The Santa Monica Chamber’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to oppose the Residents’ Initiative to Fight Traffic (RIFT), based on numerous concerns, including it’s potential negative effect on our ability to secure mass transit funding, generate essential workforce housing and deliver high quality healthcare. It also jeopardizes the future vitality of downtown, the lengthy LUCE planning process, our pioneer green programs and Santa Monica’s place as a premiere tourist destination.

The Chamber supports the Bayside Property-Based Assessment District project. Businesses within all zones will benefit from the marketing and increased cleaning and outreach services provided by the new funding and we believe it will have a positive impact on sustaining the vitality of our downtown area in the future.

The Santa Monica Chamber lobbied successfully for City funding to create an ongoing, multi-faceted marketing campaign that includes positive, no-smoking messages in a variety of languages and training for the employees now expected to enforce the changes to the no-smoking law.

Traffic congestion adversely affects the businesses and residents of Santa Monica and is getting worse each year. We support fully funding Phase II of the Exposition Light Rail Line from Culver City to Santa Monica, building the “Subway to the Sea” and working regionally to find alternative solutions.

80% of Santa Monica’s workforce lives outside the city. We need additional, affordable housing options for our commuting workforce, especially for first responders, teachers, nurses and non-profit workers.

The Chamber supports development of workforce housing along our transit corridors, the protection of our auto dealers and hospitals, and additional, planned office growth.

There are more than 2,500 homeless residents living in Santa Monica and at least 10% of these are veterans. We support increased funding to provide regional solutions, especially housing connected to intensive services for homeless veterans. Specifically, locating supportive housing on the West Los Angeles VA campus would provide a solution for 300-500 veterans.

We support legislation that would provide incentives for businesses and developers to make their operations, especially new construction; energy and resource efficient.

The Santa Monica Chamber partners with local schools to connect the business and education communities, through mentorships, internships and youth job fairs. We support increased funding for California’s schools, including career pathway instruction, internship and mentorship programs. We must invest in training our future “green workforce” today.

We support healthcare reform in which all stakeholders, including government, providers, health care organizations, insurers, health plans, employees, individuals and employers contribute their fair share of the financing needed to provide coverage for all Californians. We believe that no solution should place an unfair burden on one group and oppose the creation of a single-payer, government run, universal healthcare system.

More than 400 local business, community and city leaders gathered at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel for the Chamber’s first State of the City luncheon. A panel of city and chamber leaders discussed what Santa Monica business owners and residents can expect in 2008, including economic and tourism trends, the revitalization of downtown and this year’s Chamber advocacy goals. Special guest Senator Dianne Feinstein also addressed the group, discussing current environmental legislation and economic concerns for the state. The panelists reviewed economic impacts of future downtown construction projects (Santa Monica Place Mall, CA Incline, Pier), transit improvements (Expo line) and workforce housing.

The Santa Monica Chamber joined business leaders from across Southern California in 2007 and 2008 on the Access D.C. legislative advocacy trips. Mayor Herb Katz, Council members Richard Bloom and Pam O’Connor, Chamber Chairs Tom Larmore and John Bohn and other leaders descend on the nation’s capital to advocate on a variety of issues important to California’s businesses, including transportation, energy and water infrastructure; small business assistance and homeless program funding. Chamber members also visited state legislators in Sacramento.

Monitors local, state and national business-related policies and recommends positions to the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors on issues impacting the business community and general membership. This committee also regularly hears from state and local officials on business-related issues and helps companies negotiate issues related to doing business in Santa Monica.

The Santa Monica Chamber joined 43 other business organizations from across Los Angeles County to launch the Los Angeles Business Federation, representing more than 70,000 businesses and 1 million employees. The group announced three top advocacy priorities: reducing traffic congestion, curbing gang violence and supporting quality local schools. Traffic congestion consistently ranks as one of the top issues affecting Santa Monica businesses. A key component of the Business Federation is its website www.bizfed.org and online advocacy tools. All Santa Monica Chamber members are automatically members of the new Business Federation and will receive access to important information on issues affecting the local business community.

The Santa Monica Chamber’s advocacy efforts are funded, in major part, by the new Business Roundtable. We would like to thank the following founding members of the Business Roundtable , created in 2006 to increase communication between Santa Monica’s business community and the City. Thank you for your support!