I would like to nominate the "Sebastopol" Chamber of Commerce for the Tone-Deaf Award. The city is in a financial crisis. The direct cause is declining sales tax revenue, and they take the celebration of Sebastopol's finest to Forestville?
I really appreciate that you have a serious concern for the relative effects on sales tax revenue as it relates to the financial crisis our town is facing (I’ve read other comments you’ve made and agree with a lot of them). As Andrea stated, this event had zero impact on that. I think the other thing to consider is that this was a celebration of not only the incredible people that are going above and beyond to generate sales tax revenue for the city by building successful businesses, but also the unprecedented growth in our Chamber of Commerce thanks to the hard work and dedication of Executive Director Myriah Volk. The Chamber’s main function is to support our small business community and meeting that goal is the best way to drive new sales tax dollars into the city coffers. Celebrating those successes publicly gets folks excited about what we have available in our small town, allowed those of us that support those efforts to showcase a small sampling of our products in an effort to further increase sales and hopefully showed our city council that the first step to fixing our financial crisis is to do everything possible to support existing and new small businesses in any way they can. I agree with the reason for your comment but I don’t think this event was a good example to make your point.
First, thank you for sharing your thoughts. To clarify, the venue and food were generously donated for this event, which allowed the Chamber to make it free for the community. Additionally, the Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce serves not just the town of Sebastopol but greater West County as well. Russian River Vineyards, located in Forestville, has been a longtime supporter of both the Chamber and the Apple Blossom Festival.
I would like to nominate the "Sebastopol" Chamber of Commerce for the Tone-Deaf Award. The city is in a financial crisis. The direct cause is declining sales tax revenue, and they take the celebration of Sebastopol's finest to Forestville?
I really appreciate that you have a serious concern for the relative effects on sales tax revenue as it relates to the financial crisis our town is facing (I’ve read other comments you’ve made and agree with a lot of them). As Andrea stated, this event had zero impact on that. I think the other thing to consider is that this was a celebration of not only the incredible people that are going above and beyond to generate sales tax revenue for the city by building successful businesses, but also the unprecedented growth in our Chamber of Commerce thanks to the hard work and dedication of Executive Director Myriah Volk. The Chamber’s main function is to support our small business community and meeting that goal is the best way to drive new sales tax dollars into the city coffers. Celebrating those successes publicly gets folks excited about what we have available in our small town, allowed those of us that support those efforts to showcase a small sampling of our products in an effort to further increase sales and hopefully showed our city council that the first step to fixing our financial crisis is to do everything possible to support existing and new small businesses in any way they can. I agree with the reason for your comment but I don’t think this event was a good example to make your point.
Here are a few facts that you might not know.
First, thank you for sharing your thoughts. To clarify, the venue and food were generously donated for this event, which allowed the Chamber to make it free for the community. Additionally, the Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce serves not just the town of Sebastopol but greater West County as well. Russian River Vineyards, located in Forestville, has been a longtime supporter of both the Chamber and the Apple Blossom Festival.