By Teresa L. Benns

SAGUACHE — During a surprise vote at the county Planning Commission meeting last Thursday in Saguache all but two county Planning Commission members voted to replace Jeff Shook as Planning Commission chairman.

Both Shook as chairman and Don Geddes as vice chairman were voted down to simple members. Bill McClure was elected chairman of the commission and local real estate agent Annie Nielsen as vice-chairman.

Ken Williams and Allen Jones also have been named to the commission as alternates.

Shook and Geddes had been under fire for some of the master plan language protested countywide at public hearings late last year. According to Nielsen and others close to the planning commission, the master plan has undergone considerable change over the past month.

“We’ve been slashing and cutting on the master plan,” and work on the plan will continue this Thursday at the commission’s work session, she said. “We also got rid of the U.N. language.” Nielsen added that the commission has discovered quite a few things that should not be in the master plan at all and is working to rewrite the plan.

Nielsen pointed out that she faithfully attended every master plan meeting in the county and noted that the Villa Grove meeting did get out of hand. “But I really don’t think it was that serious,” she said, going on to comment that calling in law enforcement for subsequent meetings was, in her opinion, overkill.

Noting that meetings have been disorganized and not run according to Roberts Rules, Nielsen said that she believes Bill McClure will resolve that issue.

“Bill cares about the county,” Nielsen said, “and he knows how to run meetings. He can get things back under control.”

The Planning Commission will meet at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Saguache Courthouse.