There were two items on the Lompoc City Council agenda on Tuesday, July 15. Both concerned similar subjects.
The first was the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District (aka Visit Lompoc Incorporated or VLI). A nonprofit organization dedicated to “position Lompoc as a sought-after destination for tourists, meetings, and events.”
This special district receives no funding from the city of Lompoc; instead it is self-funded with an assessment added to each guest’s hotel/motel bill. According to the organization’s report, it has a very robust sales and marketing program. Ninety percent of the money collected is used for sales and marketing and only 5 percent for “administration.”
The other item was approving the agreement with the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce (LVCC) for business assistance services. LVCC is also a nonprofit organization whose membership includes much of the business community.
Unlike the self-funded Lompoc Tourism Improvement District, the cost to city taxpayers would be $108,000 per year coming out of the general fund.
During a previous City Council meeting, several citizens made glowing comments about the accomplishments of the chamber and its contributions to the city in general. There was no crowd at this meeting.
However, LVCC hasn’t always met its contractual agreements. The staff report says, “Staff recommends a demand letter be sent to the chamber requesting the full financial audit that was due to the city by March 31, 2024, and the accounting review that was due to the city by March 31, 2025, as required by the [fiscal year] 2023-25 chamber contract. Staff recommends the letter demand those reports at no further expense to the city, since funding for those reports was previously provided to the chamber in the 2023-25 agreement. In addition, the City Council has requested that the chamber agreement be reviewed in six months with a report from the chamber on the services provided during that timeframe.”
According to the contract, LVCC is required to provide “a comprehensive budget including a detailed and itemized list of expenses that have been charged against the monthly payment received by city and chamber’s contribution to the expense item.”
The LVCC also had a task to “provide on-site greeting and volunteer staff, for the street level desk of chamber’s location at 111 S. ‘I’ St. Such staff shall be present, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, as volunteers are available.” Mayor Jim Mosby pointed out that he had attempted to visit the LVCC location several times during the appointed hours and no one was present.
LVCC submitted its revisions to its next contract. These edits deleted the economic development committee, consulting services for retail strategies, and the annual State of the City address. That sounds like a significant change of scope from previous contracts to me, thus reduced funding is justified.
In addition, the LVCC is tasked with “tourism promotion,” which is already being accomplished by Visit Lompoc at no cost to taxpayers. When taxpayer funds are involved, we shouldn’t pay twice for the same service.
During the public hearing, Councilmember Steve Bridge made a motion that the staff enter discussions with LVCC regarding several substantial changes to the contract. Among them was to eliminate duplication of efforts currently performed by Visit Lompoc at no cost to taxpayers. In addition, there should be measurable goals and, before an additional contract is approved, all financial audit obligations should be received by the city.
Councilmember Jeremey Ball didn’t favor the idea that a council member would be structuring a contract. Maybe he forgot that the City Council provides direction to the staff and that Councilmember Bridges’ proposal was doing just that.
Mayor Mosby asked the city manager if the chamber was “in breach of contract” because it hadn’t submitted financial audits. The answer was “yes,” but the city hadn’t specifically requested the required submittals.
With a motion on the table, the council voted 4-1 (Councilmember Ball voted no) to continue the item and forward Councilmember Bridges’ proposal to the staff.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a response for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 24 – Aug 3, 2025.