Saying "this job was not something that I sought," Jeff Hingston resigned from the Mackinaw City Planning Commission Thursday, October 23, citing a potential conflict with his duties as a trustee on the Village Council.

Mr. Hingston, owner of Candy Corner-Windjammer Gifts on Central Avenue, read a letter to the commission saying, "I have a responsibility to my elected position and my appointed position as a planning commissioner to eliminate any doubt of proper voting procedure, and by not serving in both positions, any question in that regard does not exist."

He has served on the Planning Commission for four years, two as a council liaison and two as a voting member of the commission.

It has "always been my understanding that I could not, should not, vote twice," he said, on issues that come before the council and the commission. Serving on the commission, he said, was "something I was asked to do and told that it needed to be done, so I did, reluctantly. My own view is that an elected official should not sit on the Planning Commission."

Mr. Hingston read his letter during a lengthy discussion about bylaws that the commission must adopt under Michigan law by next year.

He said he would recommend to Village President Ronald Wallin that the council consider reducing the size of the Planning Commission from nine to seven people, a move that most members welcomed.

Mr. Hingston's departure leaves the commission with seven members. Fellow commissioners applauded his efforts.

Chairman Rob Most said, "I, as chair, will regret losing Jeff Hingston's point of view on the commission. He brought many points that helped stimulate discussion. I will, of course, miss his jabs."

Mr. Most called for better communication between the village council and the planning commission." The more we can understand the hopes and the thoughts and the knowledge of the council, the more they can understand us, and I think the climate will be better," he said.

Planning Commission members are Mr. Most, Mary Clark, Earl Taylor, Florence Tracy, Nancy Dean, Paul Allers, and Rosada Mann.