Montrose - Daily Press

MONTROSE - The Montrose Chamber of Commerce has terminated its executive director, Terri Leben, after asking for her resignation Monday.

"I think Terri had great ideas and I'm not suggesting she did anything wrong, but at this point we are looking at the fit and direction of the organization and trying to match it with the right personnel," said Steve Savoy, the Chamber board's secretary-treasurer.

Leben said Tuesday that she was asked to resign or be terminated Monday at 11:45 a.m.

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"I was not given a choice �” either resign or we'll fire you. I was not going to do that (resign) because I had not done anything wrong," Leben said.

The board held a special meeting last week, during which time Leben was out of town on vacation. At the meeting, the board voted unanimously, with one absent member, to give Leben the opportunity to resign and what to do if she chose not to, Savoy said.

Leben said she was terminated on the basis of repeated failures follow the directives given by the board, according to the termination letter she was given. Leben said she was unclear on what those directives where. Savoy would not comment on the details, but said the board was also following some of the recommendation given by the draft report provided by the National Community Development Services.

Recently, the Chamber was part of an assessment by the outside consulting firm, NCDS.

NCDS was hired by several entities, including the city, Chamber, Montrose Area Merchants Association, Visitors and Convention Bureau and Montrose Economic Development Corporation, to analyze the feasibility of merging some of the functions of the organizations (not including the city), as well as look for gaps in services.

NCDS interviewed several leading community members from a list provided by the different organizations. A draft of NCDS' findings was provided to the Chamber board on Nov. 3, Leben said.

Leben said the report, which is looking at a possible restructuring of the Chamber, found that a "vocal minority" stated they were not sure if Leben was the person they wanted running the organization.

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Comments

Chamber Member wrote on Nov 20, 2009 4:09 PM:

" continuation.......

With Mrs. Leben as the Director, financially, the Chamber would have been better off and the members would have actually received a benefit for their annual dues. "




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Chamber Member wrote on Nov 20, 2009 4:08 PM:

" Mrs. Leben did not create the problem that the Chamber has got itself in, she inherited these problems created by the previous director and board. The chamber has been in a financial hardship for several years. Mrs. Leben made all of these issues transparent to all of the members and the "Good Ole Boys” did not like it, because they are partially responsible along with the past director. Mrs. Leben should not have been fired; the Chamber board should have been disbanded along with the Redcoats. "




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Mike Hunt wrote on Nov 19, 2009 10:52 AM:

" How dare Terrie Leben speak her mind here in America. If more people chose to speak their minds, we wouldn't have so much political correctness and we could get to the heart of our problems and get them solved. Disrespectful or not, using the term "good ol' boy" to describe the Chamber Board is pretty accurate.
Politically, good ol' boy refers to representatives that engage in cronyism and that is what this town does. It appoints friends to positions of power, regardless of their qualifications. "




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What took so long wrote on Nov 18, 2009 9:08 AM:

" Too bad the current Board did not listen to those that knew 4 months ago she needed to go. Ms. Liben disrespectfully called them good ole boys. Well they have been vindicated. The Chamber and Montrose will be better off with her gone. "




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