Imperial council severs contract with chamber
IMPERIAL — The Imperial City Council on Wednesday voted to terminate its service and lease agreement with the Chamber of Commerce, citing a strained relationship and desire to cut expenses.
That strained relationship between chamber management and city staff appears to date back some time. It reached a tipping point with the fallout from the initial and subsequently cancelled chamber-led Andy Ruiz parade proposals, according to several council members’ remarks.
“I’m not happy that we’re moving in this direction, but I feel it is best for our staff and our city,” Councilman Darrell Pechtl said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “We can still exist side by side but not in contractual agreement.”
The agreement’s termination will give the chamber 30 days to vacate the city-owned property it was occupying for free at 101 E. Fourth St. The threeyear agreement spanned from June 1, 2017, to June 30, 2020.
The city was subsidizing the property’s utilities as well and is expected to save about $18,000 this current fiscal year as a result of the severed contract, according to a council agenda report.
The council’s decision came as a disappointment for Susan Paradis, chamber executive director. Yet it also sets into motion previously discussed plans.
“Becoming independent of the city has always been the plan. This just pushes it up a few months,” Paradis said following the council’s 4-0 decision in support of the severed contract. Mayor Robert Amparano had abstained from the vote.
The chamber was the first of its kind to have been established in the Valley, dating back to 1903 and incorporated in 1959.
Prior to occupying the subsidized Fourth Street property, it had been located elsewhere near the city’s downtown in a building that was also largely subsidized by the city, Paradis said.
Cuts to the city’s budget eventually prompted the chamber to relocate from that building to their current location, which the city had offered for its use. The chamber has been growing in membership in recent years and finds itself in good financial standing.
“Our budget for this year includes these changes, and we are looking forward to just moving forward,” Paradis said.
Prior to the council’s vote, chamber board member and local business owner Laura Goodsell implored the council to reconsider its resolution calling for the contract’s termination.
She called the council member’s attention to both parties’ long history of working together for the better of the community and its economic stability and expansion.
“I’m very sad that this might be a time in history when you might decide to not work together,” Goodsell said.
Pechtl had initially proposed that city staff review the three-year contract agreement. In response, the council discussed the matter at its July 17 regular meeting but did not take any action.
During that meeting, Pechtl alluded to the parties’ strained relationship and how it has negatively impacted the city’s staff and image.
“I’m wondering if we want to continue to maintain a financial tie to a group that isn’t really working with us at this time,” Pechtl said during the July 17 meeting.
Councilman Geoff Dale had also expressed dissatisfaction with the parties’ relationship, as well as the negative feedback he had received in regards to the chamber’s proposed plans for a parade celebrating Imperial-native Andy Ruiz’s heavyweight boxing championship win in June.
Those proposed plans included a parade route set exclusively within the Imperial Valley fairgrounds and potentially charging for seating at the grandstand area. The city was ultimately able to organize a parade through its downtown and ending at the high school, where crowds were allowed to gather for free.
A resolution to terminate the agreement then came before the council on Aug. 7, but was tabled until Wednesday to provide an opportunity for one of the absent council members, Karin Eugenio, to vote on the matter.
Prior to casting her vote in support of the resolution on Wednesday, Eugenio indicated that she was feeling conflicted, while acknowledging the parties’ frayed relationship.
“Events happened that made all entities not look great,” Eugenio said. “This is nothing against the board chamber or any of its members; it’s just a conflict of interest.”