Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said the quiet part out loud.

“I would have liked to put a Request for Proposals for something like this,” Harmon said.

It was just one of a barrage of comments critical and inquisitive about the City of Santa Barbara’s plan to spend $250,000 this year and up to $1 million over three years for an economic development plan.

Although the three-member Finance Committee on Tuesday voted to send the proposal to the full City Council on Aug. 20, they did so begrudgingly, and Harmon raised the most concerns about why the city was rushed into a deal with the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.

She criticized the timing of the proposal, the lack of specifics and the lack of process, and called parts of the plan “amorphous.”

“I didn’t hear a lot of concrete deliverables. It was more like, ‘Research this, convene this,’ which are super important, but I am trying to understand, what are the concrete deliverables?” Harmon said.

The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce, led by its president and CEO, Kristen Miller, wants $250,000 this year from the city to develop new economic policies surrounding a State Street leasing strategy, hospitality, events, visitor services and the so-called “Blue Economy,” and supporting housing downtown, among other initiatives.

Parts of the proposal include creating eight business districts: Downtown, Coast Village Road, Mesa/Cliff Drive, Funk Zone, Waterfront, De la Vina, Milpas, and Upper State Street.

Finance Director Keith DeMartini recommended that the city spend $150,000 in general fund reserves, $50,000 from airport reserves and $50,000 from waterfront reserves to create a plan this year.

In total, the chamber is asking for $1 million over two years, and an annual $500,000 investment from the city, some of which could be funded by the sales tax increase on the November ballot.

Miller attended the meeting via Zoom because she said she recently tested positive for COVID-19.

“We’re delighted to be here today with a plan to get us started, set up systems, begin the research and provide deliverables that will shape a more robust economic development plan we can all work on together in a public-private partnership going forward,” Miller said at the meeting.

In response to Harmon’s questions about deliverables, Miller said the chamber would provide data to the Finance Committee on a regular basis. That data could include sales tax numbers, how many meetings they had with businesses in areas such as the waterfront and the Mesa. She also mentioned the already launched “So Much to Love in Santa Barbara” promotional campaign as a deliverable.

John Stedman, chairman of the Santa Barbara Harbor Commission, expressed strong concerns about the chamber’s proposal.

“What’s missing in this commentary is, what’s the data model?” Stedman said. “Where are the metrics? This would be called in the private world phase zero project, and any phase zero still has deliverables.”

He said the proposal needs hard dates and milestones.

“I don’t see any of that,” Stedman said.

DeMartini told Noozhawk after the meeting that the chamber is “uniquely positioned to collaborate with the city.”

“They represent and work with hundreds of businesses in the region,” DeMartini said. “The foundational economic work proposed is critical to improving the economic vitality of our community.”

DeMartini said the chamber’s proposal is considered a “professional service” and, therefore, does not require a formal bidding process.

He said the staff will work to confirm the scope and deliverables to “develop a detailed and accountable one-year agreement with the chamber.”

The two other members of the committee, Alejandra Gutierrez and Eric Friedman, expressed similar concerns but said they were hopeful that the proposal would have more specific information when it goes before the City Council.

Harmon said she has no doubt that the chamber would have won an RFP process, but a formal effort would have created a more specific development plan immediately rather than backing into the proposal.

“I am just continually troubled by expenditures that come outside a delineated budget process,” Harmon said. “It has nothing to do with the chamber. I have just always felt it was a fundamental unfairness.”

Santa Barbara’s downtown businesses have sounded the alarm in recent months about the state of State Street and increasingly difficult business climate. The Chamber, under the leadership of Miller, has assumed a higher profile in the community since COVID-19, merging Goleta, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria.

But Santa Barbara’s struggles with economic development stretch back several years.

In 2019, the city paid for the Kosmont Report, which cost $84,000 and was 87 pages of observations, suggestions and recommendations, which included creating an economic development plan.

In 2022, former economic development manager Jason Harris, presented a three-year plan, which included a “shop local” campaign, efforts to improve engagement with the business community and create a downtown property assessment District.

Plans also called for facilitating special events and cultural programs to bring “new experiences and activities” to downtown, and to look at ways to convert unused commercial space into housing.

Last year, former City Administrator Rebecca Bjork eliminated funding for Harris’ position in the budget, so he left.

Now comes the Chamber’s proposal, which sources said has been championed behind-the-scenes by new City Administrator Kelly McAdoo, who replaced the retiring Bjork in February of this year.