Over the years the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce (MPCC) has taken on the role of educator in the political arena. Rather than take strong positions on many issues, MPCC provided forums, articles, and mailings to its members to keep them aware of issues of importance to the business community.

In recent years, however, MPCC has found that an occasional endorsement of a political action was necessary to truly support the needs of the business community. Today, the role of government in business is changing rapidly. In order for MPCC to respond just as rapidly, MPCC updated this Public Policy and Legislative Manual to lay a foundation for action on public issues. This document is intended to provide a broad philosophy of policies that will guide the Chamber of Commerce Committees, in particular the government affairs committee, and the Board of Directors toward proactive leadership in the political arena.

A PHILOSOPHY OF POLITICAL ACTION
MPCC will take positions on key legislative and regulatory issues facing the Monterey Peninsula business community. These positions will be endorsed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will be prudent in the decisions, taking into consideration as much of the membership opinion as possible. It is inevitable, however, that all positions taken by the MPCC Board will not be universally endorsed by MPCC members. Additionally, we will encourage MPCC members to be active in the political process.

METHOD OF PROVIDING SUPPORT / ENDORSEMENT OF PROJECTS
The policies/positions are intended to be general in scope. The Board of Directors has agreed to provide a time period on the agenda of regularly scheduled Board meetings so that topical issues of the day may be presented for discussion and/or action. Should the Chamber be asked to endorse or take a position on a project or specific policy issue that has not been previously discussed by the Board, the President/CEO or Chair would first send the details of such matter to the appropriate Chamber Committee for review, whereupon such committee(s) would make a recommendation to the full board. The final decision to support or endorse a specific matter would rest with the majority of the Chamber Board.