Banning council member Bob Botts resigned Tuesday night, Mayor Debbie Franklin said Wednesday morning.
"He announced his resignation at the council meeting, about 5 minutes before the end of the meeting, and turned in a letter," Franklin said in a phone interview. "It took everybody by surprise."
Botts could not be reached to comment for this report.
His resignation comes in the wake of Banning chief of police Leonard Purvis going on voluntary paid leave effective Saturday Oct. 5.
Botts, the city's designated mayor pro tem until his resignation, is a businessman, former executive vice president for Pacific Savings Bank, and former chief financial officer for Garner Holt Productions, Inc.
He's a member of the Banning Chamber of Commerce and a supporter of the Banning Cultural Alliance. He is a graduate of California State University - San Bernardino, where he earned a bachelors degree in business administration.
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