By JACOB LOPEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
A City of San Benito proposal to budget $25,000 to the San Benito Chamber of Commerce is designed to reestablishing the now-dormant entity.
“We want to reinstate an active Chamber of Commerce in San Benito,” said Mayor Celeste Sanchez on Tuesday.
The Chamber has been defunct for several years, although reports somewhat conflict with regard to a determining factor. A general consensus among officials and those associated with the Chamber has long been that it slowly dissolved over time as membership and participation declined throughout the years. Contributing to its dormancy, many believe, was monies owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
“There are some penalties that are due, (but) I don’t believe that there are taxes – it’s penalties for not having filed that are due to the IRS,” Sanchez said.
Currently, the City is in talks with a group of merchants whose goal is to revitalize the Chamber.
“We are negotiating with the group that might start the Chamber, so that we can contract with them,” the mayor said.
The group Sanchez is referring to is the San Benito Area Business Owners Association, which is comprised of local business owners who have expressed interest in functioning in a similar capacity as the Chamber.
The SBABOA, which formed earlier this year, is currently awaiting its 50(c)6 nonprofit status from the IRS but has not remained inactive as a result. Specifically, the SBABOA has since announced a mission to make San Benito a “go-to” city for all things health and fitness. In fact, the Association organized an event focused on such a theme entitled, “I’m Losing It” Health Expo, which SBABOA volunteers have since deemed a success.
“Either we contract with them to operate an active Chamber or we join the Chamber with a membership fee so that we can have an active Chamber – we still have not worked out the specifics,” Sanchez said, further noting that once the City’s budget is approved, and if the Chamber proposal gets an OK from the San Benito City Commission, then talks may move forward immediately.
City Manager Manuel Lara said funds have already been budgeted for the Chamber and await a decision on the SBABOA’s operational aspects.
“They’re working with the mayor,” says Lara of the SBABOA. “I know the mayor is still working on getting details as to how they are proposing to operate.”
Lara added, “We would like to have a San Benito Chamber of Commerce, there’s no question about it. A Chamber is very important for any city. They play a very important role because they help establish relationships with all the businesses in the community, and they get to re-introduce the services that each business … provides. Their job is to retain them (and) keep them happy.”
Lionel Betancourt, president of the San Benito Area Business Owners Association, said Tuesday that it was “premature” to offer a “formal statement” on the matter. However, Betancourt did speak candidly on other details associated with the proposal.
“There’s not been … a consensus amongst the commissioners as to what to do even,” Betancourt stressed. “We do know that … the City cannot enter into a funding profile, if you will, of the Chamber of Commerce. It’s not allowed by the City charter. They can enter into a contract with a group who would want to be the Chamber of Commerce, and that’s kind of where we are right now.”
“And the content of the contract,” Betancourt continued, “is the part that would really need to be completely clarified before any statements could be made about anything, really.”
Lara reminded that although the Chamber is an organization independent of the City, it has also worked in conjunction with the municipality in the past and foresees the City’s possible membership.
Commissioners were expected to decide on appropriating $25,000 to the Chamber during a regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 16.
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