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Parksville gains spot on RDN board

Coun. Kirk Oates appointed as director beginning next month
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Parksville Coun. Kirk Oates celebrated his birthday in style Monday, accepting the gift of appointment to the Regional District of Nanaimo board of directors during a special meeting of Parksville’s city council Oct. 23.

How long he holds the position remains to be seen.

Parksville Coun. Kirk Oates
Parksville Coun. Kirk Oates

Parksville was mandated to fill one of two newly created board positions — the City of Nanaimo will fill the other — by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, following population increases revealed in the 2016 census. The expansion of the board from 17 to 19 members, which is based on a voting unit of 2,500 voters per director, is opposed by Parksville, Nanaimo and the RDN itself, Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre said. Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek also said he was opposed to the increase.

“The regional district is making a big effort to go back to the province and put (representation) back” to 17 directors, Lefebvre said. “Nanaimo feels there’s an extra cost, we have an extra cost and the regional district doesn’t like it.

“The ministry is saying, ‘We want to give you, whether you like it or not, two more RDN board members.”

The RDN is seeking to change its voting unit from the government-mandated 2,500 to 2,750, “which requires cabinet approval,” RDN administrative services manager Jacquie Hill wrote in a letter to the city, dated Oct. 18.

Related: RDN board agrees to increase voting unit to 2,750

A change to a 2,750-voter unit would allow the RDN to restore representation at the current 17-director level. The move to 19 directors is accompanied by an increase in voting strength for Nanaimo, Parksville and Area F (Errington, Coombs and Hilliers).

Coun. Leanne Salter asked if the new configuration would change the level of control Nanaimo’s directors have on the regional district’s voting balance. Due to a weighted-vote system, the voting power of the seven current Nanaimo directors is greater than that of the 10 other municipal and electoral area directors on the RDN board.

“If they vote as a block, they win every time,” Lefebvre said of the Nanaimo directors. “It’s no doubt a frustration. By us getting an extra vote, it doesn’t change the fact.”

Oates has served as alternate to Lefebvre as Parksville’s lone RDN board member. He will join Lefebvre on the RDN board effective Nov. 14, when it holds its inaugural meeting. Saying there was no need to “reinvent the wheel,” Lefebvre proposed Oates shift from alternate to full board member. A motion to appoint Oates was approved unanimously, with Coun. Theresa Patterson absent.

The mayor then appointed Coun. Mary Beil to serve a the city’s single alternate for both Lefebvre and Oates. Beil was also approved unanimously.

Before council moved into a closed session, Lefebvre wished a happy 55th birthday to Oates.

“Only 55?” Coun. Kim Burden quipped.

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