Chamber names interim CEO; Potter resigns in protest

The Maricopa Chamber of Commerce board of directors elected John Kennedy Friday to be the group’s interim president and chief executive officer.

Chamber treasurer Leon Potter, who is also on the city council, resigned saying he was unhappy how the election was handled.

Kennedy replaces Jim McMichael, who was asked to resign in September after six months.

“He’s eminently qualified,” Mike Richey, vice chairman of the board, said of Kennedy, adding Kennedy installed the chamber’s computer system and was familiar with how it operates.

“He’s recently retired and had some time on his hands,” Richey said. “And he has board experience.”

Kennedy was the board’s secretary in 2011. 

“The intent of this is to fill the void to get us through an important time for the chamber,” Richey said. The next board elections are in January.

Kennedy said Friday he would not comment until the chamber issued a press release.

McMichael, who filled a vacancy created when Terri Kingery resigned in 2010, said he was asked to resign by Chairman John Donohue and Richey, but other board members were unaware of the pair’s actions. 

Potter said he resigned from the board in protest of the emergency meeting held to elect Kennedy.

“I don’t think this was a legal meeting,” Potter said.

Potter said the meeting was in violation of chamber bylaws because it was held without seven days notice.

“And it’s been a pattern, the direction it seems to be going, not following the bylaws,” Potter said. “I just couldn’t support it.”

Potter said he also did not know anything about the request for McMichael to resign, and that contributed to his own resignation.

“We weren’t even in the know as a board,” Potter said. “There was no email, no meeting set.”

Potter said it was just one of several issues within the chamber board.

He said there has also been a politicking among the board members and a lack of consensus.
As a city council member, Potter said he knew that “getting what you want voted down is just part of the package,” but he said there is an unwillingness to “hear everyone’s input” in the chamber board’s decisions.