Friday, July 11, 2008

Is the McKinney Chamber of Commerce PAC a conflict of interest?

By Angie Bado of McKinneyNews.net

After receiving a few emails questioning why the McKinney Chamber of Commerce endorses political candidates, I decided it was a good time to go straight to the source. Why does the Chamber have a Political Action Committee? Why do they endorse candidates or issues? How is the PAC funded?

I sat down with Terri Ricketts, chamber president; Lisa Ferrell, communications and public policy director and the Political Action Committee (PAC) Chair, Robbie Clark, to discuss the function of the PAC committee, which is part of the Chamber of Commerce.

History on PAC

Thoughts of forming a PAC -- which is technically called the Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee Committee to Inform Voters on Business Issues and Candidates (CIVBIC) -- began in December of 2003 with the Chamber Board of Directors convening to discuss its feasibility. The purpose of the committee would be to inform voters on candidates and business issues. The Chamber took a survey of its membership and 71% of the members indicated that they would support efforts by the Chamber to educate, lobby, advocate and influence members and the public on political candidates or issues.

After a laborious research and review period, the Chamber filed an application to create the CIVBIC PAC, which was approved by the Texas Ethics Commission. In September of 2004, the Chamber began soliciting voluntary contributions for the PAC on the annual membership renewal forms. The Chamber Board approved the by-laws in June of 2005 and by November of 2005, the committee was functioning.

Ricketts said the formation of the PAC wasn't something the Chamber glibly proposed and initiated.

"The Chamber carefully considers any actions that would impact its members and the survey was an important part of the decision to form the PAC," Ricketts said. "There is a checks and balances system that we have in place. There must be a quorum present to vote. The PAC is made up of a wide enough cross section of Chamber board members so that the group will reflect the goals of the Chamber."

Why Have a PAC?

The mission of the PAC as stated in the bylaws is to "empower our members to achieve economic success." Their purpose is to determine which candidates and issues best support the goals of the Chamber as a whole and to support candidates and issues that support a healthy economy, favorable business climate and high quality of life.

"Our primary objective is to support the business community," Clark said "and decisions of the board to support a candidate or an issue are based on how things will benefit our business community as a whole."

Issues such as the local beer and wine referendum (2004) and the bond initiative for McKinney Independent School District (Oct. 2005) were on the horizon.

Several voices in the community have questioned the legitimacy of the PAC, questioned the Chamber's taking an active role in endorsing political candidates. Clark isn't surprised.

"Change can be difficult and sometimes the perception is that change from the status quo is bad," Clark said.

But things have drastically changed in McKinney, particularly in the last five years. Clark, who has been a member of the McKinney business community for more than 20 years, remembers a time when business owners in town knew each other and communicated frequently.

"It was easy to pick up the phone and call another business owner and talk about how a candidate's views or an issue would affect the business community," Clark said.

With the enormous growth, the ability to communicate effectively and address the wide variety of issues that businesses and our community has become increasingly difficult. Chamber records show 800 business members in 1999 , 922 members in 2003 and 1065 members today and Clark made it clear that 50% of the businesses that have joined the Chamber in the last five years are new to McKinney. (Population statistics from the Chamber: 1999 - 44,000, 2003 - 76,907; July 2008, 120,978.

Communications Director Ferrell, added, "This (the PAC) is a collective voice to represent businesses and encourages people to be engaged."

For example, Ferrell explained that people can become more engaged in the political process by attending the candidate forums that are sponsored by the Chamber. The PAC educates the public on issues, and can lobby and be an advocate for the local business community, particularly when political changes that would have a negative impact on the McKinney business community are on the horizon.

The Process of Candidate Endorsement

The PAC mails identical applications/questionaires along with letters explaining the endorsement process to all candidates in city, country, school and state races. The candidates who choose to do so, fill out and return the application and questionaire. While it's not mandatory, candidates may ask for funding and an endorsement.

The CIVBIC Board reviews the applications to determine which candidates most closely align with the pro-business policies of the Chamber. The Board may hold an interview with each applicant if deemed necessary.

The Board may then determine whether to endorse or give funds to a candidate. If the Board chooses to do so, a press release will follow.

Funding

The CIVBIC PAC receives no corporate funding. However, there is a corporate membership.

Out of the $2.5 million Chamber budget, the city of McKinney allots the Chamber $80,000 which is specified to fund the Business Retention & Expansion Program (BREP). BREP's focus is to retain businesses in McKinney while expanding those businesses by at least two employees. The funding by the city pays for the salary and overhead of the BREP program and cannot be used to fund any other Chamber committee such as the PAC.

The CIVBIC PAC is funded through optional donations by Chamber members and through the Cash for Candidates program at each Chamber meeting and event.

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