I used to be kind of a hippie.

If you had seen me last night, holding court over a roomful of bankers and doctors and county politicians, laying down the Chamber law like the gruff new sheriff in town, you might have said, "What the hell happened to sweet peaceful Lulu?"

I had a GREAT Chamber board meeting last night. The thing I love about this job (and I do love it) is that I am the boss, and no half-wit weasel gets to overrule everything I say. Sure, I have to answer to a board, but they are ready to follow my lead. It's heady stuff.

You see, this Chamber gets things done. We have semi-successful festivals (kinda dull, but always in the black) and provide all kinds of information to the public and manage to pay the bills and have networking socials and such. But our secretary (who also does all the bookkeeping) makes $18,000 a year--after 24 YEARS on the job. And no benefits outside of paid vacation. Now, she really doesn't need the money and, so, hasn't clamored for it because the Chamber has always been on the financial edge. But tell me, dear reader, how I am going to replace a full-time, skilled admin assistant with only that lousy package to offer? And she will retire within the next few years. And there are no scheduled pay raises in the budget or the bylaws.

And then there's my salary--$15k a year for part-time, with no benefits. My jobs are currently under discussion. A Chamber committee and a job-combining committee appointed by the Mayor are going to try to work it out over the course of 4 meetings to be held in the next 2 months. At the end of that time, I should know 1. if my jobs will combine, 2. how much I will make, and 3. what I have to do.

But that's another day. I put the word out to other Chamber execs, asking them what their admins get paid. Mostly, if they had one, it was in the $25,000 range with at least some benefits! Why is it that our Chamber can't get it together?

So, last night at my second board meeting (and the first since early June), I laid out my plan. I didn't even realize that I had managed to MAKE a plan--it sort of morphed out of the pile of papers on my desk--but I sure did have one. It mostly involves going through the U.S. Chamber's accreditation process. The U.S. Chamber recommends that a Chamber give itself at least four months to complete their little 62-page application. Out of 6,936 Chambers in the U.S., only 301 are accredited. There are four levels of accreditation--basic accreditation, and then 3, 4, or 5 stars. There's only one 5-star Chamber in State and only 9 State-wide. (You Buckeyes might be happy to know that your own Methodistville is either a 4 or 5 star. Huzzah!) So why not join them? That's my plan.

I was getting a huge amount of positive feedback as I voiced my plans to improve board meeting attendance (without a quorum, all of my work goes un-voted on and, thus, nowhere), raise dues (so we can pay people to work here), secure a permanent home for the Chamber, create an organization chart (we didn't have one! The most basic of building blocks!), create a Program of Work (goals for the year) that I, um, NEED in order to know what I'm expected to do so I can do it before my year-end performance review, and on and on. One board member said, "We've been running this Chamber like an ad hoc committee--it needs to be run like a business." Another said, when I asked if anyone had any questions or comments about my plan, "Just keep doing what you're doing, even if you get five years ahead of us."

My goal, which I labeled "A Clear Vision to 2020" (ha!), is to set up the Chamber to function in a consistent manner, regardless of personnel changes, through 2020. After last night, I know I have the support I need to make that happen.

And I've moved that much closer to commitment. Oh, I suffer a good amount of mommy guilt! In a perfect world, this would be a part-time job (and my only one), and I would have more time to spend with Mark before he starts school. However, it's also important to grab opportunities. I'm really lucky to have found a job I really enjoy, and that I feel is important, and that, one day, will bring a decent salary, in a small town. I'll work it all out.

Thanks for reading. I have a few things to click off on my to-do list. (And so do you! Stop screwing around on the Internet!).