INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The question of whether or not the one-year-old Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce will get a seat at the table when the county’s economic development plans and strategies are discussed was not answered by the Board of County Commissioners.
Chamber Chairman Dan Stump, a Vero Beach attorney and Central Beach resident, approached the Board a second time Tuesday about designating a seat for the Vero Chamber, as the Indian River County Chamber and the Sebastian River Chamber are both represented on the Economic Development Commission.
“We would also like to participate and attend the meetings and offer some advice for the benefit of the whole county,” Stump said.
Stump said the Vero Chamber now has 107 members, 45 percent of whom have already renewed their membership for a second year.
County Attorney Dylan Reingold outlined the process in the county code related to adding members to the EDC, should the Board want to approve the request.
The Indian River Chamber of Commerce receives funding annually from the Board of County Commissioners to conduct economic development activities, so the matter of giving the upstart Vero Chamber is a politically charged issue.
Leaders of the Vero Chamber have criticized the Indian River Chamber for being ineffective with regard to economic development and tourism, and for spending too much on overhead and salaries.
The Vero Chamber has vowed not to take any government dollars, relying instead on member dues and fund-raising activities. Last year when the new Vero Chamber was formed, a bit of a turf war ensued, with the Indian River County Chamber urging its members and supporters not to join the new Vero Chamber.
It appeared that there were three votes against the move, should the vote go forward. Commissioners Peter O’Bryan and Bob Solari expressed concern about making the 22-member board even more unwieldy and overloading it with Chamber representation.
“I don’t know actually why where every member of the community would be a member, seems to me with two chambers already being represented that the chambers are well-represented,” Solari said. “If they want to offer advice they are free to go to the meetings.”
Stump pointed out that the countywide and Sebastian chambers do not exclusively represent the City of Vero Beach.
Responding to that comment, Commissioner Joe Flescher expressed different concerns, saying that the new Vero Chamber had not quite proven itself as the chosen Chamber of the City of Vero Beach. Flescher said he would need to see a more solid track record before he could give the Vero Chamber that equal footing on the EDC.
O’Bryan agreed with Flescher, “The City of Vero Beach should designate this member as their official tourism partner.”
It was then clarified that Stump had requested a seat on the EDC, not the Tourist Development Commission, which is referred to by the acronym TDC.
Stump pointed out the Vero Chamber’s upcoming plans for Vero’s first Fourth of July Parade, a Pirate Festival to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the sinking of the 1715 Spanish Fleet, and coming up on March 5, a visit from the Columbus Foundation’s Nina and Pinta replica ships.
Chairman Wesley Davis and Commissioner Tim Zorc spoke in favor of giving the Vero Chamber representation. Zorc made a motion to approve Stump’s request, and Davis seconded it for discussion.
Davis said he anticipated someday possibly a Fellsmere Chamber of Commerce emerging, and Fellsmere being a large and important part of his District 1 territory, he would want that group recognized as well.
There were also concerns raised about voting on the item during the public input section of the agenda.
Zorc ultimately pulled his motion. But he told Stump and his colleagues on the commission he would go back and research the process by which the Sebastian River Area Chamber was added and bring back a proposal for the Board at a later meeting.
“I’ll go back and see whether or not the Commission required anything from the Sebastian City Council at the time, or exactly what was done,” Zorc said after the meeting.
