-- CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

In the 80's the Provo Chamber of Commerce merged with the Orem Chamber of Commerce. Gary Ashby was the architect of that merger. Since that time, the chamber's membership has declined. And the Chamber's influence on city decisions has waned. What should be the organization that advises the city's economic development decisions, has lost much of its power.

Provo has an Economic Development advisory board. A few local businessmen, chosen by the Mayor, serve on it. I do not know who they are. I do not know when they meet. I do not know what is on their agenda. And I do not know what policies they are following. No mention has been made of them in any public meeting I have attended in 10 years, and no mention is made of them on the city's website.

In 2000, when Lewis Billings was elected, he created 15 citizen committees to examine every city department, to make recommendations for change. The reports from those committees were available to the public upon request. I think I am the only citizen who actually read them.

The report from the committee on Economic Development was particularly intriguing. Leland Gammett spoke about several ongoing commercial development projects that, as far as I could see, were in contradiction to the policies set by the City Council, who are the people responsible for setting policy.

And where is the voice of the business community in all this? Unless the area businesses organize themselves, (as in the case of the Downtown Business Alliance or the East bay Merchants Association), they have no voice.

Provo's Neighborhood Program is an attempt to get people involved at a grass-roots level. The Council has empowered residents of the city to organize, discuss, and act on the issues that impact their specific geographical areas of town. The business community should be empowered the same way, by ordinance.

A grass-roots committee from the business neighborhoods should be formed, established geographically. The East Bay Merchants should have one representative. The Downtown Alliance should have another. As I look at a map, I can see about six or seven other distinct commercial districts that should be designated. A representative from each of these areas, CHOSEN BY THE BUSINESSES, (plus another two from BYU and IHC, the two largest "businesses' in the city) should comprise the Economic Advisory Board to the Mayor, the Economic Development Department, and the City Council.

The City Council has the right, by state law, to form any boards or commissions it deems necessary for good government. It should form this one, and help take back the
power that the Chamber has lost, for the business community of Provo.