Chamber chooses challenger

The Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce endorses a candidate for the first time

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, May 1, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (5 Reader comments)

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The Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce stepped out of its comfort zone by choosing to endorse a political candidate for the first time in its history.

It was a bold step to boot.

The chamber’s newly established Candidate Endorsement Council announced Monday its support of City Councilor Dennis Doyle, who is challenging Mayor Rob Drake for the city’s top job.

“This represents a risk — to step out there and choose someone,” said Scott Burgess, chairman of the endorsement council. “It can create awkward moments, but as a well-respected organization, we owe it to our members and to our community to make an endorsement decision.”

The Beaverton chamber has 760 members representing about 35,000 employees in the area.

“It was a tough process and a tough decision, but everyone came away feeling very strongly that it was the right decision to make,” added Lorraine Clarno, chamber president. “We came at this purely from the business community point of view.”

For the past year, the chamber worked to establish an endorsement council to ensure pro-business candidates are elected to local offices that impact the Beaverton business community.

The council is comprised of seven chamber representatives and the chamber president who is appointed by the board of directors.

The council met with both mayoral candidates last week and after careful deliberation selected Doyle as the “best candidate to improve the business climate in Beaverton.”

The endorsement surprised Drake, who has served as Beaverton’s mayor for the past 15½ years.

“We’ve done a lot to build our relationship with the chamber and to build local businesses,” Drake said following the announcement. “Great examples include creation of an incubator — the Open Technology Business Center — and the economic gardening program.

“Personally, I’ve also been a strong supporter of many chamber events including Leadership Beaverton. I’ve served on the chamber board for 14 years and attended most of the lunches and ribbon cuttings. I have to ask what more can we do for the chamber?”

Burgess admits it was a tough decision, but ultimately it was Doyle’s commitment to making Beaverton a more business-friendly community that gave him the competitive edge.

“The mayor has done a wonderful job creating a solid foundation, but the council really felt that Denny Doyle was more aligned with the chamber mission of promoting a vibrant business community,” Burgess said. “We really felt Denny’s focus on open communication, transparent government and outreach to stakeholders on big issues would go a long way to strengthen the local economy.

“He showed a great willingness and determination to make an open environment in city hall and engage business in open dialogue on issues that affect the community.”

Clarno agreed.

“It is our strong belief as an organization that there is work to be done to improve the perception of doing business in Beaverton,” she said. “Denny came out clearly as the candidate who would make it a top priority.

“We have a tremendous respect for what Rob has accomplished, but we recognize there is more work to be done, specifically in solidifying Beaverton as the best business environment to grow and thrive. Denny’s issues align very closely with our mission and our top priorities. We are excited about mobilizing and are looking forward to what might be.”

The vote of confidence pleased Doyle, who has served on the City Council since 1994.

“I feel on top of the world,” Doyle said. “It means a great deal to me to know that the chamber, who represents hundreds of businesses large and small, has confidence in me and shares my vision for the business future of Beaverton.

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