The North Okanagan will have a strong presence within a newly branded municipal organization. Three local politicians — Noreen Guenther, Wayne Lippert and Deb Leroux — were elected as directors of the Okanagan Mainline Municipal Association Friday. Delegates at the Merritt conference also decided to use a new name, the Southern Interior Local Government Association. “Hopefully the name will be more representative,” said Lippert, mayor of Vernon. A longstanding criticism was that while OMMA reflected the Okanagan in its name, other regions like the Thompson and Shuswap were not mentioned.
Lippert expects Vernon will benefit by him being 
a director. “Being on the executive is good because it helps keep the pipeline open to Victoria for major initiatives,” he said. He is also looking forward to working more closely with Leroux, a Lumby councillor, and Guenther, a Lake Country councillor. “The concerns of the North Okanagan will be more easily addressed,” he said. Those views are also supported by Leroux. “It’s another way to expand the profile of Lumby and to give us a voice at another level,” she said.
Guenther agrees that the North Okanagan will be well-represented, but points out that the executive represents all regions within SILGA.
a director. “Being on the executive is good because it helps keep the pipeline open to Victoria for major initiatives,” he said. He is also looking forward to working more closely with Leroux, a Lumby councillor, and Guenther, a Lake Country councillor. “The concerns of the North Okanagan will be more easily addressed,” he said. Those views are also supported by Leroux. “It’s another way to expand the profile of Lumby and to give us a voice at another level,” she said.
Guenther agrees that the North Okanagan will be well-represented, but points out that the executive represents all regions within SILGA. “We take on the issues for all of the communities in the organization,” she said. SILGA’s first conference under the new banner will be held in Vernon next spring. City officials observed how the Merritt conference was held as part of planning for 2008. “We have to go to work and set things up, and there is a lot of work involved,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy. Close to 200 people could attend the conference. “It will be a chance to showcase Vernon,” said Lippert.
1 comment:
What use is OMMA? Does it inflate the ego of these new directors ? Lets have an accounting from the old directors that they replaced-what the hell did they achieve and who were they?
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