Wasilla chamber working toward stabilization

WASILLA — The Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce is finalizing announcements expected to be made during today’s regular luncheon meeting.

What those announcements will be was held in confidence as late as Monday afternoon.

Board of Director’s President Chris Abernathy said he would not elaborate further, but he did offer an update on the state of the chamber.

The board recently asked the members for additional donations totaling $20,000 to fund a third-party audit, a review of bylaws and human resource policies, and directors and operators insurance for the board members. The donation works out to $61 for each of the chamber’s 328 members.

“We haven’t raised that much money yet, but we have had other people offer services for the chamber,” Abernathy said.

He said a group has updated the chamber’s human resource policies pro bono, cleaning up language and removing some things that were not required. The Foraker Group has agreed to update the chamber’s bylaws for a reduced rate, and Abernathy expects those results soon.

Abernathy said the request for proposal is out for the third party audit necessary amid allegations against the chamber executive director, Cheryl Metiva. Metiva has been put on administrate leave pending the results of the audit, only the first three weeks of which were paid. That time is now up, and she is no longer receiving a paycheck from the chamber.

Abernathy said he does not know her intentions, and the changes to the bylaws and employment policies do not directly affect her situation. It’s more about the long run, and it is hoped the changes will prevent something like this from happening again, he said.

Lastly, the board members has funded their directors and operators insurance out of their own pockets, Abernathy said. There is a clause saying the board members have the opportunity to recoup that cost when the chamber is in better financial standing. For his part, Abernathy said he will not seek reimbursement. This cost is his donation to the chamber, he said.

The chamber luncheon begins at noon in the Glacier Canyon Grill at the Grand View Inn.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.