Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman Vic Ingram announced on Monday morning that he has stepped from the Department of Social Services Board effective immediately. Ingram said in a statement that the decision was made in the hopes of bringing some peace to the board after recent tensions.

“To sort of bring the temperature down, I just decided it would be in the best interest of not only the citizens, but the staff at social services, as well as the clients, just to step off the board and avoid any controversy. I just felt that was what I needed to do,” said Ingram.

Ingram put himself on the board earlier this year, because former Supervisor Jessie Barksdale was unable to attend meetings for the first three months of the year. He noted that he was happy they were able to hire new DSS Director, Regina Barger, during his time on the board and they were able to clear some controversy surrounding the by-laws.