Vacant positions on the city's planning commission and zoning board resulting from members resigning in protest have been filled by Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl with new appointees.

Wiehl on Monday appointed Nicholas Bittner, a designer with Panich and Noel Architects, to fill the vacant seat on the planning commission. He also appointed residents Joan Kraynanski and Lisa Carson, both officers in neighborhood associations, to the city's Zoning Board of Appeals.

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Carson said she has become more involved in the neighborhood associations and she wants to help out the community.

"It's a willingness to help out," she said of her decision to seek a position on the zoning board. "I'm looking forward to learning more about the housing code."

Carson has a bachelor's degree in classical studies from the University of Michigan, and a master's degree and a doctorate in classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She teaches at Ohio University as an assistant professor in the Department of Classics and World Religion, and she is a co-chairwoman of the Athens Near North-side Neighborhood Association.