Chamber wants city contract renewed Chamber wants city contract renewed (March 25, 2005)

Business group pays $1 per year in rent

By Jon Wiener

The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce is seeking a renewal of its $1-a-year lease with the city.

The lease, which expires next April, allows the chamber to use the building at 580 Castro St. The chamber provides the city, according to the contract, with economic development and visitor information services valued at $42,000 a year.

In 1964, when it was a fledgling coalition of businesses with a full-time staff of two, the chamber erected its current building on a city-owned lot between Pioneer Park and City Hall. The building was slated to revert to city ownership in 1994, but subsequent agreements have extended the original terms.

According to executive director Carol Olson, the chamber's long-term plan is to move to a larger space downtown where it will be more visible and better able to accommodate its now seven-person staff. She added that the type of arrangement the group has with the city is a common one, referring to a survey by the Western Association of Chamber Executives that determined two-thirds of chambers receive some kind of government funding.

"This is not free rent. We provide valuable services, and these services benefit the city," said Olson.

City council members met with city staff behind closed doors earlier this month to set parameters for the negotiations over the lease. The chamber, which makes political endorsements to its members during council races, appears to have enough support on the council to get a renewal of the contract.

But at least one council member has expressed concern over the terms of the lease.

"I don't think we should be having a no-rent contract with a political advocacy group," said Council member Greg Perry.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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