Union locals, are vulnerable to a combination of benign neglect by most of their busy members and takeovers by minority cliques from within. The result, in the case of the Teamsters, has often been disastrous.

Sometimes the only sign of future problems is a quiet announcement of a proposed change in the bylaws. If you are one of the several hundred members of the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce you may have overlooked the notice of proposed revisions that appeared in the last Chamber newsletter.

The old bylaws allowed a member to be expelled by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors at a REGULAR meeting of the Board. The reason for expulsion would be conduct ñunbecoming a member", whatever that might be, or ñprejudicial to the aims or repute of the Chamber."

I'll be darned if I've ever heard just what constitutes conduct unbecoming. I assume it consists of actions disliked by enough board members to get someone railroaded out the door.

Whoever's behind this new change in the bylaws is in so much of a rush to get rid of some member or members they want to push him (or her) out at a SPECIAL meeting. There is a regular Board Meeting once a month. That's not fast enough? Which Chamber member is so bad they've got to call a special meeting to get rid of him?

The second bylaw some people want changed would state "special meetings of the Board of Directors which are called for the purpose of discussing employment or personnel matters shall be closed, private meetings which are not open to the public. (Presumably the public includes most members of the Chamber of Commerce. Presumably only those persons who are members of the board will be allowed to sit in on these star chamber events) In its consideration of employment or personnel matters, the Board of Directors is authorized to consider motions, vote and make such motions in the closed meetings. All discussion regarding employment or personnel matters conducted in closed special meetings is to be held in the strictest of confidence."

I don't know about you, but when I read this gem, I felt a real jolt of paranoia. And just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get me, or perhaps, if you are a member of the Chamber, you.

I intend to show up tomorrow might at Nicks, pay my $22.50 and eat medallions of beef, after which I will vote against these changes in the bylaws. There's already too much secrecy in the Chamber, which is an important PUBLIC organization which should not be hiding its business behind secret meetings.

If like six out of every seven or eight Chamber members, you don't have the time or a spare $22.50 to eat at the annual meeting, come to Nicks anyway and vote your ballot, hopefully against the changes. You don't need to eat. It's important you vote. Frankly, if you disagree with my judgment on this, vote anyway. If 300 members show up and 200 vote for these bylaws, I'll happily accept the results. My concern is if only 40 people show up and 21 push through these undemocratic changes.

Paul Azevedo has been involved with the Chamber in some fashion for a number of years. He ran for the board this year, but was not elected.