heimlicher-jerryColorado Springs City Councilman Jerry Heimlicher, a retired chief executive officer for Fairlane Credit and former senior executive at Ford Motor Credit, announced yesterday that he will resign from his job as representative of a district that includes The Broadmoor resort at the end of the month, leaving his beloved city of 12 years.

He’s going back to Tennessee, where he and his wife still own a home, citing the downturn in the economy and the declining fortunes of a former employer, according to the Gazette. The 68-year-old Republican is a symbol that the economy has the power to reshape even the most successful lives, as Americans reconstruct their personal budgets.

In fact, consumers have cut their credit borrowing by a record $21.6 billion, an enormous drop that even surprised analysts, writes The Associated Press.

Perhaps that explains why some people, such as Colorado resident Peter Means, are being pinched by banks that charge sky-high fees when checking accounts go a few dollars in the red. The New York Times, which quotes Means, notes that banks such as Wells Fargo are turning overdraft protection into a tidy little business, putting the squeeze on customers often toward the bottom of the income ladder.