Barufaldi to leave chamber

Nature of dispute is not yet disclosed

Friday, May 2, 2008

The organization’s executive committee members told him this week they would opt not to continue his contract, according to a chamber official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Helen Heier, the chamber’s chairwoman, said she could not discuss Barufaldi’s leaving until ‘‘an agreement” is reached between the executive committee and Barufaldi. She said she also could not discuss when a public statement would be released about why she and the chamber’s executive committee, who are the only people aware of the reasons surrounding the termination, chose not to renew the contract.

Heier will probably meet with Barufaldi over the next couple of days to decide whether he will announce his resignation or the contract won’t continue, the Maryland Independent’s source said. The chamber will then make a public statement to chamber members, Heier said.

Barufaldi was not at the chamber’s offices in La Plata on Thursday for comment.

Choosing not to renew a director’s contract is unusual, the unnamed source told the Independent, but the chamber will run smoothly and efficiently despite the leadership shake-up.

Dee Hancock, the chamber’s administrative manager, will probably take over in the interim until a replacement CEO is found, the source said.

Hancock would not talk to the Independent about the situation at the chamber’s office Tuesday.

Barufaldi began work as the chamber’s executive director in February 2007 after he resigned unexpectedly as director of the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce based on the belief the chamber breached pay stipulations in his contract and his disagreement with the way the executive members were running the chamber, according to report by the Ocean City Today newspaper.

The paper also reported that Barufaldi filed a lawsuit April 3 against the Ocean City Chamber for hundreds of thousands of dollars because he claimed the chamber failed to live up to the financial agreement it made with him.

The lawsuit claims breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing in a contract, negligent misrepresentation, violation of the Maryland wage payment and collection law and interference with contractual relations, the newspaper reported. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial.

Melanie A. Pursel, executive director of the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, said she could not comment on the chamber’s former or current relationship with Barufaldi or the status of the lawsuit, except that her chamber had not yet retained a lawyer in the case.

Lorrie Anderson, owner of Country Florist in Waldorf, who also held Heier’s position in 2006 and headed the search committee that hired Barufaldi, said she was surprised to hear the news.

‘‘I don’t know why he’s gone. You’re always a little bit concerned when something like this happens but I’m confident that we’ll get through this. The board of directors and executive committee are competent people, and I’m sure they’ll do a good job finding a new person. We’re going to be fine,” she said.