The Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 60th year of service with a “Six Decades of Dining” party at the County Fairgrounds.
The local Chamber was organized in 1946 as the city’s businesses started expanding following the end of World War II. At the time, there were just a few thousand residents here, few retail shops on Main Street, no Hacienda Business Park or Stoneridge Shopping Center, and not even freeways or cut-through traffic.
“At the time, Pleasanton was a sleepy little town with an agricultural focus, but men like Jack Kolln knew that while Main Street was a vibrant market center and his father’s hardware store provided a good living for the family, the business community could do better by joining together to promote business, to support each others’ businesses and to use their collective resources to help Pleasanton grow and prosper,” said Don Odell of the Pleasanton law firm of McNichols, Randick, O’Dea & Tooliatos, and the Chamber’s chairman for 2006.
“And so the Pleasanton Chamber was founded [and] Jack Kolln became the Chamber’s first president,” Odell added.
In the 60 years since, the Chamber has grown with the city, with nearly 1,000 members in a city that is nearing the 70,000-population mark.
Joyce Shapiro, who served as the chamber’s president in 1978, said the organization also became more influential over the years. It provided strong support in gaining voter approval to build the Hacienda Business Park, and to add the Stoneridge Mall. At the same time, it helped preserve historic Main Street while also working with the city to keep building heights to a maximum of five stories in Hacienda.
“One developer wanted to build at 14-story office building at Hopyard and Stoneridge, which the city turned down,” said Shapiro, who also served on the city Planning Commission. “Approval finally was given for five stories in the center of Hacienda, but only after developers agreed to help the city buy a new hook-and-ladder fire truck with a ladder and fire fighting equipment that would be capable of reaching the tops of those buildings.”
Although always politically active, the Chamber has gained increasing influence in the city’s political affairs since forming a political action committee two years ago. Candidates seeking public office are invited to interview with the PAC committee, which then makes recommendations to the Chamber. This year, all six candidates seeking public office–two for the mayor’s post and four for City Council–sought the Chamber’s endorsement in meetings with the PAC group. Only two–Jerry Thorne and Cheryl Cook-Kallio–were successful and were at the Chamber’s 60th anniversary party to celebrate.
The Chamber declined to endorse either Mayor Jennifer Hosterman or Councilman Steve Brozosky in the mayor’s race, although both also joined in the anniversary celebration.
