WHY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NO LONGER ASKS THE CITY FOR MONEY

Here’s a look back at a long-running story that Key West The Newspaper covered as “News of the Weird” back in 1995 and 1996.

The Key West Chamber of Commerce has always been considered a valued asset to the community and, for years, routinely asked for and received city funds to help finance various Chamber projects. In addition, the Chamber had a super-sweetheart deal on rent for a large city-owned building on Mallory Square– $10 a year for 10 years! But, during the early 1990s, some city commissioners– namely Joe Pais and Harry Bethel– began to question why the Chamber repeatedly returned to the commission to ask for taxpayer money to fund Chamber projects– when the Chamber reportedly had more than enough funds to pay for these projects.

The issue came to a head in September 1995 when Chamber officials appeared before the commission to ask for $26,000 to pay greeters to be at the dock when cruise ships pulled in. Pais and Bethel opposed the expense. But Interim Mayor Tom Sawyer defended the request. “Surveys show that cruise ship passengers who who leave the city with good impressions of the city might return.” Sawyer was on the board of the Chamber. “Maybe,” said Pais. “But this is a Chamber project– and the Chamber has the money to pay for it.” “If the Chamber wants it, let them pay for it,” Bethel added. Pais also asked the city manager to demand a full audit of Chamber finances– and Commissioners Bethel, Percy Curry and Sally Lewis supported that request.

Chamber officials appeared to be shocked and offended and responded to questions from the press by saying, in essence, that it would be a cold day in hell before they would turn over any of their financial records. The president of the Chamber argued, “The Chamber is a private, not-for-profit organization. Financial information was not requested when we got our lease and there is nothing that requires us to provide that information.” So there!

“I wonder what the Chamber has to hide,” asked Commissioner Bethel. Good question. He also noted that since the city was a paid member of the Chamber, the city should have immediate access to the finances without any hassle.

Chamber officials also pointed out that, in any event, they had yet to receive any kind of formal request from the city manager. So, then-City Manager Felix Cooper immediately sent a fax to Chamber Executive Director Virginia Panico on October 16, 1995, asking for a copy of the Chamber’s operating budget. There was no immediate response from the Chamber, although officials told the press that the matter would be on the agenda for the next board meeting.

At the city commission meeting on November 7, Acting City Attorney Diane Covan told the mayor and commissioners that, in her opinion, the Chamber records were subject to the state Public Records Act and, therefore, the Chamber had to make those records public.

Here at KWTN, we had already sent a certified letter to the Chamber asking for selected financial records, citing the Public Records Act. We received a letter from Attorney David Paul Horan, representing the Chamber, saying in essence, “Don’t hold your breath. We do not agree that our records are subject to the Public Records Act.”

Finally, the Chamber did respond to the city’s request for an operating budget– with a half-page balance sheet. City officials immediately called that response “inadequate.” Commissioner Bethel asked, “Why are they continuing to stonewall?” Why indeed?

But cracks soon started to appear in the Chamber’s stonewall. Key West The Newspaper received a copy of the Chamber’s operating budget for 1993 from an anonymous source and we published it. Then we retained former Miami Beach City Attorney Attorney Lawrence Feingold to represent the newspaper in our public records request. Feingold also threatened a class action suit, representing members of the Chamber. Actually, we didn’t really retain Feingold. He was willing to work pro bono because, he said, the case was a “no brainer.” Attorney Horan pretended to be offended by Feingold’s “no brainer” remark– but not long after that, Horan and Chamber officials completely capitulated and announced that members of the Chamber could look at the financial records. Duh!

Not long after the Chamber’s surrender, we were able to publish more details about the Chamber’s no-longer-secret finances.

Let me emphasize here that I respect the work of the Chamber of Commerce. In fact, back in another life, I was an active member of a Chamber of Commerce in another city. Rotary Club, too. (Please do not judge me too harshly for my early establishment leanings.) Yes, the story you’re reading now pokes fun at the bizarre position Chamber officials took back in 1995 and 1996– that Chamber of Commerce financial records were secret and not even rank-and-file members were allowed to see those records without special permission. That downright ridiculous position deserves a little fun-poking.

In the end, what was the significance of this long-running flap? First of all, the Chamber never again came back to the city commission looking for money. Also, when the Chamber’s sweetheart lease expired, city officials refused to renew it and, somehow, the Chamber found the money to move to another location and pay real rent.

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Dennis Reeves Cooper founded Key West The Newspaper in 1994 and was editor and publisher until he retired last year.