The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce will remain open, the organization announced Monday after a new board of directors voted to reorganize and appoint new leadership.
The chamber, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year, said in a news release that its board has appointed Dara Maleki, owner of The Pizza Press restaurant, as its interim president and CEO. The board also appointed Michael Johnson, also on the local YMCA board, to be its chair.
Chamber officials said this new leadership will guide the organization “through a transparent transformation process focused on accountability, small business support, and long-term sustainability.”
The organization has faced significant scrutiny and the loss of relationships and events with the city since it became public in 2022 that its former president, Todd Ament, was accused of federal criminal charges and had been tied to an alleged “cabal” exerting influence in City Hall.
Maleki said in an interview that the changes mark a fresh start for the chamber to cast a new vision and work through restructuring.
After news broke earlier this month that the chamber’s interim president and CEO had resigned and the organization was set to close on April 30, Maleki said many in the city’s business community stepped up to join the board and help find a new path to continue the chamber.
The chamber, Maleki said, will look to move beyond being viewed as an exclusive organization to an inclusive organization that prioritizes small businesses and finding needs throughout the business community that it can help address.
“What perhaps should have happened and what we’re really looking forward to now is we’ve really got to give before we get,” Maleki said.
After being appointed, Maleki said the first order of business was to end the chamber’s association with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee as part of a new commitment to no longer being involved in political advocacy. The chamber PAC has spent heavily on supporting resort-friendly candidates and policies over the years.
The message, Maleki said, is to show that the chamber is serious about helping the business community and not trying to impact change through politics.
“It just made sense,” Maleki said. “There is a fine line between advocacy and political action. I think it’s one of those things that are affecting a lot of associations out there that are local associations, is that they perhaps are way too politically involved and polarized through political campaigning. I just don’t think there’s an appetite for that anymore.”
The chamber will host networking events throughout Anaheim in the coming weeks and an already scheduled June 6 Anaheim Chamber Luncheon at Angel Stadium.
Maleki said conversations have begun about what reorganization might look like for the chamber, which could include internal reworkings or bankruptcy, but those plans aren’t finalized yet.
The chamber needs to bring in a chief restructuring officer to give the organization a financial health check, Maleki said. The chamber still has money, but its burn rate isn’t healthy, he added. Staff jobs are secure for the coming months and up to a year.
“It will be decisions that the board and myself make moving forward that will help extend that,” Maleki said. “Small businesses will rebuild the chamber.”
Related Articles
Laguna Art Museum gets new look with help from community O.C.’s first pump track welcomes riders in San Clemente Jean Forbath is remembered as an advocate for the county’s poor who founded Share Our Selves Little Saigon has a shortage of mental healthcare providers, a clinician helps lead the way forward 50th Anniversary: Having lost everything, they rebuilt a Little Saigon in Orange County Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Anaheim Chamber will reorganize, cease political activities in renewed bid to stay open )
Also on site :