Flat growth for funding of business groups
Some organizations didn't ask for available money
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
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12:01 a.m. PT Mar 28, 2008
Despite a recent report calling for county government to spend much more cash to spur economic development, Nevada County's general fund money available for business groups remains flat.
Two business groups that could have used the funds are not asking for any. Meanwhile, business mainstays in the area continued to ask for funding from Nevada County - at levels slightly higher than last year.
The Northern Sierra Wine Country Association, which received $29,000 from the Nevada County general fund last year, did not issue a proposal for funds this year, according to association member Phil Starr of Sierra Starr Winery.
"We found out about it late in the game and didn't have time to put together a proper proposal," Starr said.
The Nevada County Grown nonprofit for local farmers, which received $10,000 last year, did not submit a proposal either, said Joe Christoffel, the county's chief fiscal officer.
In the past two years, both groups had been seen as areas of potential new growth for area business and for attracting tourists.
The county's chambers of commerce and the Economic Resource Council both applied for slightly more money than they asked for last year.
It would have been hard for them to get more, Christoffel said.
This year, the county is looking at flat budget growth, with a jaundiced eye toward what the state government's budget crunch might do to its coffers, Christoffel added.
About $202,000 of the general fund is available for the business groups, a figure that won't change much when county supervisors complete the budget in June, said Laura Matteson, the county's assistant executive officer.
At a meeting of the supervisors' budget committee Thursday, the Joint Chambers of Commerce asked for $125,000 in general fund money for 2008-2009 - up from the $115,000 received for the current 2007-2008 fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The joint chambers of Nevada County-Grass Valley, Nevada City, Truckee, Rough and Ready and Penn Valley were represented by Nevada County-Grass Valley Chamber director Mary Ann Mueller.
Mueller said she disagreed with the $50,000 December report from consultant Libby Seifel commissioned by the supervisors. It said the county needed to provide $300,000 in economic funding to attract new business and shift money from attracting tourism. It also suggested giving some of the chambers' tasks to the Economic Resource Council.
"The chambers are over 100 years old," Mueller said, and their expertise is needed to handle requests about tourism and locations for recreation and business opportunities.
Economic Resource Council leader Gil Mathew asked for $85,000 at the same meeting, slightly more than the $75,000 the board gave the council last year.
"We don't want more money until we figure out what to do with it," Mathew said.
A reporter from The Union was denied access into the budget committee meeting Thursday by Matteson. Closing the meeting to the public was justified, because the two committee members - supervisors Ted Owens and Hank Weston - did not constitute a quorum of the five-person board, according to County Counsel Rob Shulman.
The reasoning would have been sound if Owens and Weston had just met with staff, said California Newspaper Publishers Association attorney Jim Ewert. But once Mueller and then Mathew were admitted to offer their pitches, an open meeting was in session, Ewert said.
"If the chambers and others come in, everybody can come in," Ewert said. "They can't have a secret meeting with the chambers."
Though the budget committee meets only in the spring, listing the meeting on the supervisors' Web site makes it a standing committee in his opinion. As such, the board should post notice of the budget committee meetings and consider them public, Ewert said.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
