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DOES THE COLLEYVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAVE A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON CITY POLITICS?...Dredd Eliss and Kimberly B. Connor

In 1999 Raman Chandler, a Board Member of the Colleyville Chamber of Commerce, challenged Jody Short for city council seat Place 1.  Prior to the election, the Short camp ran an ad in the local newspaper questioning the influence of the Chamber on city politics.  See Short Ad

Jody Short won the seat easily. Tension between the Chamber and the majority of the current elected city officials seem to ease when the Chairman of the Chamber, Ken Green, presented to city council a resolution supporting the improvements to Hall Johnson Road. See Resolution

The City Council voted for the Hall Johnson improvements, with only Councilman Tigue and Mayor Arp's opposition.  This appears contradictory since both are on the Chamber Board of Directors that had just recently endorsed the project and presented the Resolution.  Mike Norman of the Star-Telegram wrote about the event calling for Tigue to apologize to the other council members for  saying they were "hornswoggling" the public.  See Mike Norman Column  

Following the Chamber's encouragement to proceed with Hall Johnson improvements, the Grapevine Sun and the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram both ran editorials in support of the council's decision.

However, by July 2000, the shifting sands of editorials by the Star-Telegram seem to indicate a shift to a Hall Johnson built for four lanes but striped for only two. This came after the council had actually discussed building the road, then covering part of it with dirt to make it look like a two lane road.  See Editorial

Although the Chamber did not announce a change in position, a majority of the Colleyville residents on the Chamber Board threw its support behind Ginny Tigue in the 2000 election.  Ms. Tigue was the only 1999 council member that voted against the Hall Johnson improvements.  Her campaign brought out the President of the Chamber, Ret Stansberger's open support in campaign literature. See Literature

LNO spoke to Ken Green, the 2000 Chairman of the Colleyville Chamber.  Mr. Green was asked about the chamber and its involvement in city politics.  Mr. Green said he took a position that the chamber "should not be a political organization." He indicated he initiated a change in policy that eliminated a number of questionable columns in the chamber publications and denied any political advertising.  He said he did not recall the actions of Stansberger, but any endorsement would be as an individual and not as the president of the Chamber.  When asked if he felt the Chamber should remain out of city politics, Mr. Green gave an adamant yes.

LNO got a different prospective from Frank Carroll who previously served on the Chamber Board. Mr. Carroll said he resigned because the Chamber had become too involved in city politics including the support of particular candidates.  He pointed out previous columns in the Chamber's publication were obviously political.  Mr. Carroll said the staff of the Chamber should not endorse or give any outward appearance of partiality.

When asked about the previous endorsement by Ms. Stansberger, Mr. Carroll said he felt it improper for any Chamber staff member to openly endorse a specific candidate.

LNO interviewed former Mayor Pro Tem John Grace who stated the Chamber's goals are not the city's goals.  In fact, he said the overwhelming majority of members are not residents or have businesses in Colleyville. LNO reviewed the current membership listing and, based on the limited information, determined approximately 65% of the members fit Mr. Grace's description of not living or having business in Colleyville.

Mr. Grace said the Chamber has its own agenda.  "The Chamber has received money from the city to promote the businesses in Colleyville but is not adequately promoting Colleyville businesses." He also indicated that the support of candidates by the Chamber could be to the Chamber's benefit since it has received thousands of taxpayer's funds from city councils in the past.

In the current election, the Chamber Board Members appear to be primarily supporting allies of Donna Arp.  Arp's campaign literature states that she "Opposed 4 lane perimeter streets. Minimize impact of widening Hall Johnson Road". Candidates allied with Arp, Hocutt and Rice seem to have taken strong positions against the previously approved improvements to Hall Johnson. Rice is a new Board Member of the Chamber and Mr. Hocutt appeared this year as a major sponsor of the Chamber's City Slicker Fundraiser. See Slicker Ticket

Although the positions of these candidates appear contradictory to the previous Chamber Resolution, LNO found the overwhelming majority of Colleyville based Chamber Board members this year appearing on Arp's campaign literature. See Campaign Literature listing of supporters.

LNO made numerous attempts to obtain comments from Ret Stansberger, however, she was unavailable for comment.

To answer the question "if the Chamber has a major influence on Colleyville city politics", LNO has tracked the activities over the past three years, since the 1999 Short advertisement.  LNO has devised a somewhat confusing chart of Chamber Board members, candidates, campaign treasurers and campaign managers.  See Chart

While the Chamber may not be involved officially in the current campaign, it appears the Board Members are very involved, including one running for city council, Brad Rice.  Mr. Rice did not appear as a Board Member until this year, while Ms. Tigue and Ms. Arp have been long term activists in the organization.