CHAMBER'S CREDITORS REQUESTED TO WAIT.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Officials of the Thousand Oaks/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce have a plea for the four dozen creditors to whom the organization owes $105,000: Be patient. Creditors would have to wait until next year for payment under a financial plan created by a new chamber task force. The committee also proposes changing policies to prohibit unprofitable events that drain chamber coffers and to place a moratorium A suspension of activity or an authorized period of delay or waiting. A moratorium is sometimes agreed upon by the interested parties, or it may be authorized or imposed by operation of law. on purchases unless cash is readily available. ``We're committed to getting our financial house in order and moving the chamber to a sound financial order,'' said President Jerry Gross. The task force, which consists of six board members, will complete its restructuring plan within 90 days for review in April by the chamber's 25 volunteer-member board. The expected mandate to turn a profit would prevent a recurrence recurrence /re·cur·rence/ (-ker´ens) the return of symptoms after a remission.recur´rent re·cur·rence n. 1. of debacles such as last fall's ``Taste of Conejo,'' which lost $11,000. Event expenses would be paid directly from event revenues before any money is diverted di·vert v. di·vert·ed, di·vert·ing, di·verts v.tr. 1. To turn aside from a course or direction: Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident. 2. to other accounts. The chamber also will likely sponsor more fund-raising events, which already include an annual golf tournament, small-business exposition and officers' installation dinner. None of the four full-time staff positions will be cut, said Gary Wartick, a task force member. ``The staff can't go below present levels,'' he said. ``The board would be concerned about the ability to operate.'' The chamber boasted a staff of about 14 full- and part-time employees in the late 1980s, and as many as seven full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a way to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or a student's enrollment at an educational institution. An FTE of 1.0 means that the person is equivalent to a full-time worker, while an FTE of 0.5 signals that the worker is only half-time. positions a year ago. The bulk of the chamber's fiscal 1997-98 budget of $260,000 comes from dues levied on 1,050 local businesses and professionals. Members pay $250 to more than $2,000 a year, depending on company size. The chamber owes 50 vendors about $80,000, in addition to being about $25,000 behind on mortgage payments to Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
``We're asking for everybody's cooperation,'' Wartick said. ``We don't want to spend precious dollars defending lawsuits over dollars we do not have available to distribute to creditors.'' |
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