The Executive Director of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission is on an extended leave of absence. That’s according to the automatic e-mail response of Pete Saunders, who took the helm at Tri-County four months ago. The group’s Executive Board is meeting tonight for the second time in a week. It’s expected to go into executive session to talk personnel matters. Neither Saunders nor Tri-County officials would publicly comment on Saunders’ leave of absence.