KINGSBURG – The Kingsburg District Chamber of Commerce’s battle with the California Attorney General’s office took on more importance at the last Kingsburg City Council meeting after Mayor Brandon Pursell, Jr. – while sympathizing with Chamber President Reggie Gierke’s inability to make headway with Rob Bonta’s office – nonetheless reminded Gierke that the Chamber has contracts with the city and those contracts must be honored.
“We’re supportive of you,” said Pursell, Jr. at the meeting on Nov. 6, “but we’re going to need you to fulfill those things on the contract.” The mayor made his remarks after Gierke and Chamber Vice President Tammy Dooley gave an update to the Council regarding the Chamber’s ongoing fight with the attorney general concerning the organization’s status as a tax-exempt entity.
“We would not be good stewards of the city’s tax dollars if we didn’t hold you accountable for those things the Chamber has agreed to do,” said Pursell, Jr.
A 102 YEAR-OLD ERROR
As previously reported by the Times, when the Chamber was first formed in 1922, it failed to file certain paperwork with the state that identified it as a tax-exempt organization. This error remained undetected until last September when Chamber board members broached the idea of conducting an audit of the Chamber’s finances. Their accountant, Paul Nelson, informed the members that it would not be a good idea.
Nelson divulged that for the past 13 years, he has been engaged in a letter-writing war with the state regarding the Chamber’s status as a tax-exempt organization. And because the Chamber no longer has its original formation letters, it cannot go forward with rectifying the situation.
Matters came to a head last month following a Chamber meeting when Gierke and Dooley explained to the board the Chamber’s situation. It was decided to shutter the Chamber until it reached an agreement with the attorney general.
On a slightly ominous note, Gierke said that as a result of the Chamber’s travails, he researched tax-exempt organizations and what he discovered is not good.
“Anybody else in the community that has a tax-exempt organization, (I recommend) you go to the (attorney general’s) website because most of the organizations in Kingsburg are in the same boat we are, they just haven’t received the letter yet,” he said. “The information I’m receiving is (there’s) more than 70% of the tax-exempt organizations in the state of California (who) are not in compliance on this.”
But, as Pursell, Jr. and other council members pointed out, the show – or, in this case, shows – must go on; specifically, Julgransfest, which takes place Nov. 29 and the Santa Lucia Celebration, which takes place Dec. 7.
“As you know, we’ve got a couple of events coming up,” said Gierke. “It’s putting us between a rock and a hard place.”
Gierke said another group has agreed to take on Julgransfest and the tree lighting duties. He added that another organization runs the parade portion of the Santa Lucia Celebration. He also said he was confident the problem of having people sign up for the parade will be resolved. (Because the Chamber has ceased all operations, it cannot register parade participants.)
The issue of parade vendors remains problematic.
“When it comes to having vendors, that’s a new level of challenge because we don’t have a way to accept payment,” Gierke said. “We don’t have a way to process things through the health department right now. We don’t have a way to process insurance and all of those things. As of right now, it would probably not have vendors. At least if the Chamber is running it.”
Councilmember Staci Smith said she received a commitment from another organization who said it was willing to “handle Santa Lucia.”
“I’ll see if we can pull that one off,” said Smith. “So that Santa Lucia can look like it always has. That’s the goal.”
She asked Gierke if the speakers the city usually uses for the parade to play music, etc. will be available.
“Are we going to be able to use the speakers downtown?” asked Smith.
“There won’t be anyone to help you with it,” said Gierke.
Councilmember Laura North wanted to remind everyone at the meeting and those who were watching online about the invaluable service the Chamber provides to Kingsburg.
“These people on the Chamber board are some of the hardest working citizens in Kingsburg. Putting on all of these festivals. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours to make Kingsburg, Kingsburg,” said North.
Pursell, Jr. echoed her sentiments.
“Most people don’t see people (Chamber members) out at four in the morning. Most of us just show up, enjoy the event, and go home without realizing all the effort you put into it,” he said.
Gierke said the Chamber is waiting to receive a letter from Bonta’s office regarding its tax-exempt status. He said if Bonta remains firm on saying the Chamber is non-exempt, then the board will follow the advice it received from its lawyer and close the current Chamber and create a new entity.
“We’d just have to close the old one and open the new one and go through that process to have all the paperwork in place,” he said.
He added, “That’s what we want to do. We want to put on festivals and be a chamber of commerce.”
