Hired to Create Jobs, He Loses His

The sad saga of Oceanside’s financial problems continues.

This time, the man hired just six months ago to help create jobs has lost his own.

Michael Ryan, recruited in May after a nationwide search to lead the local Chamber of Commerce out of its economic doldrums, says he is the latest victim of a flood of budgetary bad news in Oceanside that refuses to recede.

“It’s this damned recession. And now I’m out of a job,” said Michael Ryan, 38, the chief executive and fifth employee to be laid off from the chamber in as many months.

For Ryan, who earlier this year left a job heading the Chamber of Commerce in Lakewood, near Long Beach, his tenure in Oceanside was rocky from Day One.

“The first day I took the job, I had to lay off two workers,” said the Fallbrook resident, whose last day is Friday. “And it went downhill from there. Finally, the old budgetary ax landed on my own neck.”

The livelihood of the chamber, which promotes the community and receives some funding from city government, depends primarily on the health of its business members--who pay up to $750 a year to keep it afloat.

The recession has seen many businesses close doors in Oceanside and chamber officials say some firms have struggled to meet their monthly dues. The number of dues-paying members has dropped from 800 to about 760 in the last few months alone, they say.

“The types of businesses struggling in this town run the gamut from big to small, new to old,” said Werner von Gundell, president of the Oceanside chamber and a local land development consultant.

“Many of my own clients--and that includes some pretty big local developers--tell me that three years ago they were able to buy that new Mercedes out of petty cash. And now this year, they can’t write a $200 check for their monthly chamber fees without being afraid that it’s going to bounce.”

Reading the writing on the wall, Ryan offered his resignation during the chamber’s last executive committee meeting earlier this month, an offer that was refused by the board.

“But just two weeks later, we had to take the unfortunate step to lay Mike Ryan off,” Von Gundell said. “The chamber dues just weren’t coming in like we’d hoped. Businesses are disconnecting their telephones and going out of business.

“The sad, simple news is that the recession is doing well. And it’s particularly strong in Oceanside.”

For a city still reeling from self-inflicted economic surgery, lopping off one financially ailing civic limb after another, the chamber’s illness couldn’t have come at a worse time.

In the past two years alone, the city has cut $10 million--or about 20%--from its own operating budget and officials are waiting for more bad news when state government finally issues a new budget.

Last week, Oceanside officials issued a plea for volunteers to do some jobs it can no longer pay staffers to perform. And recently, a private security force has been added to beef up police patrols in the city’s downtown.

City funding of the Chamber of Commerce has also suffered, plummeting from $267,000 just two years ago to the $30,000 budgeted for the current fiscal year.

The recent chamber downturn, officials say, is par for the course in Oceanside.

“Actually, the chamber has been so severely scaled back of late, some of the things it once performed--such as economic development--are now being left up to the city. Now we’re trying to take on that role,” said Larry Bauman, the city of Oceanside’s public information director.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s the worst time to take on new responsibilities, but we’re trying to find a way to make it happen,” he said.

Ryan said his layoff shows how limp the Oceanside economy has become.

“It shows just how destitute things are here,” he said. “This city suffered a double whammy. First, it lost all those local Marines being sent off to the Gulf conflict. Then the recession hit. Wow.”

Ryan took a $6,000 pay cut from his $48,000-a-year Lakewood job to come to Oceanside. Then things got worse.

Within two weeks of his arrival, the city cut its funding to the chamber for economic and tourism development. So he laid off two more workers. Then another quit.

Ryan was down to a staff of three, including himself. Still, the chamber couldn’t make ends meet.

“We had good, decent businessmen and women telling us they had to pay their telephone bill before they could pay their chamber dues,” he said. “It was getting ugly.”

Yet Ryan says there’s still hope for Oceanside.

“This city is the butt of everybody’s jokes,” he said. “It’s a Marine town, hookers on every block. What’s so strange is that this town has such unlimited potential. You’ve got the best beach in Southern California, affordable housing, a beautiful valley, proximity to Amtrak and airports, perfect weather.

“Still, Oceanside is 10 years behind the times when it comes to realizing its potential.”

So, what’s next for Michael Ryan?

He’s soon to set off for Catalina in his 40-foot cabin cruiser named Ryan’s Hope to contemplate his future.

“Hey, I got options,” he said. “I’ve got a master’s degree in public administration. I’ve got a private investigator’s license and I used to work in radio. Who knows? Maybe I’ll go to law school.

“Anyway, the last chapter has yet to be written about Mike Ryan. Unless the boat sinks on the way to Catalina, of course.”