[Vision2020] Moscow Chamber of Commerce Panders to Christ Church

[A Special Thanks to Wayne Fox]

>From today's (October 5, 2004) UI Argonaut -

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Moscow Chamber of Commerce panders to Christ Church
Dear Editor,

President Janice McMillan recently wrote a rosy description of the Moscow 
Chamber of Commerce.

Whitewash.

Chamber director Paul Kimmell has hired five congregants (including his wife) 
from his Christ Church. The odds of that happening legally or fairly are about 
1 in 315 million! In addition, a hugely disproportionate number of chamber 
contracts have gone to Christ Church related businesses. Many of the services 
thus purchased have been substandard.

Such discriminatory hiring and contracting practices rob almost all members of 
the community of opportunity and income. Thus, the perpetrator of such 
practices is little more than a common thief.

Kimmell presented a plagiarized “Leadership of Robert E. Lee” lecture to the 
chamber board including art works depicting battlefield scenes, most glorifying 
the Confederate army with some showing the Confederate Army roundly routing the 
American Army. There were several portraits of Robert E. Lee including a 
snippet from the portrait of Lee, which has hung in a Logos School classroom. 
The presentation included much utterly fulsome praise of Lee and his 
confederate beliefs.

The last slide of the presentation shows the Confederate and American flags 
side by side with the Confederate flag placed first. Many, including patriotic 
veterans, consider this juxtaposition to be traitorous and the presenter close 
to being a traitor himself.

The chamber FYE 2004 financials, prepared under Kimmell’s direction, appear to 
be in error to the extent of about three-fourths of the total asset value of 
the chamber! Other astoundingly elementary but egregious errors appear in these 
documents.

Chamber board members respond to criticisms of the negligent, inept, clueless, 
flimflamming Kimmell by saying he is “nice.”

The chamber should exemplify the best, fairest management practices in the 
community, not the worst. Hence, the chamber board, mindful of where its money 
comes from, should concentrate on saving or rehabilitating the chamber instead 
of saving Kimmell.

Wayne A. Fox
Moscow


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