Council sends Lompoc Chamber contract back to staff for rework after members question scope, performance and accounting

The City Council on July 15 directed staff to rework a proposed contract with the Longpoc Valley Chamber of Commerce after multiple councilors raised concerns about scope, measurable performance and whether the city’s funding matched the tasks the contract requires.

Council member Steve Bridge presented a redlined version of a contract he said would be executable within the city’s budget and would focus the chamber on economic development tasks rather than duplicating marketing or services performed by other organizations. “I think there’s clauses in here that provide members benefits, and I don’t think that’s the intent,” Bridge said during deliberations.

Council members questioned the chamber’s capacity to deliver services with current staff and volunteer levels and asked for clearer key performance indicators. Bridge asked staff to ensure the contract does not contain items the chamber cannot perform for the proposed $108,000 annual city contribution and requested a requirement that the chamber deliver a clearer, itemized budget and KPIs.

Staff and councilors also discussed the chamber’s building hours and whether the chamber can commit to a minimum open-door schedule; several councilors said the building should be open regularly. Council members suggested some tourism promotion tasks are better handled by other organizations and recommended narrowing the city contract to a distinct set of city-priority deliverables.

Council voted to send the contract back to staff to negotiate revisions and return a draft that aligns scope and measurable outcomes with the city’s funding. The vote on moving the contract revision direction passed (council vote recorded as four in favor, one opposed). Council also discussed requiring the chamber to provide audited or reviewed financials before or in parallel with any new contract, noting staff had not received audited financial statements for recent years.

Staff said they had been negotiating redlines with the chamber and would continue that process; staff also said they will seek the chamber’s detailed budget and itemized expenses as part of the follow-up work. Councilors asked staff to return with a revised agreement that sets clear performance metrics, clarifies which activities the city expects the chamber to perform and identifies whether city seed funding should be conditional on audited financial statements or other compliance steps.