That's the philosophy shared by many cities and their Chambers of Commerce, and the same could hold true for Saratoga.

The city of Saratoga and the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce have spent the summer trying to develop a better working relationship. Their disputes have become common knowledge in the area over the past several months, and part of the reason for the adverse relationship may be their historically close relationship.

Conflicts between cities and Chambers are rare among Saratoga's nearest neighbors, but they are not unique throughout the state. Conflict can generally be avoided, most say, by a certain degree of separation.

The cities of Cupertino and Campbell and the town of Los Gatos do not ask their Chambers to keep their meetings open, nor do they have council members on their boards—conditions Saratoga is proposing for its Chamber. But the neighboring Chambers also do not rent space from their city or town, as Saratoga's does.

Marty Woodworth, manager of Los Gatos' redevelopment agency, said the town has an agreement with the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce that requires it to be open 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year; maintain a website; produce a town calendar; lead a holiday marketing program; and organize Leadership Los Gatos, all to promote local businesses and the town in general. In exchange, he said, the city pays the Chamber about $100,000 a year.

"I think that's fairly common," Woodworth said of the city's agreement with the Chamber and their relationship. "We try to work as partners."

"It's basically a contract for services," said Greg Stowers, president of the board for the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce. "In lieu of the town staff doing it, we do it."

Stowers said the Chamber tries to work with the city but keep its own identity.

"We've worked really hard to maintain open communication between the two entities," he said. "We've really tried to keep the two organizations separate. The town doesn't ask us to vote one way or another on issues. We try to respect each other, but we acknowledge that we have different interests."

Ken Kawamoto, treasurer of the Campbell Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber has a contract with the city to provide information referral services, in exchange for which the Chamber receives less than $15,000 a year.

"It's been a pretty informal relationship for a long, long time," he said. "It's never been a really hard-core negotiation. We've had a really good relationship with the city."

Jody Hansen, CEO of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber has a contract with Cupertino to produce a business directory and a city map and provide visitor and relocation services, and in exchange receives about $14,000 a year. It also organizes the city's annual art and wine festival and receives in-kind support from the city for that event.

She said she wouldn't advise a relationship between a city and Chamber like the one proposed by the Saratoga council in May.

"That's usually not a good idea," she said. "The California Chamber of Commerce recommends against it. There are just too many conflicts. The Chamber is nonprofit; the city doesn't own them."

Dave Kilby, vice president in charge of local Chambers for the California Chamber of Commerce, verified that.

"We advise Chambers to have a contract for services," he said. "It's probably best for a Chamber not to open itself up to the Brown Act. I always advise that you need to divorce your contractual relationship from a decision on an issue. You have to be true to your members."

Kilby recommends that Chambers invite a council member to be a liaison to the organization. Chambers' bylaws can be written to permit permanent board membership by council members without violating their nonprofit status. He added that, unless a city has it written into a property lease with a Chamber that the Chamber must keep its meetings open, it shouldn't be required.

"So many Chambers have that arrangement, and they're not subject to the Brown Act," he said.

But he said that conflicts between Chambers and cities are common and can come up when they are least expected.

"You can go along for many, many years and then suddenly something will change," he said. "There's going to be something that pops up."

Saratoga Mayor Nick Streit said at the Chamber's open session before its board meeting Aug. 28 that he thinks it's best if the Chamber and city separate and become more autonomous—that could help lead to a better working relationship between them, such that they aren't duplicating efforts, he said. Earlier this summer the Chamber and city learned that, due to a lack of communication, they had been simultaneously performing some of the same tasks at the Celebrate Saratoga! event. The two are trying to come up with a better-coordinated plan for this year's Sept. 21 event.

Streit also told the Saratoga News that he thinks the Chamber could do a better job of marketing itself and what it does for the city. He said he had been surprised to learn that the Chamber spends $100,000 to $120,000 putting on Celebrate Saratoga! each year, money that the Chamber depends on from the crowd and its sale of alcohol and glasses to recoup. He was also surprised to find out that the event actually lasts two weeks and includes promotion by the Chamber for community programs and nonprofits and other events.

"I think there's a huge communication issue between the Chamber and the city and the citizens," Streit said. "The citizens don't realize how many hours it takes and how much it costs to put on Celebrate Saratoga!. There has to be a huge education program. I'm not sure the council can do that. We want the Chamber to communicate to everybody what they're doing. They could do a better job promoting themselves. But this little dispute with them has brought out a lot of good things that the Chamber is doing."

Chamber Executive Director Kristin Davis said the Chamber doesn't like to promote itself because it doesn't want to toot its own horn, but said it might start to do so.

"Yes, we have to do more of that," she said when asked if the Chamber could promote itself better. "It wouldn't occur to me, and I'm always surprised when people say it. I think people don't realize the scope of Celebrate Saratoga! and all the expenses involved. They don't understand how much that costs and the more you commit to, the greater the chance that you're going to have problems."