There will be a new face at the table when the Regional District of Nanaimo holds its next board meeting.
Lantzville councillors voted 4-3 in favour of appointing Coun. Bob Colclough as the district’s representative for the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Colclough will replace the district’s current representative, Lantzville Mayor Colin Haime, who did not receive enough votes from councillors to be reappointed.
RDN meetings are typically held twice a month and consist of representatives from the municipalities of Nanaimo, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach as well as various electoral districts.
In addition to being Lantzville’s representative, Haime was also the deputy chairman for the regional district. The RDN will now need to elect a replacement, which it is expected to do at its next meeting Tuesday (Dec. 6).Colclough, a former RDN employee, told the News Bulletin he is looking forward to representing Lantzville."I am excited about it," he said. "I think I have a lot to contribute and I am willing to do the work."Coun. Will Geselbracht, who voted in favour of appointing Colclough, told the News Bulletin that he believes a healthy council is one that gets to experience the various opportunities that municipal government offers.
Geselbracht said Colclough is more than competent to be Lantzville’s representative, adding that he knows the issues and will do a great job.
“Lantzville is a pretty small fish at that big table and somebody with Bob’s background will help to ensure that we get heard and if there are goodies to pass out that we will be there with our bag,” Geselbracht said.
Haime told the News Bulletin he is sad he will no longer be representing Lantzville, but that the outcome wasn’t a surprise to him.
“Certain council members appear to be bothered by the raising of some of the issues that either myself or Coun. [John] Coulson have been raising, so certainly I had expected them to take it out by removing me from the RDN itself,” he said.
However, the decision wasn’t made out of spite according to Geselbracht, who said the mayor is a busy man.
“And with all the initiatives that we’ve started in this last year, mainly water, development and [official community plan] review, I think he’s got a lot on his hands,” he said. “So, actually I think we’re doing him a favour by relieving him of his duties, which can be burdensome.”
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