January kicked off the new year and a new milestone for the Business and Government relationship here in San Fernando. Our new City Manager Alex Meyerhoff, who has been at the desk of City Manager for less than 6 months, attended both our Chamber board meeting, and the regular meeting of the Government Affairs Committee. Also in attendance at both these functions was Nick Kimball our city Finance Director. At the board meeting they both provided the chamber directors with a comprehensive look at where the city is in regard to a host of different areas, including finances, business development, trash collection, and much more. This meeting was a great step toward capitalizing on the recent growth in our business sector, and building upon that success.

At the government affairs meeting Alex and Nick again recapped the points of their board meeting presentation, but got into the details of next steps with the committee. We discussed the upcoming “Measure A” a ballot measure proposing to make permanent the .5% sales tax initiated several years ago as a emergency fundraising action. Several committee members questioned the need for additional tax, while others were looking for greater efforts in business development to add to the present tax base.  Another outcome from the meeting was the interest in forming a business marketing and promotion “Red Team” of business leaders and key city personal. This team would be charged with working to attract and retain business in town with the goal of keeping our present businesses and achieving “no vacancy” in our business districts. Committee members are reaching out to our membership now to find interested people with the time and talent to commit to growing the vibrant business environment here in San Fernando. If your interested, send an email here to let us know.

Our next Government Affairs and Business Development committee meeting is coming up February 27th, Tuesday Morning. Different day but were flexible, things are busy here in San Fernando.