Lompoc to continue funding chamber of commerce after public speaks out

The Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce isn’t going anywhere.

Following outcry from local residents, Lompoc City Council reversed course on a decision to decrease funding for the organization. Council members unanimously decided to continue providing the chamber $108,000 annually for the 2025-27 fiscal years at the June 17 meeting.

In response to a June 3 vote to cut Lompoc’s annual chamber contribution by about 30 percent, 42 different speakers spoke during public comment on June 17 in protest. 

Ann McCarty, Lompoc Valley woman of the year in 2018; Allan Hancock College President Kevin Walters; C4 Lompoc Collective Cultures Creating Change Executive Director and co-founder Yasmin Dawson-Salim; Pot Mamas Jasmine Gonzalez and Anna Look; True Vine Bible Fellowship Church Pastor James Earl Cray; and Lompoc Theatre Project Executive Director Mark Herrier were just some of the local leaders who spoke up.

“The chamber is more than an office. It’s a symbol of connection, a space for innovation, and a partner in our future,” Dawson-Salim said at the podium. “Let us not let short-term decisions create long-term setbacks. Let’s work together to ensure Lompoc is a space where families thrive, children see a future, and businesses are proud to call home.”

The line to speak was so long Mayor Jim Mosby limited comments to a minute each.

“For those of you guys who haven’t been to a meeting before, it’s not a free-for-all,” he said to the crowd. The meeting got so intense he had to remind first-time audience members not to cheer and boo speakers.

LeAnne Woolever was the only one who spoke against funding the chamber. She argued for the money to go to the police and fire departments.

Two weeks prior, Jeremy Ball was the only council member who voted to continue funding the chamber the same amount of money each year. 

Although the City Council is allocating $108,000 in each of the next two fiscal years for the chamber of commerce, the chamber will have to meet certain contractual terms that haven’t yet been explicitly defined before it can receive the money. The plan is for council to review the chamber’s contract and performance by Jan. 6, 2026. 

“If the chamber can’t come up with a good answer [to the terms], we’ve already set the [annual $108,000] aside, let’s put it to the murals and do the right thing,” Ball said, reassuring Councilmember Victor Vega, who fought to fund the Mural Society.

All five council members voted to adopt the biennial budget for fiscal years 2025-27.

“We’re not fat over here on the money,” Vega said. “We’re trying to make things work and be so we’re not in the hole fiscally like some other cities.”

This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 6, 2025.