GARDEN GROVE : City Halves Rent for Aching Chamber

The City Council voted last week to cut in half the rent it charges the 86-year-old Chamber of Commerce, which is plagued by plummeting membership, reportedly caused by the poor economy.

Chamber officials had asked for rent-free offices for 12 months in a city-owned building in the Civic Center to help get the organization through hard times.

The chamber has cut office hours and personnel, banned telephone calls outside the local area code and halted the delivery of bottled water to save money, officials said.

A council majority--Bruce A. Broadwater, Robert F. Dinsen and Mark Leyes--said the chamber already is getting a good deal on the building and voted to reduce but not eliminate the rent. Mayor Frank Kessler and Councilman Ho Chung voted to do away with payments for a year.

“They’re having problems, but we’re having problems too,” Dinsen said. The chamber has had its administrative office in the building at 11400 Stanford Ave. since 1978. Before last week’s action, the chamber paid monthly rent of $611, a rate of 50 cents a square foot for the 1,222-square-foot facility.

Chamber President Shari Lane said that chamber membership has dipped to about 340, down more than 200 from about five years ago.

Officials have adopted an austerity program “just about cut to the bone,” Lane said. She vowed that the chamber will continue to operate.

“It would be a terrible thing after 86 years that we can’t make it through tough times,” she said.