Editorial: Let a unified Chamber lead the way

 The Christmas spirit is alive in Clarendon with special programs and opportunities at every turn. Several organizations are doing their part to make this season brighter for those less fortunate, and local businesses are working hard to provide fun activities for local families while encouraging them to shop at home.

This holiday season there is reason to be optimistic about Clarendon and Donley County. If you look, you can see signs of progress and hints of good things to come. We have a city council that is working together in a positive manner; and while there may be an occasional disagreement on a particular issue, they seem to be unanimous in wanting to move our city forward.

We see signs of increased business activity in our community, and a report from the state comptroller that will be printed next week will show another month of dramatically increased sales tax revenues for Clarendon. We have welcomed new businesses to Kearney Street where, again, we see signs of improvement, most notably with the Mulkey Theatre lighting the way.

But one area that we still need to improve on is working together in our business community by furthering the revitalization of the Chamber of Commerce.

It is exciting to see a new event – the Clarendon Christmas Bazaar – being held this weekend, sponsored by the Chamber and organized by some of its newest board members. And it is exciting also to see the return of Late Night Shopping in downtown. These are great opportunities for local citizens and local businesses. But in your editor’s observation, coordination of the two events has been something of a problem because we have the Chamber doing one and the Merchants Association doing the other and sometimes there has been something lost in the communication between the two groups.

Which brings up the question of why do we have two groups that really should have the same goal? That goal, of course, being the promotion and fostering of commerce in our city. It would be for the good of the entire community for there to be one organization that all businesses could join and have everyone rowing in the same direction.

The logical outlet for such a movement would the Chamber of Commerce, but for such an idea to be successful though, the Chamber needs to further the revitalization it has been experiencing. This column has in the past called for certain reforms to be adopted by the Chamber, and some have been implemented. But for us to really get on the road to progress more needs to be done.

In addition to restructuring the Chamber’s member benefits and dues structures, the primary reform needs to be to the Chamber board itself. This is not to slight any current board member, but we need the dues-paying members of the Chamber to take a stake in the organization and get more involved with its leadership. The organization has not had a full board for more than a year, and board members are only supposed to serve three years before stepping aside.

The Chamber has been fortunate to attract some energetic new members, but again more people need to get involved in the process. The most needed reform is that we need to have an actual election of board members. The Chamber, this month, needs to put forth a slate of board nominees (which can include current board members), accept other nominations from its members, and then mail ballots to the members or hold a general membership meeting. Once the new board is elected, officers should be elected from the board.

In this way the Chamber will best represent its members, and a member-driven organization led by local business people can effectively lead efforts to promote commerce in Clarendon and Donley County.

A wise man, the late Dr. Charles Deyhle, told your editor more than once that there is nothing that people of Clarendon cannot accomplish if they would work together, and he’s right. So too it is with our businesses if they worked together toward common goals under the unified umbrella of a reformed Chamber of Commerce. We all want the same thing – a vibrant downtown, successful businesses across our community, and growth for Donley County. Let’s join together to make those goals reality.