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Councilman Kaneko questions county-paid Chamber memberships and whether the Chamber is a lobbying organization
Summary
Councilman Kaneko pressed the economic development office on whether the New Castle County Chamber is a lobbying organization and raised concerns about using taxpayer funds for memberships; Jeff Berman described the Chamber as a partner for small-business services, and Councilman Toole said he had an ethics decision on council membership to share.
During the question period of the Dec. 2 New Castle County Economic Development Subcommittee meeting, Councilman Kaneko challenged the county's practice of paying for Chamber memberships and asked whether the New Castle County Chamber should be considered a lobbying organization.
Kaneko said he was uncomfortable with the county using taxpayer money "to pay for organizations or people to join a lobbying organization to take public positions," and said he would look into the legal permissibility. Jeff Berman, director of economic development, replied that he considers the Chamber a "partner in some of the ways that we interact specifically" and highlighted the Chamber's small-business incubator and services that support new businesses. Berman said he was "not familiar" with the Chamber's lobbying component.
Councilman Toole noted he had sought an ethics decision related to council members joining the Chamber as part of the economic development initiative and offered to provide that decision to council. Councilman Carter used his turn to ask whether Grow NCC funds could be used to help small businesses affected by a new school tax distribution; Berman said Grow can support working capital and encouraged council members to refer affected businesses to Grow representatives for consultative review.
No formal action or vote on Chamber funding occurred at the meeting; Kaneko indicated he would pursue legal review and the conversation concluded with staff follow-up offers from economic development.
