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Council approves $30,000 chamber contract and waives up to half of parade service costs
Summary
The City Council approved a $30,000 annual service agreement with the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce to support downtown economic programs. Council also approved waiving up to 50% of city services costs for the 2025 holiday parade; members asked the chamber and staff to clarify budgets and sponsorship plans for cruise nights and parade invoicing.
Santa Paula — The City Council voted to approve a $30,000 service agreement with the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce to support downtown programs, business outreach and city events, and separately agreed to waive up to 50% of city services costs for the 2025 holiday parade.
Tracy Hanna, representing the Chamber, outlined past-year work including business roundtables, mural videos, grand openings and downtown holiday programming. Gloria Martinez, also with the Chamber, described planned 2025–26 priorities: a business-connect program, expanded business roundtables, a management fellow shared with the city/PBID, a downtown self-service visitor kiosk and support for events such as small-business Saturday and cruise nights.
The chamber presented a cost analysis that estimated hard costs for activities at approximately $44,900, with sponsorships and other revenues reducing the net contract gap. Hanna and Martinez said the $30,000 city contribution was intended to offset some of those hard costs and to leverage sponsorships and volunteer support.
Councilmembers asked for clarity on timing and budgeting for cruise nights and parade invoicing; one councilmember noted the chamber had just received invoices for the previous year’s parade that affected budgeting. “We just received the invoices for the 2024 holiday parade,” a chamber representative said; councilmembers encouraged clearer early budgeting and sponsorship development so events do not require backfill later.
Council also approved a separate staff motion to waive up to 50% of city services costs for the 2025 Santa Paula holiday parade.
What’s next: Staff and the chamber will coordinate a follow-up to finalize operational details (leases for downtown space, cruise-night feasibility and scheduling) and report back to council on sponsorship plans and cost-recovery strategies.
