ZELIENOPLE — It is unclear when a new executive director for the Zelienople-Harmony Area Chamber of Commerce will be chosen.

Meg Kessler, the previous executive director, resigned last week. Her husband Bill Kessler, a member of the chamber’s board of directors, also resigned several days later.

She cited “irreconcilable differences” as her reason for leaving, noting she signed a nondisclosure agreement stipulating that she not talk about the circumstances of her exit.

Regarding the process of a new executive director search, board President Mary Anne Kristophel said Tuesday, “I don’t have anything to tell you.”

Kessler had been the executive director since November 2009, replacing former longtime executive director Marnie Repasky, who had led the chamber for the 17 years.

When Kessler left, she said, “Some of the 2011 board of directors do not want or like change. I brought change. Those same board members really want a secretary, not an executive director.

“The reason they hired an executive director is to have a chamber that is professional.”

Bill Kessler, in his letter to the membership dated April 20, said he tried to explain his wife’s “irreconcilable differences” with the board of directors.

He wrote that certain board members made decisions that weren’t in the best interest of the chamber, but in their own interests.

He called into question the board’s representation that he believed violated the chamber’s bylaws.

He also questioned voting procedures and special privileges that he said were extended to a certain segment of the chamber board.

Bill Kessler added certain board members resisted supporting other organizations that are trying to promote economic growth such as the Harmony Business Association, boroughs, and Jackson Township.

In an e-mail letter sent April 15, Kristophel told the chamber’s membership, “It is with sincere regret that, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Zelienople/Harmony Area Chamber Commerce, I have accepted her (Kessler’s) resignation.”

“Meg was a dynamic and innovative leader bringing many, many positive changes to the chamber in her 18 months tenure,” she added. “She will be greatly missed by chamber members as well as community leaders and residents.”

“The ZHACC board must now try and overcome this loss while working together to insure that member’s needs will continue to be met and services provided. We ask that the membership please bear with us during this transitional period.”

“We sincerely wish Meg and her husband Bill the best of luck and continued success in any and all future endeavors,” Kristophel said.