The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce needs a new director and the Board ought not to dilly and dally about it – let’s move on.
A chamber without a director is like a snake without a head, flailing about – alive perhaps – but without the ability to sustain itself or move in a cogent direction.
The business community and the city deserve better.
It doesn’t take a retired rocket scientist to realize that without a leader to take the direction from the Board and run with it, the Chamber will quickly become ineffective. The notion that not hiring a director is a possible “new direction” is cattywampus. Let’s play out the logic: Now that Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Wes Smith has resigned, the Board of Trustees, in their infinite wisdom, decides that the new direction is to not hire a superintendent and manage the affairs of the district themselves. Only the purist of cynics would embrace that “new direction.”
Following the departure of Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christine Giusiana after five years at the helm, it’s clear the Board wants a “new direction.” But there’s no reason to be timid about it. Take the “No Bull BBQ” era by the horns and ride off into a new era.
The 14-member Board should get to work. The first order of business is to define what the new direction should be: What’s the vision? If it takes a facilitator and a Saturday session, so be it.
After getting the vision together, it’s nitty gritty time: What is the Board looking for in a candidate? Structuring the compensation package – we suggest that key aspects of performance be identified and incentivized – is key to future success as well.
The current plan according to Chamber Board of Directors Chair Rich Firato is to have Vice Chair John Horner handle day-to-day operations for three months. That’s a long time to whistle Dixie. There’s quite a level of interest in the job, apparently. Firato noted that Chamber board members were quickly approached by six local residents interested in the job.
That’s all well and good, but Firato rightly identified that the Chamber Board needs to identify what’s next before taking applications.
There should be a sense of urgency in getting the Chamber’s business plan together. Are travel and trade shows important, what about growing membership and collaboration with key community groups? There’s no time like the present to start getting the Morgan Hill Chamber back in shape.
