On the front page of today’s Winston-Salem Journal there’s an article titled "Groups Lobby City for Break"
and the thrust of the article is that the Chamber and the local realtors and developers are asking the city for a moratorium on new development regulations.  From the article:

Winston-Salem should impose a moratorium on any new business
regulations, including a proposed tree ordinance, because of current economic conditions, say the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce,
real-estate agents and homebuilders.

The chamber’s request, sent to the city last month, says that
Winston-Salem has enacted too many ordinances in recent years that add
to the cost of doing business. The letter specifically mentions
ordinances that affect sidewalk and street standards, storm-water
regulations, sign regulations and even an ordinance that requires
business owners to remove graffiti.

Okay, I understand that the Chamber’s job is to advocate for businesses in the city so I don’t begrudge it the position it’s taking.  It’s a later paragraph that they use to help justify their position that just blew my mind:

The number of zoning cases coming before the planning board is down
about 50 percent from last year, a measure that the chamber says is
evidence, in part, of "the difficulty doing business here."

What?  The Chamber wants us to believe that adding sidewalks and other such regs are going to keep developers from building?  I have to call "BS" here, because developers build anytime they think there will be a buyer.  You could require them to plant 100 pink ceramic elephants on every acre and they’d do it if they thought they’d have a buyer.  No, I’m thinking that perhaps our country’s epic housing decline and credit crisis might have just a little to do with the decrease in zoning cases.  Heck, Paul Norby, the director of the City County Planning Board, says exactly that in the article.

Like I said, I have no problem with the Chamber doing what they think is in the best interest of their members, but they should at least assume that the good citizens of Winston-Salem aren’t all a bunch of dumbasses and refrain from condescending arguments such as this.  And if nothing else they should realize that it makes them look like they’re the realtors’ and developers’ lap dogs, which they may very well be. 

BTW, I joined the Chamber last year and unfortunately I’ve only been able to make an event or two due to the fact that all the events seem to conflict with other obligations.  They did a wonderful job of outreach to me when I joined and it’s through no fault of theirs that I haven’t been able to do more with them.  I’m hoping to get more involved over the next couple of months.  On the other hand, I often find myself disagreeing with their public policy initiatives so I’m thinking they may not like having me around if I start piping up on the issues and letting them know what I think about many of their government affairs positions.  I don’t think that will win me the Dale Carnegie "How to Win Friends and Influence People" prize.