Prince George, B.C.-  Citizen of the Year nominee Brent Marshall has  withdrawn  his name from  consideration  for  the annual  honour.

Marshall  notified the  Prince George Community Foundation  about his decision on Monday of this week, but  the Foundation  didn’t make the information public  until  today.

This is the first time in the history of the Community  Foundation’s annual Citizen of the Year event that a nominee has  withdrawn.

Why did the Foundation take five days to  relay that message to the public?  “We didn’t want to make a big deal of this ” says  PG Community Foundation’s Teresa Saunders.

In an advisory to media,  the Community Foundation says Marshall advised he was withdrawing ” because of the recent speculation  and reporting of affairs related to his business.”

“We are really grateful to Brent Marshall and believe he has done the honourable thing” says Saunders.

The PG Community Foundation says  Marshall’s  nominator ” intends to bring his name forward again next year once the fullness of the stories can be told.”

Marshall has come under scrutiny  over  the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority in B.C.  ruling that  he and Northland Jeep Dodge Chrysler engaged in deceptive  advertising practices. While the ruling was  made last spring,  the  information did not surface until a couple of weeks ago and the penalties have not yet been levied.