Councillors pulled from plum political posts

By Scott Neufeld The Vernon Daily Courier

If it was a slap in the face, then one city councillor is not the only one being slighted. Coun. Barry Beardsell was vocal on Monday about his removal from the Greater Vernon Services committee, less vocal was Coun. Patrick Nicol who lost his North Okanagan Regional District appointment.

“With the way it was set up this was like a slap in the face to me,” Beardsell said. Lippert denied that the move was meant to muzzle the long-time Greater Vernon Services member. He said replacing Beardsell with Coun. Pat Cochrane, who has never been on the committee, will give council members more experience. “Barry’s been there from the inception and it was my mandate to get everybody on council to sit in a position on GVS or NORD,” said Lippert.
“Patrick Nicol’s in the same boat.”

Beardsell said he was not happy with the mayor’s handling of the committee appointments. “There was not consultation as was indicated by the mayor,” he said. “It came as a complete surprise to me.” Declining further comment Beardsell said “I will have more to say about these appointments at a later date.” Lippert hinted the move had to do with Beardsell’s murky future political plans. “He said he didn’t plan on meeting next year and that’s out there,” Lippert said. However, the mayor later backtracked on this comment. He said the entire make up of council could change in November 2008. “When the next election comes up we don’t know who’s there,” he said.

Each councillor was asked to make a committee wish list and Lippert said they all wanted to sit on NORD or GVS. “It’s always tough trying to find that balance to make these decisions.” Although two veteran councillors have been pulled from two key posts, Lippert said he’s not concerned about the loss of experience. He said council will still rely on Nicol and Beardsell for their expertise and knowledge in dealing with regional issues.