Heegan must show vision for Chamber

Editorials

Discussion

COMMENTING ON STORIES:

Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.

Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.

Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.

RULES OF CONDUCT:

We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:

1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.

WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:

1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:

1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.

WE WELCOME:

1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.

MONITORING:

We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time (including weekends) will be sporadic.

comments powered by Disqus

May 24, 2012

Heegan must show vision for Chamber

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Thu May 24, 2012, 03:25 AM EDT

In selecting Barbara Ann Heegan as its executive director last week, the Otsego County Chamber would seem to have chosen a safe rather than a bold path for its immediate future.

If so, that would be perfectly understandable given the chaos created last year after its previous leader, Rob Robinson _ who had been the organization's president and chief executive officer for more than 15 years _ was arrested.

Robinson was fired Nov. 21, days after being charged with insurance fraud for allegedly creating a fictitious category in the Chamber so that individuals living in the New York City area could enroll in its health plan. His case is pending in Oneonta Town Court.

Heegan, 34, will certainly present a contrast to the previous regime. Where Robinson was outspoken and self-aggrandizing, Heegan is more polite and self-effacing.

But we are concerned that Heegan, marketing director at The Plains at Parish Homestead, an adult community in the town of Oneonta, might not have _ at least at this point _ a sufficiently active agenda.

She told The Daily Star in an interview this week that she will take an inventory of the local economy by stopping in at businesses.

That's all very well and good, but after spending several years in this area and being active in the community _ Heegan is past-president of the Oneonta Rotary, an officer of Oneonta Elks Lodge 1312 and a board member of the United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties _ she should already have a pretty good idea about the needs of the business community.

Heegan, an unsuccessful Common Council candidate last year, said she did not know how much funding is in the 400-member Chamber's budget.

One would have thought that might have come up in her interview with the Chamber board. Another question that might have been asked in the interview process was "what is your vision for the future of the Chamber and the local economy?"

Heegan said in The Daily Star interview that a major challenge is to reach beyond Otsego County lines and market the county as a place for businesses to open or to expand.

That has been a challenge around here for many years, even as the local Chamber has spent far too much energy on lobbying state officials rather than promoting Otsego County to differentiate it from other areas.

Heegan doesn't even begin her duties until June 4, so it's unfair to expect her to have all the answers right away. But strong, effective _ and yes, bold _ vision and leadership will be required of the new Chamber executive director if our area is to not just survive, but thrive.