Keen resigns from county Planning Board
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 13, 2011 1:46 PM
Steve Keen stepped down at noon today from the seat on the Wayne County Planning Board he has held for the past nine years.
Keen, a county commissioner, announced during the commission's Tuesday meeting that he was resigning to take an appointment to the state Environmental Management Commission. The commission is responsible for adopting rules for the protection, preservation and enhancement of the state's air and water resources.
The 19-member commission is appointed by the governor, speaker of the house and senate president pro-tempore. Keen will be sworn in Thursday.
"After seeking advice from Wayne County Attorney Borden Parker in regards to this appointment, I find it necessary to resign my position on the Wayne County Planning Board prior to be being sworn in on the Environmental Management Commission because of N.C. General Statutes 128-1.1," he said. "This statute allows me to have one elected office and one appointive office."
Keen, whose term on the Planning Board ends next month, said he enjoyed serving on that board. He said he considered it a "high honor" to be appointed to the Environmental Management Commission.
Members are selected to represent various interests including the medical profession, agriculture, engineering, fish and wildlife, groundwater, air and water pollution, municipal or county government and the public, he said.
"The commission oversees and adopts rules for several divisions of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources including the divisions of air quality, land resources, water quality and water resources," Keen said.