Kelowna gains control with a regional board representative

By Jason Luciw - Kelowna Capital News - November 18, 2007

Changes are afoot for the Central Okanagan Regional District.Kelowna will gain a representative and secure control of the board. And CORD must re-organize because of Westside incorporation.The current regional board holds its final meeting Monday night and a new board holds a Dec. 10 inaugural meeting. Kelowna Coun. Michelle Rule has been appointed to the board, said chairman Robert Hobson. Rule’s presence accounts for Kelowna’s lion’s share of Central Okanagan population. The appointment gives Kelowna a minimum of six votes, the same as all other represented areas combined: Peachland (1), District of Westside (2), Central Okanagan West (1), Central Okanagan East (1) and Lake Country (1).

Kelowna Coun. Robert Hobson will likely to be reappointed chairman. He would break any tie, which in theory gives Kelowna controls of almost all regional decisions.On financial matters, Kelowna has always had majority power with a weighted vote.Meanwhile, the District of Westside will appoint two members to the board during its new council’s inaugural meeting Dec. 6. And, a new Central Okanagan West electoral area director will sit at the table.The regional board has also restructured for 2008 to account for Westside governance changes, according to a report to be approved Monday night.The board will cut in half its meeting schedule and dissolve several committees.“A great deal of meeting time has been spent dealing with land use issues, which will no longer be part of the agenda,” said the report. The regional board will now meet an average of once per month, not twice. Meeting dates will vary between the third and fourth Monday of each month.The board will also have one committee instead of six—a governance and services committee. A second committee may be kept intact to deal with sustainability issues.Dissolved committees are air quality, engineering, governance, parks, planning and environment and transportation.With the majority of its electoral area population now absorbed by the new municipality, the regional district’s business is cut almost in half. It makes the various committees unnecessary, the report concludes.