Should Business and Government be separate?

Zorro wrote:

Many people believe in big government, have never studied its pitfalls, don't understand federalism, don't know how a republic is supposed to work, and are voting in frustration or misplaced hope. We must work our way through this confusion and chaos and come out with newly defined objectives and better understanding of what government is and is not, what business should be permitted and shouldn't, and where our treasure and time should be spent.

One can't help make comparisons between national and local politics. It helps to recognize the problems of what is happening nationally and to be alert to possible problems locally. The above quote by Zorro caught me. Particularly after reviewing the EDA minutes for 2006. In Aug of 2006 the EDA had a joint meeting to discuss combining the EDA and the Chamber. Again in October their was a county wide effort to combine EDA/BSAG/ODC with the Chamber.

See Emergency meeting here. While it may appear reasonable to combine the EDA and Chamber to pool the money it is contrary to the purpose of both. The EDA was government funded and the Chamber is a private business. The statement: "Hire a director with roots and good leadership skills would cost less than a resume/educated individual." The logic of that statement escapes me. "Resume/educated individual?" What is that? So they want to hire someone who doesn't have a resume or is educated to run both the EDA and the Chamber?

Two months later in October of 2006 the plan was County Wide. There was a meeting in Clinton to discuss a county wide EDA and included the Chamber. See County Wide meeting page 1 here. It looks like they were talking about combining resources for $100,000. While some people thought it wouldn't work because the duties of a chamber require a great deal of attention others wanted someone who could seek out grant dollars, assist business owners, and be the "go to "person for business questions. Were they going to want someone who wasn't resume/educated for this too?

See page 2 of County Wide meeting here. where Blair Johnson suggested they run the funding throught BSAG vs. the EDA due to the City limits guidelines. Yeah, you sure wouldn't want some city rules limiting you, huh?

What caught my eye on the second page was the comment by Mr. Olson who stated, "that over the years the Chamber has been business oriented but now seems to be event oriented." Is that what the chamber is? Event oriented? What is the goal of the Chamber? What is the goal of the EDA? Why are two separate entities being blended together supposedly under one leader?

For several months there was vague discussion on the subject as progressing but evidently the attempt failed because they never followed through with the actual combining. In theory. The EDA channeled a lot of tourism dollars to the Chamber. The cozy working relationship between the EDA and the Chamber was evident in David Langs email where the Meander asked for donations and David replied that either the City of Ortonville, the EDA or the Chamber would participate at the $500 level. How is it that David Lang was comfortable enough to offer the Chambers services? He can "sense" what the Chamber can do? You would think he would say something like "I imagine the Chamber would donate if they can but you will have to ask them." See David Langs email here.

The enthusiasm of the idea causes one to wonder why people would want to combine government and business? The Chamber is a private business entity and should be business oriented.