Lompoc City Council will continue providing Chamber of Commerce $108,000, allowing it to remain open, after dozens of public commenters urge a change of heart
Rest assured, Lompoc. The Chamber of Commerce isn’t going anywhere.
Following an explosion of outcry from local residents, Lompoc City Council reversed course. Councilmembers unanimously decided to keep providing the chamber $108,00 each year at their June 17 meeting.
In response to council members’ June 3 decision to cut Lompoc’s annual chamber contribution by about 30 percent, 42 different speakers walked up to the podium to protest the cut face-to-face with the council. Men and women of just about every ethnicity from teens to grandparents argued for city council to continue funding the chamber during the 56 minutes of public comment.
2018 Lompoc Valley Woman of the Year Ann McCarty, Allan Hancock College President Kevin Walters, C4 Lompoc Collective Cultures Creating Change Executive Director and Co-Founder Yasmin Dawson-Salim, Pot Mamas Jasmine Gonzalez and Anna Look, True Vine Bible Fellowship Church Pastor James Earl Cray, and Lompoc Theatre Project Executive Director Mark Herrier were just some of the local leaders who spoke up in support.
“The chamber is more than an office. It’s a symbol of connection, a space for innovation, and a partner in our future,” Dawson-Salim said at the podium. “Let us not let short-term decisions create long-term setbacks. Let’s work together to ensure Lompoc is a space where families thrive, children see a future, and businesses are proud to call home.”
1963 Lompoc High School alumnus Kathy Howard and a 2025 Leadership Lompoc Valley alumnus both spoke in support of the chamber. So did Tracy Beard, who came from the Solvang Chamber of Commerce, and a 2013 Leadership Lompoc Valley alumnus, who came from Los Angeles to comment.
The line to speak was so long Mayor Jim Mosby limited commenters to a minute each.
“For those of you guys who haven’t been to a meeting before, it’s not a free-for-all,” he said to the crowd. The meeting got so intense he had to remind first-time audience members not to cheer and boo speakers.
LeAnne Woolever was the only speaker against funding the chamber. Instead, she argued for the money to go to the police and fire departments.
Just two weeks prior, Jeremy Ball was the only council member who voted to continue funding the chamber the same amount of money each year, standing tall against all four other council members who voted for the 30 percent cut.
Although city council will include $108,000 in each annual budget for the chamber of commerce, the chamber will have to meet certain contractual terms that haven’t yet been explicitly defined before it can actually receive the money. The plan is for city council to review the chamber’s contract and performance by Jan. 6, though nothing’s been set in stone yet.
“If the chamber can’t come up with a good answer [to the terms], we’ve already set the [annual $108,000] aside, let’s put it to the murals and do the right thing,” he assured Councilmember Victor Vega, who fought to fund the Mural Society, at the June 17 meeting.
4 hours and 56 minutes into the night, all five council members voted to adopt a biennial budget for fiscal years 2025-27.
Following two hours of passionate debate and a resolution by Councilmember Dirk Starbuck to extend the meeting 30 minutes, Lompoc residents got their wish. The chamber of commerce will not have its funding from city council cut.
“We’re not fat over here on the money,” Vega said. “We’re trying to make things work and be so we’re not in the hole fiscally like some other cities.”
In adopting the new budget, councilmembers removed the Tesla specification for two proposed pool cars, cutting their cost to taxpayers in half: from $124,000 to $62,000.
“Let’s shop local,” Mosby said. “We have three car dealerships in town. I think we can get what we need [without the cars] being Teslas.”
Mosby assured $4.2 million was put aside for sidewalk, asphalt, and pedestrian crossing repair during the two-year cycle. He also added police business cards to the budget.
“We have 57 blocks in this town where the PCI is zero,” Mosby said. “We have to address that or we’re not going to be driving down those.”
*This story was originally published June 26, 2025, at https://www.santamariasun.com/news/lompoc-city-council-will-continue-providing-chamber-of-commerce-108000-allowing-it-to-remain-open-after-dozens-of-public-commenters-urge-a-16625762