Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale, Lancaster Chambers to Mull Merger : Commerce: Groups will meet to discuss joining forces on some programs, as well as possibility of uniting into single entity.

Chamber of Commerce leaders in Lancaster and Palmdale are opening talks aimed at ripping a hole in the “cactus curtain,” a mythical barrier that divides the rival high-desert cities.

The talks could lead to a merger of the Palmdale and Lancaster chambers, creating one large regional group representing businesses throughout the Antelope Valley, some local leaders say.

If that occurs, it would be a dramatic change for the area because the two chambers were founded long before Palmdale and Lancaster were incorporated as cities. Today, both chambers remain active--independently promoting businesses and sponsoring civic events in their respective cities.

Soon, that could end.

Last month, Louis A. Mendoza, president of the Lancaster chamber, invited his counterparts in Palmdale to begin discussing joint programs and services--and a possible merger. On Sept. 22, representatives of the two chambers will hold their first meeting on these issues.

“This will push a lot of people out of their comfort zone,” Dave Aaker, executive vice president of the Palmdale chamber, said of the upcoming talks. “It’s like a wheel with thousands of spokes. There’s so much to digest. It would be unfair if I had a preconceived notion as to whether it will fly.”

Some business people are expected to resist any efforts to blend the chambers, arguing that each city needs its own group to lobby the local government and organize events specifically for its city.

But Mendoza hopes chamber officials will approach the talks with an open mind and a wider view. “I think the biggest hurdle will be getting the leaders in the communities to embrace the regional concept,” he said.

The Lancaster chamber, founded about 90 years ago, was the community’s most influential organization before the city was incorporated in 1977. Before then, Los Angeles County officials relied on the chamber to speak for Lancaster. It was the chamber that lobbied for new parks and organized local parades.

Today, the Lancaster chamber, with about 1,200 members, is trying to put more emphasis on business education and promotion programs. At the same time, it is seeking to shed full responsibility for local parades.

The Palmdale chamber, founded in 1941, has about 760 members and also sponsors a mixture of community events and business-related programs.

The chamber merger proposal surfaced, in part, because local shoppers and business owners have been paying less attention to municipal boundaries.

“If you threw a dart at a retail store anywhere in the Antelope Valley, and you opened that merchant’s cash register, you would see checks from all over the Antelope Valley,” said Aaker, who manages the Palmdale chamber office.

Even though he is president of the Lancaster chamber, Mendoza also attends Palmdale chamber meetings because his employer, First Valley National Bank, has offices in both cities. Aaker estimates that about 200 members of his organization also belong to the Lancaster chamber.

One rationale for a regional chamber would be to eliminate the need for such businesses to pay double dues. In addition, education programs could be organized for business people from both cities.

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“I am sold on the idea that the Palmdale and Lancaster chambers of commerce need to be doing things together,” said Palmdale chamber President Bernie Longjohn.

But Longjohn, who runs Los Angeles County Raceway, is not sure the two chambers need to become one organization.

“It’s like two gas stations on the corner, an Arco and a Shell,” he said. “They can be friends, but they also each have a business to run.”

Longjohn fears that small mom-and-pop businesses could receive short shrift in a massive regional chamber. He also said some business people simply prefer a group that represents only their city.

Carol Fryer, marketing director at Lancaster Community Hospital, also believes the two chambers can join forces on certain programs without becoming one mega-chamber.

“More than merge the two chambers, maybe we need to look at regionalizing some of the services we offer, so we’re not duplicating our efforts,” said Fryer, past president of the Lancaster chamber.

The current chamber presidents, Longjohn and Mendoza, said they hope the upcoming talks, at the very least, will lead to better communication and cooperation between the two business groups.

Lancaster Councilman Michael Singer, who proposed merging the entire cities of Palmdale and Lancaster during his election campaign last spring, believes the chambers are moving in the right direction.

“If we were ever to join the two cities together, the chambers would have to be done first,” Singer said. “It would get people thinking in terms of regional community instead of isolated feudalistic communities.”

But the councilman also conceded that “there are some people who feel that their community should be the only game in town. I don’t discount that. It’s just that it has become obvious that we must begin thinking regionally in order to maintain control of regional issues.”