Flooring business owner Tom Jennings is the new chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.

The 10-member commission often has been divided sometimes bitterly about growth issues in the last year, but Jennings got unanimous backing from his colleagues for a one-year term Wednesday night.

“I’d like to thank you for your confidence,” said Jennings, president of Bud Jennings Carpet One. “There’s a lot of difference between being in the back seat and driving.”

Tradition holds that the vice chairman of the planning commission becomes the next chairman. But the last vice chairman, Jacob Plants, left the commission in May at the end of his first term in the appointed office.

“I haven’t had the benefit of being vice chair for a year, so please bear with me,” Jennings said.

Jennings takes the position of chairman from Ron Durflinger, who remains on the commission.

Sue Pine, of Pine Family Farms, was unanimously named the commission’s vice chairman, putting her in probable position to take the lead job next year.

The commission has taken criticism from Douglas County Commission Chairman Jere McElhaney in recent months for being insensitive to rural interests, but Jennings and Pine are both county appointees to the board. Both are also Republican.

Like the position of Lawrence mayor, the chairman position has little power, except to manage the meetings and to appoint members of subcommittees. Those appointments can be important, however, because the subcommittees often shape crucial policies such as revisions to the city-county long-range planning guide, Horizon 2020 before they make it to the desks of the city and county commissions for final approval.

Jennings will get an early test running the meetings. Although Wednesday’s meeting went smoothly, the commission will have two meetings next month to wrestle with controversial new rules to restrict floodplain development. Those meetings are 6 p.m. July 10 and 6:30 p.m. July 24, both at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.