Salinas city leaders got notice Monday morning that their membership in the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce will be canceled once it expires at the end of June. That decision comes just days after the chamber put its president/CEO Steve McShane on leave. McShane is also a Salinas councilman. The decision to cancel the city’s membership comes as some in the community, including elected leaders raise concerns over conflicts of interest. “It would definitely be good for the organizations to work together because we have so many different issues at hand so having more people interested or vested in the downtown or at least downtowns of all the cities I think is generally a good thing,” said Greg Hamer, district coordinator for Salinas city center. A letter sent to Salinas city manager Steve Carrigan regarding the cancellation of the city’s membership was brief but gave no reason why it was being canceled. “The City of Salinas’ annual membership with the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce expires on June 30, 2023. The Chamber will not be renewing the City’s membership. In addition, the Chamber hereby withdraws any requests for funding or sponsorship of Chamber events. We thank you for the City’s membership and support over the years,” the letter said. That letter was signed by Bill Hastie, the chair of the board of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce. Hastie told Action News over the phone that the membership was being canceled to eliminate the appearance of any conflict of interest between the chamber, the city, and councilman McShane.As a councilman McShane could vote on financial requests made by his employer, the chamber of commerce. According to city manager Carrigan, the chamber had requested $15,000 from the city in its recent budget for a leadership event, awards luncheon, and membership dues.Last month Carrigan made it known he was planning on cancelling the city’s membership with the chamber because there is “too much of a potential conflict of interest,” involving McShane as a councilman and employee of the chamber of commerce.The easy thing for councilman McShane to do was simply recuse himself from votes involving his employer. When reached by phone last week, McShane confirmed he was on leave but referred all questions to board chair Hastie.But Monterey county leaders also had concerns about being associated with the chamber. Last month the board voted 3-2 to reject plans to join the membership.“They also make political endorsements, they're a lobbying organization and that is a big red flag in my mind, with any organization, not just the chamber, but any organization that will be engaged in any political activity,” said county supervisor Glenn Church who along with Mary Adams and Wendy Root Askew voted against joining the valley chamber of commerce.But in a surprise twist the same board voted unanimously to award another $100,000 to the Monterey county business council, upping that organization's annual take from the county to $200,000. That organization is run by Salinas mayor Kimbley Craig.So why support one organization that is run by the Salinas mayor and not another one run by a Salinas councilman? The simple answer Action News was told was because the chamber of commerce does political endorsements and the business council doesn’t.But below the surface others said petty politics also played a large role. “It's unfortunate. I think it was a big opportunity for us to show support to our business community, to show that we honor what they do, which is employing the vast majority of people in Monterey County as our small businesses are, that's what they create,” said county supervisor Chris Lopez.The board chair for the Salinas Valley chamber of commerce said the “city has been a great partner,” and the door will remain open for the city’s membership to be renewed at a future date. Hastie added the chamber will continue to meet with Salinas city leaders on a monthly basis to address issues in the business community and promote economic development.Another question that wasn’t answered is why Steve McShane was put on leave. As of Monday Hastie said the president/CEO was still on leave but he said McShane has privacy rights and the issue could not be discussed.