The Richmond Chamber of Commerce, through its Board of Directors, has unanimously voted to endorse the ChevronTexaco proposal for Point Molate rather than the Upstream proposal. This is despite the fact that the latest ChevronTexaco proposal makes no commitment for developing any business or creating any jobs. It is probably just a coincidence that ChevronTexaco is a major contributor to the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and a ChevronTexaco employee, Sharon Craig-Carter, sits on the Chamber Board of Directors. However, it made me chuckle that whoever wrote the last final sentence of the endorsement editorial in the November 2004 edition of the Richmond Chamber News slipped in a subtle tribute to Upstream and a left-handed sarcastic “thank you” to ChevronTexaco, as follows: “Thank goodness for our White Knight [ChevronTexaco] and for Upstream for flushing him out of the woods.”

In related business, the Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee (RichPac) has endorsed Eddrick Osborne, Mendell Penn and Gary Bell for City Council. I suppose I was deemed too unfriendly to business to receive Chamber support, although my business, Interactive Resources, is one of only 46 members of the Chamber of Commerce being honored at a gala 80^th anniversary celebration on November 12 for being a Chamber member for over 25 years. The three endorsees may be excellent choices, but unlike me, none has owned and operated a business in Richmond. You would think the Chamber would support its own, but I guess that only works when you are a $100 billion company.