Members of Los Altos City Council voiced concern over the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce’s standing – especially related to non-payment of rent for the Los Altos Visitors’ Center – and council is looking for ways to move forward after last week’s City Council meeting.
During the Feb. 24 discussion, council members considered what, if anything, they wanted to do in regards to the city’s contract with the Chamber of Commerce. Established Sept. 12, 2023, the $67,500-annually contract initially included:
• The operation of the Los Altos Visitors’ Center at 321 University Ave.
• Maintenance of a community calendar
• The printing of 20,000 copies of a Los Altos Magazine on a topic council approves with the inclusion of a Recreation Department full-page ad
• The creation of a digital edition of the magazine and the dissemination of 16,000 Los Altos Magazines to households in Los Altos and other local communities, and 4,000 Los Altos Magazines for local pickup at local coffee shops and hotels.
But after the chamber failed to fulfill its FY 2024-25 magazine responsibilities, the Council ended the contract as it existed and added an amendment nullifying the FY 25-26, FY 26-27 and FY 27-28 magazines. It also required the Chamber of Commerce to complete the Los Altos Magazine from FY 24-25 before Dec. 31, 2025.
City staff reported to the City Council that the chamber had indicated that the FY 24-25 Los Altos Magazine was delivered to their Los Altos offices prior to the Dec. 31 deadline. The chamber had also distributed copies locally at popular locations across the city’s four business districts and published a digital copy on the chamber website.
“The residential delivery to households in Los Altos and neighboring communities was postponed due to the incredibly rainy winter storm system, and not delivered by December 31, 2025, as required under the contract,” staff said in its written report to council.
While staff were supposed to turn in responses to questions the city submitted to the chamber, they did not receive responses from Chamber President Kim Mosley or the board before the meeting. Questions included who is on the current board of directors, chamber visitor center hours, who is in charge of the LEAD program – which helps locals who want to better the local community in some capacity through seminars and workshops – and proof of insurance for events like First Friday.
“Due to the way the calendar has fallen, this last week was winter break and a number of my board members were not available,” Mosley said during the city council meeting. “Our board meeting was held today, and so we met, conferred the board, reviewed the questions that you had submitted to us, and we provided responses to those questions with board approval and support, so that’s why there was a delay in receipt of answers.”
Mosley also said that the chamber had requested the meeting be deferred to an upcoming meeting so that the board’s responses could be heard.
“Under the circumstances, I think it’s important that the board demonstrates support for me and my leadership and for the platform that we all stand on together,” Mosley told Vice Mayor Larry Lang when he asked why the chamber hadn’t answered some of the questions – like if they could provide proof of insurance for First Friday, which is set for this Friday. “So, it is normal, prudent, for me to receive approval for any statement that’s made before Council when it comes from the chamber or the Board of Directors.”
New information
During the meeting, Mayor Sally Meadows shared that she had a conversation with Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, who informed her that the chamber had stopped paying rent for the 321 University Ave. location for eight months. By way of follow up, the Supervisor’s office shared with the Mayor a letter they had received from the Chamber, in which the Chamber said “… We would like to negotiate a transfer of deed for the .33-acre parcel of land on which the chamber building rests for remuneration equal to rent already paid – over $245,000 – by the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce.”
“The Board of Supervisors never reviewed that and never said, ‘Yeah, let’s do that,’ nor did they ever – as far as I’m aware – give you permission to stop paying rent,” Meadows said during the meeting. “When we as a city hear from our county counterpart that you are in arrears with the chamber building, I find that very concerning.”
Mosley said she was acting with the full knowledge of the board at the time when the chamber stopped rent payments. She added that the choice to stop paying was made because the history of the land parcel was lost over time between county and chamber staff. Instead of it being adjusted by the “grace of the building being relocated to another site,” it was then billed at a regular rental rate for a building that the chamber itself had built.
“What we should actually have is minimally a land lease rather than a lease that pays for the structure that we actually built ourselves,” Mosley said.
While Meadows said she understood the history and explanation, she said it was irrelevant to stopping payment on a lease that went into effect in 2015.
“The reason I think this is urgent is it reflects on all of us,” Meadows said. “The chamber is very important in this community and we have no idea that last year you unilaterally chose not to pay rent because you didn’t approve of the deal that was signed before you even assumed president of the chamber.”
Mosley denied she unilaterally made the decision – she said the decision was made in conference with the executive board. She also said the chamber and county entered into negotiations when the decision was made to stop payments.
Councilmember Pete Dailey noted the decision to stop payments wasn’t out of the ordinary, but proper notice and documentation should have been taken and given. Toward the end of City Council discussions, Councilmember Jonathan Weinberg noted that the letter Abe-Koga provided Meadows should have been included in the questions submitted by staff to the chamber – not presented during what he described as a “trial.”
Moving forward
Lang noted that Mosley was speaking to council on behalf of the chamber board, and that it was disappointing that no one from the chamber came to support her during the meeting.
Because of that – and pending information from the chamber – Lang said he didn’t feel comfortable making any decisions.
“I don’t particularly want to take any action this evening,” Lang said during the meeting. “ I think there is a lot of new information falling in, there is a lot of emotions running high, and none of that is conducive to good decision making and I would just assume to let some things take their course with the urgency of – for example – make sure insurance is in place for First Friday and things like that.”
As of Monday, the city of Los Altos is awaiting a change to the First Friday insurance, according to Assistant City Manager Jon Maginot.
“Once we receive that, everything will be approved,” he said in an email.
The key to moving forward, Lang said, is the re-establishment of trust. He said he currently doesn’t feel comfortable with the city continuing to pay for the chamber contract.
“When people on the one side of the relationship say, ‘Hey, I have misgivings, I have worries, I need more information,’ the right answer is ‘You shouldn’t feel that way’,” Lang said during the meeting. “The answer should be, ‘What can we do together to share the information required to reestablish that trust?’ To me, that’s the important next step.”
