NATCHEZ — Starting next week, Ed Godfrey will have a little more free time, but he wasn’t exactly looking for it.

Godfrey was not reappointed to the Natchez Planning Commission after a vote by the board of aldermen meeting at the Nov. 9 board meeting. Godfrey’s final meeting on the planning commission will be Nov. 18.

Godfrey, vice chairman of the planning commission, was the only member of the nine-member planning commission that was not reappointed. He will be replaced by Butch Johnson.

Questions about the legitimacy of the appointments began a few months ago, when it was realized reappointments for seven members of the board were not found in minutes from previous board of aldermen meetings.

The memorandum announcing the appointments says the appointments will be voted on in the Nov. 23 board of aldermen meeting to “create a clear record of appointments in the minutes of the regular meeting.”

After that vote, the memo says an official letter will be sent to the appointees noting the beginning of a term. Terms are six years long.

Godfrey said he was disappointed to be replaced after serving on the board faithfully for many years.

“It has always been standard to ask members of a volunteer board if they want to continue to serve,” he said. “In this case, every member of the planning commission wanted to continue to serve.

“It just aggravates me that this could be allowed to happen.”

Godfrey served on the former board of adjustment for 14 years before that board was combined with metropolitan planning commission to form the Natchez Planning Commission in approximately 2007.

Those boards were combined because they had overlapping duties and authority, Godfrey said.

The planning commission members were notified by e-mail of their appointments and reappointments, but Godfrey said City Planner Robert Nix called him to let him know the outcome of the vote beforehand.

“I have always been a supporter of the city,” Godfrey said. “I’ve been on that board for years doing what I can to improve our city planning.

“City planning is the most important aspect of a city like Natchez, where we are trying preserve what got us here while moving forward.”

Phone calls to the Natchez Planning Department were not answered. The voicemail box for the department was full.

The planning commission is now made up of Linda Futrell, Charles Harris, Emma Rose Jackson, Johnson, Deborah Martin, Cheryl Morace Rhinehart, Key Smith, Karen Stubbs and Jacqulyn Williams.

Key Smith’s term expires in 2011.

Liz Dantone was also considered for a new appointment but did not receive the necessary number of votes.

The vote was taken during the finance committee session of the Nov. 9 aldermen meeting. Aldermen listed the eight people they most wanted to see on the commission and gave the ballot to Nix. Godfrey said he was upset with the manner the vote was done calling it “ludicrous.”

“It’s politics,” Godfrey said. “It has taken a position that should be a non-partisan, unbiased board there to protect the interests of development in Natchez and made it politics.”

He said the board of aldermen aren’t aware of the amount of time or dedication it takes to become knowledgeable on the planning codes and ordinances of the city.

“They don’t have a clue,” Godfrey said.