PORTER RANCH TURF FIGHT 2 CHAMBERS CLAIM AREA.Byline: Brent Brent, outer borough (1991 pop. 226,100) of Greater London, SE England. The area is a rail and industrial center. Its manufactures include automobile parts, clocks and watches, and electrical equipment. Hopkins Staff Writer A battle between rival chamber of commerce groups for rights to Porter Ranch ranch, large farm devoted chiefly to raising and breeding cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. The cattle ranch was introduced from Latin America to Texas and the plains of the W United States and Canada. has elevated to a nasty public fight and spilled over to other business groups that normally stay above the fray fray 1 n. 1. A scuffle; a brawl. See Synonyms at brawl. 2. A heated dispute or contest. tr.v. frayed, fray·ing, frays Archaic 1. To alarm; frighten. 2. . Both the Chatsworth/Porter Ranch Chamber and the Northridge/Porter Ranch group, newly renamed as the North Valley Regional Chamber, lay claim to the upscale neighborhood's retailers, service companies and professionals. Since a failed effort to merge about four years ago, there has been tension between the groups. Chatsworth accuses Northridge and its President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Adelstein, of poaching poaching: see cooking. . The latter group accuses Chatsworth of orchestrating a smear campaign smear campaign n → campaña de calumnias smear campaign n → campagne f de dénigrement smear campaign smear n . In the process, other business groups including the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. have been drawn in, attacking Adelstein as ``a cancer'' in its monthly newsletter and accusing the group of engaging in unfair business practices. On Wednesday, Adelstein announced that he would resign as chairman of the Valley Economic Development Center because he didn't want his involvement in the controversy to become a distraction Distraction Divination (See OMEN.) Porlock a “person from Porlock” interrupted Coleridge while he was recollecting the dream on which he based “Kubla Khan”. [Br. Lit.: Poems of Coleridge in Magill IV, 756] to the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group. ``We've been hoping it'll stop and go away,'' Adelstein said. ``If there continues to be concerted attempts to attack us and my reputation, we'll discuss what to do, but I'd be happy if it all went away.'' After disputing who deserved the right to claim the Porter Ranch name, the Chatsworth Chamber now takes issue with the Northridge-based group's decision to rebrand rebrand Verb to change or update the image of (an organization or product) itself over the summer as the North Valley Regional Chamber. Adelstein said it changed its name to better represent the area that makes up its base of roughly 500 businesses. Bill Powers, Chatsworth's vice president of government affairs and a former UCC An abbreviation for the Uniform Commercial Code. chairman, responded that the name misrepresents the Northridge group's role in an attempt to grow its membership. ``The chamber movement is one of the most important vehicles for providing individual and local community input and control,'' Powers said. ``Anything that disrupts that is a bad thing, whether that be people engaging in unfair competition between areas or newspapers publishing articles that stir the pot.'' Adelstein says he's interested in working with other chambers to unite the business community; Powers maintains that organizations should respect one another's boundaries. ``If they'd all band together and say 'we're all in this together,' they could be a powerful business voice for our area and our community,'' said Dave Kilby, senior vice president for the California Chamber of Commerce. ``We're seeing interest in merging and in addition, we're seeing a number of alliances and coalitions. Maybe it doesn't make sense to merge, but they can work more closely together.'' Marty Cooper, chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, termed the UCC attack on Adelstein as ``a real hair-raiser,'' which took focus away from more important industry issues. ``When you get these matches going on, nobody wins, nobody benefits,'' Cooper said. ``We have enough challenges and issues in the business community that to have internal divisions being publicly bandied about doesn't benefit the business community. This is not good for the Valley.'' Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com |
|
|||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion