By James JR Rowten
This is as much a cry for justice as it is for redemption.
Over eight months ago, accusations of embezzlement and wiping clean a business hard drive forever sullied my reputation.
Further stories containing falsehoods have been perpetuated by Deanna Smith, chairperson of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce board, and the chamber’s legal counsel.
None of these accusations were true, despite a thorough review of chamber accounting by Smith and others. Per the bylaws, all chamber finances were in order and approved by the executive committee.
The executive committee had carefully examined our budget before the full board further reviewed and approved it. These are the facts.
If allowed and not interfered with, the chamber would have met its obligations and performed according to the approved budget per plan. We simply could not have done it without the full support of the entire board.
The chamber was well on its way to a new and sustainable future until Smith began a smear campaign against me and other board members.
But in the end, I was the target of her wrath. The harm caused by these lies and my subsequent release as CEO of the chamber has directly targeted my reputation as a leader with a vision and a pathway to fulfill that vision. I’m an honest and well-respected professional with over 30-plus years of varied business experience that led me to take on the challenge of taking the chamber in a new direction.
And it was personal. Smith told me directly in a one-to-one meeting that I had become “too much of a distraction.”
The chamber has still not paid me for monies legally owed under California labor law, and I will undoubtedly win a judgment, but it will have to go through the process, which is heavily backlogged with claims and understaffed.
The lasting effect is that my reputation has been forever damaged as a story built on sensationalism and lies stacked high on our digital dustbin for all to see.
This is not right. The articles featuring my rebuttal to these falsehoods and accusations rank nowhere near as high as the fabricated stories following a simple Google name search.
I left the Escondido Chamber holding my head high, knowing we were on the right track. Before someone who made things personal derailed us, we had overcome many obstacles, including the pandemic, and were building on the momentum of positive change.
The Escondido Chamber of Commerce (no longer the Greater Escondido Chamber of Commerce) will survive for a while longer and is reverting back to its former ways.
Nothing will have changed except for another chance that Escondido missed to become something much bigger and better, an opportunity to hold your head high, Escondido, something the city has long needed and deserved.
You missed a chance to be something better, to lead and not always follow, to be something rather than almost being something. The many business owners and managers who make up the business community of Escondido deserve better.
I have taken this break in my professional career to evaluate myself and look for the positives in this whole calamity. As I look back, my biggest takeaway confirms that I was right: Trust your experience, skills, knowledge and gut. Armed with renewed vigor and enthusiasm, I am ready to let my flame burn even brighter.
There will always be people who see you as a “distraction.” Don’t let them distract you from doing what you know is right.
James JR Rowten is the former CEO of the Greater Escondido Chamber of Commerce.
