Saratoga News
News
Large group of nominees for Chamber board posts
By Chris Vongsarath
After this year's Celebrate Saratoga!, which attracted an estimated crowd of 30,000 and its share of problems, the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce is looking to its new board of directors for changes, and maybe new options for an event next year.
Nominations for a new board have been taken, and members of the Chamber will put it to a vote in the coming weeks.
"The nominations are going pretty good right now. We have about 20 names, which is more than we've had the last two years," said Chamber president Chris Oakes. "We need to build our board up to 15 to 20 members."
The Chamber, which organizes Celebrate Saratoga!, came under some fire when reports of fights and accidents emerged, including a 16-year-old-girl being hit by a car on Highway 9. Since then, the city council has instructed the Chamber to consider serious changes to the annual outdoor party.
"We're looking into other options. We're going to get input from the citizens, the council and the city," Oakes said.
At an Oct. 17 city council meeting, Councilman Chuck Page, the Chamber's city liaison, praised the Chamber's cooperation with the council and its aggressive efforts toward making the necessary changes.
Also at that meeting, Vice Mayor Ann Waltonsmith proposed the Chamber think about merging with chambers in other cities.
"Begin to think outside the box and come up with something different," she said. "And if you cannot generate that same kind of revenue, then think about merging and do it while there's still time and some wiggle room."
Waltonsmith said the Chamber currently does not have enough members to operate as an organization and provide the needed benefits to Saratoga's businesses.
"I believe in the concept of the Chamber," she said. "But I don't believe there needs to be a stand-alone Saratoga Chamber unless it was representing a huge majority of our businesses. We want a Chamber to have enough bandwidth to be promoting and supporting the businesses rather than itself."
The concept of Celebrate Saratoga! has also been lost throughout the years, as businesses no longer are benefiting from the event, Waltonsmith said.
Celebrate Saratoga! brings in about half of the Chamber's annual revenue, and changes to the event may hurt the bottom line. But Oakes is confident about the financial state of the Chamber and said it has not even brought up discussion on merging.
"We're trying to keep Saratoga alive. We've been here for 86 years and we don't plan on closing our doors," she said. "We're in the business of building the Chamber and helping the community."
Oakes admits the Chamber was struggling financially two years ago, but has since pulled out of it.
