Planning chief quits

A week after objecting to the county not reappointing a planning commission member, the chairman of the group resigned Monday and recommended that the person who wasn’t reappointed succeed him.

Nick Kraus submitted his resignation effective immediately. He spoke Jan. 2 in opposition to Jeff Bina not being reappointed. When William Kroupa was appointed instead, he warned that members might resign.

Kraus, who had a year left on his term, said he had started thinking about resigning several months ago. It’s always been “an unwritten rule” that members serve until they find their own replacements, Kraus said.

Kraus told commissioners he was resigning with the understanding that Bina would step into the chairman position. Commissioners voted 2-1 to accept Kraus’s resignation but did not reappoint Bina and said the zoning commission would name its own chairman.