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October 3, 2005

Californian: Southwest Riverside County Business Community Feels Increased Clout At State Meeting
 

By Chris Bagley, Californian Staff Writer

An annual meeting with state officials Friday morning showcased the growing clout of Southwest County's business community and pointed toward a larger role for the lobbying group it formed earlier this year, participants said.

This year's "legislative summit" was nearly twice as large as the first such gathering, in 2003, organized by the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce, which organized a similar gathering last year.

What's more, participants said, Assembly members and legislative aides have grown more attuned to their interests. For more than an hour, local workers and business leaders and a moderator put questions to two local elected officials and a pair of state education officials. In front of a crowd of 240 sat five panelists ---- Assemblyman John Benoit, state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, Pechanga Development Corp. vice president Anthony Miranda, Deputy Secretary of Education Scott Himmelstein and Lou Monville, a governor of the state's community college system.

Much of the discussion Friday morning centered on funding for local schools. Business owners and the leader of a teachers group told the panelists that public schools in suburban areas don't get as much funding as urban schools.

"(Legislators) no longer just sit there and pontificate," Kim Joseph Cousins, chief executive of the Lake Elsinore Chamber of Commerce, said Friday. "They have to respond to the questions. They know they're being held accountable."

This year's meeting comes several months after the birth of the Southwest California Legislative Council, which represents chambers in Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula. The organization has one paid staff member who spends one day in the area.

But the council's 15-member board also comes together at least once a month to take positions on legislative issues, from workers compensation to Southwest County's highway interchanges. Each of the three chambers sends five board members.

Joan Sparkman, a board member who represents the Temecula chamber and Temecula Valley Bank, said she was more satisfied with legislators' responses Friday than in the past. She believes the Legislature pays too much attention to abstract social issues instead of bread-and-butter needs like roads and schools. A key concern for her is the Highway 91 link that commuters take to Orange County.

"You could've filled the corridor three times over with what they spent on the studies," Sparkman said.

And the California Chamber of Commerce hasn't always addressed such local needs either, board members said.

The three local chambers discussed such problems in government-affairs committees, but couldn't flex enough muscle in Sacramento, board members said.

After the business group takes a position on an issue, its political consultant drafts a letter explaining the issue and posts it on the group's Web site. A business owner or local resident can take that draft, modify it to represent his or her own views more exactly, and send it on to legislators or other state officials in Sacramento.

"I think they're more aware of what's going on down here," said Gene Wunderlich, the council's chairman, who represents the Murrieta chamber and a Coldwell Banker real-estate agency.

It isn't clear how much effect the letters have had so far. Shaun Lumachi, the council's political consultant, said the council has sent fewer than 300 of them. But he believes that number can grow.

After all, he said, it takes a little effort to get chamber members and small-business owners involved in state politics.

The difference between the business-advocacy group and the three chambers it represents may have become clear Friday for Debbie Garcia and Beverly Brown. They drove up from Newport Beach to drum up business for a new office that their company, Bright Now! Dental Inc., is opening on Highway 79 South in December. They hoped to convince business owners to include them in employee dental plans. But the 240 conferees disbanded at 10 a.m. after the two-hour exchange with the legislators without much of a chance to mingle.

That's typical of the legislative council's meetings, Lumachi said, even if it's not typical for chambers of commerce.

"Chambers are networking organizations," Lumachi said. "The front page of their newsletters for their entire history has been the golf tournament."

Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.

About the 2005 Southwest California Legislative Summit

The 2005 Southwest California Legislative Summit titled “Charting a Course for California’s Success” will be the voice of business at a local level. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from experts on each of such topics as State Budget, Education, Insurance, Indian Gaming as well as Energy and Transportation.

The moderator of this year’s event will be syndicated columnist

Dan Walters with the Sacramento Bee.

Issue areas and panelists will include:

Budget: California State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth

Education: California Community College District,
Board of Governors member Lou Monville; California Deputy Secretary of Education, Scott Himelstein

Energy: Assembly member Russ Bogh

Insurance: California State Insurance Commissioner
John Garamendi

Indian Gaming: First Vice President, Pechanga
Development Corporation Anthony Miranda

Moderator: Sacramento Bee Syndicated Columnist Dan Walters
Transportation: Assembly Member John Benoit

Reasons to Attend:

- Get involved, it’s your business at stake.
- Take an active role in the legislative process to
protect the future success of your business.
- Exchange views with influential legislators and
your peers.
- Build a strong relationship between legislators
and employers.
- Key topics give you the latest information on
issues affecting your business.
- Assist the State in becoming more business
friendly.
 

The event will be held at Pechanga Resort & Casino

Friday, September 30, 2005 from 7:30am-10:30am $35 per attendee includes breakfast.

The Title Sponsor of the event is Guidant Corporation, Speaker Sponsor, The Gas Company, Associate Sponsors, Metropolitan Water District, Murrieta Temecula Group, Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors, Program Sponsor, Southern California Edison and Corporate Sponsor, Economic Development Corporation of SWRC.

The 2005 Legislative Summit is coordinated through a cooperative effort between the Temecula Valley, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore Chambers of Commerce through the Southwest California Legislative Council.