City council was concerned about the language of the Chamber’s statement, saying that it was “inflammatory.”
The post stated that “rioters cannot be reasoned with,” “bought off,” and “rioters will not be scared off by your gun or warnings,” and urged businesses not to worry about protecting their property during a protest.
Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore, who said he was personally offended by the post, said that he asked the Chamber to take down the Facebook post and they did not until some time later. The post stayed up for the city council meeting on June 8, but is not online today. Chamber Executive Director Mark Bruns said he is not on Facebook, so that is why the statement wasn’t taken down right after the mayor emailed him about it.
At the June 8 city council meeting, Gore said he would entertain a motion to cancel the city’s membership with the Chamber because of the Chamber’s statement. The following day City Manager Rob Schommer said he canceled the city’s membership.
Most other cities, like Dayton, Springboro, Beavercreek and Lebanon, have memberships with their respective Chambers of Commerce. Bruns said that the city has not always been a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
“Well, obviously we’re saddened and disappointed by the cancellation of their membership,” Bruns said. “Any member has the prerogative to cancel their membership at anytime.”
Gore said the city supports business in the legislation it passes and they don’t need a Chamber of Commerce membership to show they support businesses.
Schommer echoed Gore’s statement.
“Sometimes chambers and cities disagree. I don’t think Huber Heights has to be a member (of the Chamber of Commerce) to support the organization and the businesses in town,” Schommer said. “I don’t think our lack of membership will inhibit their ability to operate.”
Council members Glenn Otto and Richard Shaw both voted against canceling the membership, all other council members voted for the cancellation.
No one from the Huber Heights Chamber of Commerce was present at the city council meeting on June 8, but Bruns came to the June 22 meeting to comment on the vote. Bruns said since the Chamber wasn’t on the agenda, they did not attend the June 8 meeting. He said he was “taken aback” by what happened at the previous meeting.
Bruns said the Huber Heights Police Department asked the Chamber to speak to businesses in the area of the planned protest.
At the June 22 meeting, Bruns said businesses in the area of the planned protest were worried and wanted to know what they should tell their employees. He said the Chamber of Commerce never said the protest was going to turn into a riot, but just wanted to give the businesses an emergency preparedness plan. Bruns said the Chamber did not receive any complaints from businesses about the statement.
At the June 22 meeting, Bruns stated that the city “skewed” the statement the Chamber made.
“You gotta do what you think is right and that’s what we thought was right at the time,” Bruns said in an interview on Thursday.
Schommer said the statement was brought to the attention of the city by concerned Huber Heights residents.
“We heard the concerns of those residents and acted on it,” Schommer said.
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