Local News in Brief : Lawndale Chamber Won’t Get $70,000

The Lawndale City Council has withdrawn the $70,000 it was expected to give the city’s Chamber of Commerce, leaving officials of that organization wondering how long it can survive. The money is nearly two-thirds of the chamber’s $110,000 budget for 1988-89, officials said.

Chamber Director Jerry Enis said the chamber can survive the loss of the $70,000 “for a while,” but said the fate of its November Miss Lawndale Pageant is in doubt.

During a turbulent 6 1/2-hour meeting, the council voted 3 to 2 to eliminate city financial support for the chamber.

Councilmen Harold E. Hofmann, who voted with the majority, complained that he has repeatedly been rebuffed by the chamber in requests to see the organization’s complete budget. “I’m not going to support anything (for the chamber) until I get a budget,” he said.

Chamber officials have given the council a detailed accounting of expenses for four community events they put on under a $25,000 city contract, but they contend that their general operating budget is none of the council’s business.