[Vision2020] Faith and fireworks and the Moscow Chamber

[Darrell Keim]

 Bill and Vision 2020:

A couple of comments added to Bill's well reasoned note.

On 10/15/07, Bill London <london at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>  Like Bruce, I welcome a stronger Chamber of Commerce.  And one of the
> best ways to do that is for the Chamber to become something more than a
> businessman's club.
>

Anyone that wants to help the Chamber in its mission is invited to join us,
and will be considered for one of our sub-committees.  And, as I've already
noted, our Board of Directors is selected via nominations from our
membership.

   After all, the Chamber does get a significant percentage of its operating
> money from the taxpayer through support from city of Moscow, etc.  My main
> complaint is the lack of transparency and open-ness in its decision-making.
>

I'm not sure that I can concur with this.  The city's support (both
financial and otherwise) is crucial to our success.  But, numerically
speaking, I believe they fund less than 10% of our operating budget.

Please don't misinterpret that to mean that we can be closed in our
decision-making process.  It doesn't.  My prior post explained what our
procedures are, and how we operate.  It seems a fairly democratic and fair
structure to me.  If we appear opaque, I suspect people aren't asking our
board or staff questions.


>  The sacking of the previous director (after just a few weeks on the job)
> and the refusal by the Chamber to admit or explain what was going on is the
> most recent example.
> I hope the new director will break open the culture of secrecy at
> the Chamber.
>

I'm surprised you'd bring this up as your example.  Surely you understand
that the Chambers hands were tied on this.  Personel matters can not, and
should not be addressed publicly.  You know better, Bill!

 Keim speaking directly through V2020 is a good start
>

Happy to do so.  I believe knowledge about how our Chamber functions and
what it does are the best way to address questions people may have.  I'm
happy to speak to people that drop by the office, too.

 BL
>   Darrell Keim
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