San Gabriel Chamber of Commerce logo on Facebook (Photo – Design Dept.)
This past year the San Gabriel Chamber of Commerce has tried many different ways to alleviate their financial woes. Unfortunately, they have not been successful, and they are looking at a $78,000 deficit. Executive Director Sandy Rosco is still receiving a $7,500 monthly salary, with an additional $2,000 a month in benefits.
By Cheryl Cabot
Back in March of 2023, the Chamber was selling ads for a “San Gabriel Business Journal.” The Chamber predicted approximately $200,000 in profits would be made from this project. Alexis Salamanca, owner of Ofiso Solutions, and former Chamber Past President suggested a partnership with the Chamber to create the Journal as a way to generate funds.
Business Journal
Only $10,000 in ads were sold, and the project was scratched.
But what happened to the $10,000? This question was raised at the March 23, 2023, meeting.
Joanna Jimenez, President at the time, and now resigned, asked, ”The monies for the Biz Journal, has that been held separately?”
“No, it has not,” Salamanca said.
Devlin Chung, a member (also now resigned) said, “On the $10,000 from the Journal sales, we should partition that as soon as possible, and work only with the remainder that we have. If anything were to happen, say 4 months from now, I am sure we are going to get some knocks on the door. I think we should be proactive and set that aside.
Sandy’s payroll is about $6,000? I think the first action we should take is not give the money back.”
The San Gabriel Business Journal was not published and none of the money was returned.
Membership Dues
Another issue is membership. According to the Chamber website there are 266 members, but as of the March meeting, Shelly Chia, Treasurer, reported, “We are currently at 55 paid members YTD (year-to-date). Approximately $14,000. We should be at 300-400 members to remain viable.”
The Chamber Membership Roster and dues collected are managed by Juli Costanzo, who is not a member of the Chamber. She is an employee of the Hilton Hotel, which is a member. But this begs the question, why is non-member Costanzo in charge of the Member Roster and membership dues?
Shortly before their resignations, President Joanna Jimenez, and Vice President Carina Rivera went to the Hilton and asked Costanza to see the membership roll. Costanza refused to give them the password, so they were unable to check on the membership and dues paid at that time.
As mentioned earlier in regard to the failed San Gabriel Business Journal, Salamanca stated, “There have been several on-going requests to update the member information.”
Request to City
The next attempt to obtain money was a request to the City of San Gabriel for $23,000. It was initially approved, but at the request of Councilmember Denise Menchaca, the request was tabled until a later meeting.
Councilmember Menchaca requested that “All City Monies to the Chamber should cease and not be distributed until the Council deliberates and votes on this Agenda item. City Monies includes any grant funding. I suggest the item be brought back in two to three months so Staff can gather information so we can deliberate and allow the public to also view the material.”
Gala Fundraiser
The most recent attempt to garner funds has also ended in failure. The event advertised as the Chamber’s “First Annual Gala Fundraiser, “Commitment to Community,” was scheduled to be held on September 13, 2023. Tickets were $150 for an individual, Table Sponsor $1,500, Silver Sponsor $5,000, Gold Sponsor $10,000, and Diamond Sponsor $15,000.
There were also “Event Program Opportunities: Back Cover $5,000, Inside Front Cover $3,000, Inside Back Cover $3,000, Full Page $1,000, Half Page $500, Quarter Page $300, and Business Card $100.”
Within the last week the event has been cancelled, with no explanation given.
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