Secretive New Chamber of Commerce Emerges

 Emeryville Businesses Represented by Secretive & Exclusive New Lobbying Organization

Membership, Officers, Board: All Secret

'Emeryville Commerce Connection' Open to Select Businesses Only

The emergence of a new iteration of Emeryville’s defunct Chamber of Commerce is perhaps the biggest story of the summer that’s been flying under the radar.  The replacement organization, the Emeryville Commerce Connection, follows the old Chamber in its country club-like exclusivity despite announcing it would be “welcome to all” at its onset.  The organization has been on a tear trying to increase its business membership, even allowing tiny sole proprietorship businesses on a sliding scale, it was announced.  As such, the organization is hoping to match or even exceed that of the once powerful Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.  And, also like the Chamber which proceeded it, the Emeryville Commerce Connection (ECC) is bathed in secrecy. 

The ECC website does not list the names of the Officers, the Board of Directors or the membership and members must agree, upon threat of expulsion, to "Refrain from disparaging the organization and its associated membership on the Internet, social media platforms and in print" according to its 'Code of Conduct'. 

Oakland resident Mary Lou Thiercof  
  CEO of the new Emeryville Commerce Connection
and former Board Member of the defunct
Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.

Morphing out of the City of Emeryville’s Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), ECC spun off, taking EDACs contacts from the business nexus (BizNexus) networking mixers the City hosted.  The ECC is however, a private corporation with its own Board of Directors, like the Chamber before it. 

The ECC began auspiciously; its CEO Mary Lou Thiercof announcing to the City Council last winter, the new organization would be open to all businesses, even small businesses, but soon after, open membership closed and only those chosen by undisclosed person or persons within the organization were allowed in.  It was subsequently announced on the ECC website it’s "an honor" to be nominated to join (screenshot below).  Later, the organization quietly took down the 'honor' page but membership remains closed to all but those selected.  

The ECC has a set of internal bylaws but it appears the rules have already been breached in the transformation from its democratic beginnings to the secret exclusive membership, as it is now.  According to two members who asked for anonymity, the vote to become exclusive was never taken as per its own bylaw dictates.  The sources say even the Board of Directors was never appraised of the move to exclusive membership.  Despite this bylaws policy breach, if there is any dissension in the ranks, it is not readily apparent.

The ECC regularly holds membership recruitment mixers at restaurants and bars in Emeryville but those wishing to join must fill out their request on the ECC website Ms Thiercoff told the Tattler.  If you are liked or if your business is liked by the correct but unstated person or persons in the organization, then you may be allowed to join.

Ms Thiercof, who lives in the Oakland hills, is CEO of ECC and was on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, which folded in July 2015. 

Before it declared bankruptcy, the Chamber of Commerce (1986-2015), a private business and the most dominant force outside of the government in Emeryville, became known for taking public money and being exclusive in its membership.  The CEO of that organization, Bob Canter, lived in Martinez Calif. and negotiated with the City Council to have Emeryville taxpayers pay the Chamber's rent and pay for publication of its newsletter, the Emeryville Connection.  The newsletter, which was mailed to every Emeryville registered voter, infamously used public money to tell residents how to vote in city and local elections.  At their high point, the Chamber of Commerce even had its own Emeryville Political Action Committee, EmPAC, to fund the city council campaigns of pro-developer candidates and take down challengers with negative advertising.  After several articles in the Tattler exposing them, the Chamber of Commerce and EmPAC quietly folded and Mr Canter pulled up stakes in Martinez and moved to Tallahassee Florida.  

We reached out to two current ECC Board members for comment for this story, former City Council member and Mayor of the City of Emeryville, Scott Donahue, who is Vice Chairman of the ECC Board and Nasser Azimi, President of Ohana Cannabis on Peladeau Street.  Neither replied to our requests for comment.  Mr Donahue, an artist, is currently a finalist in a pending City of Emeryville $400,000 art grant and Mr Azimi is a major donor to City Council member John Bauters, who is running for Alameda County Board of Supervisors.  Scott Donahue is the brother of the Tattler editor.

In the face of its exclusive membership policy and culture, the Emeryville Commerce Connection still declares it is democratic; open to “an inclusive and diverse business community”, according to the ECC website.

Tattler readers can rest assured we will watch this organization (from the sidelines because we doubt we will ever be honored to be nominated) and any move to form a PAC or attempt to take taxpayer money will be reported as it was before under the Chamber of Commerce.

It Is An Honor To Be Nominated
Screenshot page from the ECC website, now taken down but
the exclusive membership selection policy remains.

Council Member Bauters Running as Bike/Walk/Public Transit Champion: His Record Refutes That

Alameda County Voters Should Know John Bauters' Transit Record

Mr Bauters Overturned City Ordinance Controlling  Parking to Accommodate a Developer's Wishes

 

What He Says is Different From What He Does

News Analysis

Former mayor John Bauters led a drive to approve a development with 496 parking spaces, an excess of 85 spaces over Emeryville’s maximum as stipulated by a City ordinance, refuting his new official narrative of him discouraging single occupant vehicles in his candidacy for Alameda County Supervisor.  A July 2022 City Council action that highlights this disconnect came when favored developer Rich Robbins, CEO of Wareham Development, asked Mayor Bauters to overturn the City's Planning Commission who had earlier voted to enforce Emeryville’s rules on the number of parking spaces allowed for the Wareham project known as Emery Station Overland, a bio-science lab campus proposed for Overland Avenue.  

The rules on maximum allowable parking spaces are codified by Emeryville’s Transit Hub Overlay Zone, a delineated area around the Amtrak Station of which the Overland project is in, that was certified as a City ordinance in 2013 to encourage commuters to not drive but to take alternative transportation.  Limiting single occupancy vehicle use for development within the zone is central to the goal of the ordinance by limiting the number of parking spaces available.

Mr Bauters, who is running for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 has been receiving donations from developers and YIMBY California (a developer lobbying organization) at a frantic clip, and he has also been telling Alameda County voters he is against single occupancy vehicle (SOV) use as a planning precept.  Developers as a default, want more parking to be made available for their tenants and that is shown by Wareham’s Overland project.  Approving the project as the developer wanted it is at cross purposes to the announcements made by candidate Bauters to Alameda County voters.

Mayor Bauters' Overland project decision allowed 20% more parking spaces than the Transit Zone allowed and would result in a minimum of extra 170 daily vehicle trips to the site.  Bauters downplayed all the extra cars massing on the site by announcing the parking garage would likely be transformed in housing at some future date.

Emery Station Overland will be located on Overland Avenue between 62nd and 63rd streets.

Emeryville’s Bike Committee unanimously urged Mr Bauters to follow the rules and deny the developer the extra 85 parking spaces and one member, Jordan Wax, also personally attended the Council meeting and spoke out, but to no avail.  

The Chairman of Emeryville’s Planning Commission, Steven Keller called the developer’s 496 parking space number “inflated”.  He told the City Council, Wareham “did not convincingly demonstrate that additional parking is needed for the project” and the Council voting to approve would be making a “precedent setting mistake”.  Although the Transit Center Overland project is located right next to the Amtrak Station, Wareham, for its part said Amtrak is no good and people don’t use it as a reason why so many private parking spaces are needed. 

Vice Mayor Ally Medina supported Mr Bauters' idea to overturn the ordinance.  Without providing evidence, Ms Medina announced, “[transportation] Mode shift does not come from denying parking spaces, it comes from infrastructure”, meaning the bike infrastructure alone in Emeryville will be enough to get people out of their cars despite the extra availability of free and easy parking spaces.  Mr Bauters concurred, hinting the extra parking spaces will sit empty.  A Wareham spokesman also agreed, calling the 85 extra parking spaces beyond what Emeryville’s General Plan allows a “win win” for residents and for Wareham.  

Mr Bauters told the attending crowd, “We would love to reduce parking as much as possible”, but Wareham is going to provide a lot of bike infrastructure he indicated.  However, Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Bauters, like Ally Medina, never explained to Emeryville residents how providing better bike infrastructure at the same time as an excess of free and easy parking would reduce the number of drivers.

Wareham is planning on breaking ground on their 496 space parking garage later this year.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 election is on November 5th.

Below is the video of the City Council meeting.  The Overland project begins at 52:22.  Public comment including those from the Planning Commission and the Bike Committee begin at 1:19:38.  Council comment including those from Mayor Bauters begins at 1:27:40.