County committee accepts Housing Authority resignation and moves to downsize board to five members

The Effingham County legislative committee accepted the resignation of Housing Authority member Billy Gnaust and agreed to reduce the size of the Housing Authority board from seven members back down to five.

The Official announced the resignation, citing Gnaust's health and family issues and noting his long service: "Billy has ran into some health issues... he's up there in age too. He's been on there ... several years." A committee member moved to accept the resignation; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Members discussed the rationale for returning to five members. The Official said the committee previously increased membership years ago at the county board's direction and that the panel believed it could operate efficiently with five members. One member noted that the county may want to add a member later if a particular perspective is needed, pointing to the loss of Leonard Waldorf's local contacts as one reason representation had been useful in the past.

The committee voted to forward the request to downsize the Housing Authority from seven to five to the full board; that motion carried by voice vote.

Next steps: the resignation will be recorded and the downsizing proposal will be forwarded to the full board for final action.