Soapboxes are a hit

Members are realizing the power of the soapbox. These two-minute bits at the Chamber's monthly Good Morning San Luis Obispo breakfast program are going fast. We are currently booking soapboxes about two to three months in advance, so if you're planning on taking advantage of this great vehicle of communication, book it now! To reserve a soapbox, call Alex at 781-2670.

1999 member event calendar set

Mark your calendar! Dates have been set for many of the monthly chamber programs that help members make the most out of their memberships.

Membership mixers are always held on the third Wednesday of the month from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Watch your newsletter for locations. The mixers for the remainder of 1999 are scheduled for March 17, April 21, May 19 (Mixer Showcase), June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15, October 20, November 17, and December 15.

Good Morning San Luis Obispo is held on the fourth Thursday of each month except November. Good Morning San Luis Obispo is held at The Forum on Marsh Street from 7:30 to 9 a.m. the breakfast dates for the remainder of the year are March 25, April 22, May 27, June 24, July 22, August 26, September 23, October 28 and Tuesday, November 23^rd. There will be no breakfast program in December.

New Visitors Guide hits the stands

The newest edition of the annual San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce is now available to visitors and local residents interested in learning what to see, experience, taste and enjoy in and around San Luis Obispo. This year's publication is the largest ever, with four additional pages, and boasts a thicker, more sturdy cover.

The full-color magazine, which is used as the fulfillment piece for all City advertising, teems with valuable information about the community and is highlighted by spectacular photographs of some of the exciting events, attractions and scenery that make San Luis Obispo so distinctive. To obtain additional copies, contact the Chamber's Visitor Center at 781-2777.

Legislative/Economic Action Committee in action

The Chamber's newly formed Legislative/Economic gathered for its first lunch meeting of the year in February at Embassy Suites. Committee members and interested Chamber members listened to panelists Dr. Warren Baker, President of Cal Poly, and Dr. Grace Mitchell, President of Cuesta College, talk about the future growth of their institutions and the projected economic impact it will have on the community.

After listening to their presentations, lunch guests had the opportunity to ask questions of the academic leaders and talk to them on a one-on-one basis.

The committee, which currently has 66 members, was formed at the beginning of this year in an effort to educate members on current issues affecting the community. April's lunch meeting will feature new City Council members Jan Howell Marx and John Ewan.

The Legislative/Economic Action Committee may open select meetings to the entire Chamber membership in the future. For information on joining the committee, contact Governmental Affairs Director Shelly Stanwyck at stanwyck@slochamber.org.

"One step forward, two steps back" may be the State's new motto --- at least according to the thousands of working men and women in California who may be affected by a new State Assembly Bill.

AB 60 (Knox), introduced by Assembly Member Wally Knox, attempts to rescind the flexible overtime rule that went into effect at the beginning of last year. Knox represents Assembly District 42, which covers portions of Los Angeles including Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Encino and Fairfax.

The current rule is based on the cumulative workweek; requiring employers to pay overtime to employees once they exceed 40 hours in one work week. This rule was enacted last year and brought California in line with the 47 other states in the U.S. who follow the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which is based on a 40-hour work week.

If AB 60 is enacted, employers will go back to additionally paying employees overtime once they exceed eight hours in one workday.

In an Instapoll survey conducted by the Chamber, in which members were asked if they thought the Chamber should work to fight the imposition of an eight-hour overtime rule (AB 60), 92% said Ayes. Several members indicated their happiness with the progress made by last year's changes and stressed the importance of maintaining that flexibility.

"It would be a crime to take a step backwards on the progress that has been made," stated Robert Reisinger, President of Mountain Cycle. "I enthusiastically support the 1998 changes to the overtime rule that allows employees and companies to better adjust their schedules to best fit different situations."

The California Industrial Welfare Commission revised the overtime pay rule last year after extensive testimony from employers and employees on the need to change the inflexible eight-hour overtime rule.

Employees felt that the overtime reform would allow for more flexible scheduling, allowing them to better balance the demands from work and family. Employers agreed and pointed to the fact that the change would simplify the payroll process by streamlining the overtime pay process.

That sentiment holds true for local business owners and workers as well.

"The eight-hour day never made sense to me as an employer. It deprived both the employee and the employer of any flexibility," commented Barry Karleskint of K C Stores, Inc. and Karleskint's Flowers and Gifts. "The 40-hour week gives us the both the flexibility to work together on business and personal needs. It is the civilized way to operate."

Under AB 60, workers wanting to "make up" time lost due to personal obligations will only be allowed to do so if that time does not exceed four hours in any one work week. Current law allows nearly any amount of lost time in a work week to be made up, as long as overtime is still paid after the 40^th hour of work.

The most vocal supporters of AB 60 are labor unions. Before the 40-hour overtime rule went into effect last year, unions were able to use flexible work scheduling as a "perk" for their members. The current overtime law levels the playing field, thus eliminating their advantage.  If passed, AB 60 would go into effect January 1, 2000.

Employers and employees who want to maintain flexible work scheduling under the current 40-hour work week should make their opinions known. Write, call, fax or E-mail:

Governor Gray Davis, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 445-2841, fax (916) 445-4633, E-mail: governor.davis@ca.gov

State Senator Jack O'Connell, 1260 Chorro Street, Ste. A, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, (805) 547-1800, fax (805) 547-1871, E-mail: senator.oconnell@sen.ca.gov

Assembly Member Abel Maldonado, 1302 Marsh Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, (805) 549-3381, fax (805) 549-3400, E-mail: abel.maldonado@asm.ca.gov

Instapoll success

The Chamber surveyed its members on the overtime issue using its first-ever Instapoll. Utilizing the immediacy of E-mail, the Instapoll was sent to more than 800 members in 3.8 seconds. More than 100 responses were sent within 48-hours and those responding said they liked participating in Instapolls. If you'd like to be included in future Instapolls, please let us know your E-mail address by faxing the Chamber at 543-1255 or sending an E-mail to pirofalo@slochamber.org.

Marsh Street Parking Structure

Improved parking in and around downtown San Luis Obispo is back on the front burner.

Design of the proposed Marsh Street Parking Structure expansion is complete and set to go before the Planning Commission within the next month or two. Plans for the structure, which are being designed by Phillips Metsch Sweeney and Moore out of Santa Barbara, include office space in the setback area along Pacific and Morro Streets and a pedestrian bridge from the structure to the Downtown Center. The pedestrian bridge, a new feature, would be connected to the existing Downtown Cinema marquee.

A supplemental environmental review of the pedestrian bridge and office space is currently underway since they were not part of the original Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The new structure, like the current structure, will require a height and site variance.

Once the design plans are approved by the Planning Commission, they will go to the Architectural Review Commission for refinement and acceptance. City Council members will have final approval of the structure's design and any variances, as well as, approval of the contract for construction. If approved, the actual construction could start as early as January, 2000.

Another parking matter set to go before Council is the EIR for the downtown Parking and Access Plan. Tentatively approved in the fall of 1997, the Parking and Access Plan's environmental impacts have been under study for sometime. To help familiarize the three Council members who were not on the City Council when the plan was originally proposed, a public workshop on it will likely be held.

The Chamber's Parking Task Force has been heavily involved in the process and wrote a white paper analyzing the Parking and Access Plan in which they expressed several concerns with the document, some of which still exist. Among those concerns are: the triggers (requirements needed to create more parking) need to be more flexible; Palm II, a multi-use parking, retail and commercial structure, should be planned for now and exempted from the Plan's trigger requirements; and parking enterprise funds should be used only for construction and maintenance of parking spaces.

Council will most likely consider EIR certification of the Parking and Access Plan in late spring.

Western Regional Urban Streams Conference

San Luis Obispo will be host to the Second Western Regional Urban Streams Conference on April 11-13. More than 300 delegates from throughout the Western States are expected to attend.

The Chamber has been working with the City's Natural Resources Department, Parks and Recreation Department, ECOSLO, the Land Conservancy, Visitors and Conference Bureau and others agencies for the past eight months to coordinate this first conference of its kind to be held in San Luis Obispo.

Last year, the Chamber's Tourism Council discussed the idea of soliciting environmental groups to bring their conferences to San Luis Obispo, as it seemed to be the perfect fit.

"This is our opportunity to showcase San Luis Obispo as the ideal location for environmental conferences," commented Tourism Council member and City Parks & Recreation Director Paul LeSage. "Our hope is that these individuals, who are all members of other professional organizations as well, will think of San Luis Obispo when they are looking for a location for future conferences. There is huge potential here."

The conference, which will be held at Embassy Suites, kicks off on a Sunday with field trips to local creeks. Days two and three will focus on the various issues affecting urban streams and will feature experts in their respective fields including City Council member Ken Schwartz. Topics such as habitat-friendly flood control, watershed planning, salmonid issues, habitat relationships and restoration, and citizen awareness, education and monitoring are among those issues slated for discussion.

Field trips for spouses and kids to Montana de Oro, Hearst Castle, local wineries and downtown have been planned, as has a barbecue at the Jack House on Monday night. Ride-On Transportation will be providing shuttle service throughout the conference to encourage attendees to explore the area during their free time.

Visitslo website

Just six short years after its "birth" the Internet has exploded onto the scene, experiencing unparalleled success and far surpassing everyone"s expectations. It continues to be the fastest growing media in the history of humankind, with more than 60 million people worldwide "logging-on" to access information.

The Chamber jumped on board with the creation of its original websites about five years ago, and since that time, has enjoyed an explosion of its own.

The Chamber's visitor-oriented website alone, www.visitslo.com, receives 200-300 hits per day from visitors around the world looking for information on accommodations, restaurants, shopping, attractions, wineries and activities in and around San Luis Obispo. Members who have direct links from the Chamber's visitor site to their own homepage are reaping the benefits of that powerful connection.

Among the top categories of member businesses to receive hits originating from links to the Chamber site were hotels, bed and breakfast inns, vacation rentals, recreation, art galleries, shopping centers, restaurants and tourist attractions. In fact, businesses in the top 30 categories alone, received close to 400,000 impressions via the visitslo.com site.

"A Chamber of Commerce, like most businesses today, can no longer rely on distribution of information through words on paper," commented Chamber President/CEO Dave Garth. "To be effective, we must utilize technology to tap into a much broader market instead of just reaching those in our own backyard."

While the Chamber's websites, both the visitor site and the corporate site, are still fairly young, some changes and upgrades are slated to be made this year.

"Making changes and adjustments from time to time shows visitors to your site that you are serious about it and that you care about it," said Annie Mueller, owner of ICS, the company in charge of designing maintaining the Chamber's visitor website. "And, it keeps them coming back to see if there is anything new."

Even though the number of people requesting information through the Chamber's website has grown, the volume of requests coming through the mail and over the phone has not diminished. The result --- more people in more places receiving information on San Luis Obispo.

March, 1999 New Member Directory

You'd like to contact the dog groomer who joined the Chamber a few months ago, but can't find the issue of San Luis Obispo Business that he was listed in. Sound familiar? In an effort to solve that problem, new members are listed on an 8½" x 11" sheet of paper that you can handily insert into your Membership Directory on a monthly basis. New members will be listed categorically, following the format of the Directory, and will be mailed with San Luis Obispo Business each month.  Online users can download the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01.