WENDELL - Both staff members at the Wendell Chamber of Commerce quit their jobs last week, and at least two board members have submitted their resignations, sparking a meeting between chamber leaders and town commissioners on Tuesday night.

The resignations come in the wake of a Jan. 23 meeting called by the chamber president. Board members met at office of chamber president Scott Hicks instead of gathering at the chamber office where they normally hold meetings.

Member services director Brigitte Gros submitted her resignation while that meeting was taking place after learning what the meeting was about. Executive Director Ula Mae Life submitted her resignation two days later, on Jan. 25. Tuesday was her last day on the job.

Hicks told commissioners Tuesday night that the meeting was an effort to address concerns about the way the chamber was being operated.

Brenda Johnson, one of the chamber board members who quit following the meeting, said it should not have taken place.

“I’m sick. I’m upset, I’m hurt. I’m embarrassed. The whole thing was just unethical,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Life both say the chamber’s bylaws do not include provisions for holding meetings that are not advertised to the chamber membership.

Life said Wednesday that she didn’t feel the need to defend herself.

“Yesterday I dropped the key on the desk and walked out the door with dignity. I’m proud of what we’ve done at the chamber,” Life said.

Life and Gros, who owns the White Dove Wedding Chapel, said they were not happy that board members would meet in secret to discuss concerns about the staff’s work.

Life, as the executive director of the chamber, is also a member of its board of directors.

She was not invited to attend the meeting.

Hicks told commissioners on Tuesday, that Life and Gros’s departures were voluntary.

“Ula Mae left to take care of her family, Brigitte left to take care of her business,” Hicks told commissioners.

Details offered

But commissioner Christie Adams pressed Hicks for a more complete explanation for the resignations.

“I understand there were some complaints that got us where we are,” Adams said. “Were the complaints made on behalf of the town?”

Hicks told Adams complaints came from chamber members and from other chambers of commerce, but did not specify what the complaints involved.

Johnson said the complaints came from town commissioner Ginna Gray, who serves as the town board’s liaison to the chamber, Sheree Hedrick and Brandi Hunter, a former chamber board member who quit her post in January, but has now returned to a seat on the chamber board.

“I thought they were just so nit-picky the things they were complaining about, spelling errors and one person didn’t like the committees they were assigned to. I thought they were things that they should have just spoken up about so we could work through them and address them, Johnson said.

Hunter defended the decision to have a meeting to discuss the performance issues.

“I had concerns and I brought them up with Ula Mae and Brigitte. Scott asked me to speak at the meeting,” Hunter said. “I felt it was a very positive meeting. Everyone wanted to come together to address some small issues.”

Hedrick, Hunter and Gray were invited to the Jan. 23 meeting. Hedrick and Hunter attended, but Gray did not.

The departures left the chamber office unmanned, but Hicks’ wife, Tracie, has assumed the responsibility of keeping the office while a search gets underway for a new director.

Scott Hicks said the board’s actions didn’t result in the staff departures.

“Our board had nothing to do with the resignations,” he said.

Staff writer Johnny Whitfield contributed to this report.