The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce has been making some strange moves lately, even for them.

They got behind an effort to bring — of all people — Karl Rove to town, ticking off Democrats on the County board — which is to say, almost the whole board. To add insult to injury, Jim McConoughey, head of the Chamber’s umbrella company Heartland Partnership, sent an e-mail that was perceived as very derogatory toward organized labor. They’ve since backpedaled on both fronts, but it may be too late. The County board might consider “ending the county’s $113,000 annual contract with the Economic Development Council, said Peoria County Board member Allen Mayer, who chairs the Tax/EDC committee,” according to the Journal Star.

I really wonder how the Chamber makes its decisions. I theorized once that they used a magic 8-ball, given their inconsistency on tax increases. They’ve now supported a property tax increase for the library expansion and a sales tax increase to benefit the proposed downtown museum. Yet they have traditionally opposed any tax increases that would go toward basic services, such as poublic safety (police, fire), even when the proposed increases were less than the taxes they’ve supported. That kind of inconsistency earned them no small amount of criticism from former City Councilman Bob Manning, who also called them the “Peoria Area Chamber of Some Commerce” — a reference to the fact that they only seem to really represent certain large employers in the area.

As part of their effort to support the museum, you may recall that they sent letters to Peoria County public school superintendents asking them not to request a sales tax increase for school purposes the same time the museum’s sales tax referendum was going to be on the ballot. They also supported District 150’s “efforts to make tough decisions,” and spoke in favor of District 150 closing schools at a recent School Board meeting. The Chamber’s strange alliance with District 150 has also cost them some members, from what I’ve heard.

All of this makes me wonder… Do they really speak for Peoria business people when they issue these press releases? Do they take a poll of their membership before speaking for them? Do Peoria business people, by and large, support higher taxes for museums and libraries, but oppose them for police and fire protection? Do Peoria business people, by and large, support closing public schools and increasing class sizes? Do Peoria business people, by and large, have antipathy toward organized labor? Are Peoria business people, by and large, Republican?

I can’t help but get the impression that perhaps the Chamber is just a little out of touch with the people they say they represent.