Kristine A. Gay, who began work in late March as Gloucester County’s newest planner, will leave employment here this Friday, planning director Anne Ducey-Ortiz announced Monday.

Ducey-Ortiz said Gay has accepted a new job in the City of Virginia Beach, where she previously had worked as an intern.

The personnel move will leave the office a bit short staffed for the immediate future, Ducey-Ortiz said. Not only will she be down one planner while a hiring search is conducted, but the full-time administrative assistant in the office left her county job a few weeks ago to work for a Gloucester attorney and that post is temporarily being filled three days a week until a permanent replacement is hired.

In addition, Ducey-Ortiz has been serving as interim zoning administrator since September in addition to heading the county’s planning office.

Ducey-Ortiz said that when Gay was hired there were "some other good candidates" and she hopes some of them might still be in the ...