qathet Regional District Electoral Area C director Clay Brander has been re-elected chairperson of the regional board.
At the November 1 inaugural regional board meeting, Brander was nominated to the position without opposition and was acclaimed. Brander first took over as chair of the regional board after the municipal elections in 2022, replacing retired Electoral Area A director Patrick Brabazon, who had held the chair’s position for many years.
In accepting the chair’s position, Brander thanked the board members.
In taking the chair, Brander moved onto election of the vice-chair. There was a recommendation that the board designate the members, other than the chair, to serve as vice-chair on a rotating basis, according to the alphabetical order of directors’ surnames, for two-month periods, commencing on the date of the inaugural meeting.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said the policy was to elect a vice-chair on a rotating basis, but from observing other regional districts, and regional hospital districts, he has been seeing the benefit of electing a vice-chair to serve throughout the entire year’s term.
“It would be a time to change and to elect a vice-chair to work collaboratively with the chair for the duration of the year,” said Gisborne.
Corporate officer Michelle Jones said the regional district’s procedure bylaw indicates that at an annual inaugural board meeting, the board will designate eligible members other than the chair to serve as vice-chair on a rotating basis according to the alphabetical order of directors’ surnames.
“We would likely need to amend the procedure bylaw prior to voting a different method,” said Jones.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said she was speaking in favour of the recommendation the way it is on the table.
“It gives every director an opportunity to serve as vice-chair, and we may not need to do anything, but it’s still nice to have that opportunity,” said McCormick. “What we have now is pretty equitable and I’d like to continue with that process.”
Gisborne said the role of chair and vice-chair goes beyond chairing meetings.
“Typically, the vice-chair takes action when the chair is absent,” said Gisborne. “The role of chair goes beyond just chairing our meetings, that’s why there is a separate pay structure for chair of the board. I would like to see our board consider a more collaborative approach to our leadership, where chair and vice-chair can share responsibilities for meeting with ministers, organizations and entities.”
The board carried the recommendation to have vice-chairs serve on a rotating basis, with Gisborne opposed.
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