One down, one to go. With Mark McDermott resigning from the Visitors Bureau, I am hopeful that Frank Ferrara is contemplating a similar move.

First of all, thank you for all the positive responses to my previous letter. We have a lot of unhappy business owners in Fountain Hills who feel a change has been a long time coming.

It takes courage to stand up to an institution like the Chamber of Commerce. I am no stranger to this Chamber of Commerce; I have first-hand experience. I served on the Board of Directors for five years, I was on the committee that hired Frank Ferrara, I also co-chaired the Building Committee for the location of the existing building of the Chamber; and I was also named Business Person of the Year in 1995.

I feel I have the knowledge and background to call the issues out when I see them.

As many of you know, salaries have always been an issue – the amount paid in salaries, bonuses, and benefits are suspect to me. We paid off a $450,000 mortgage over eight years ago; since then where is all the money going? I know it isn’t going back into making our businesses thrive.

It’s time to get some fresh and new ideas to invigorate this Chamber and revitalize our town’s businesses; we need a Chamber we can be proud of again.

We need the board to reconsider the leadership – in years past Frank did a terrific job, I was a huge champion. Now I just don’t see his heart into building our town’s businesses and helping the small business owners.