November 14, 2018 ~ VICTORIA.
Posted by West Shore Voice News
The Capital Regional Board has announced their new roster, seeing Saanich and Langford at the head table. Saanich Councillor Colin Plant is Chair, and Langford Councillor Denise Blackwell is Vice-Chair.
In his remarks, Chair Plant said his top priorities are to build positive relationships and work together to advance Board priorities in a respectful environment. “Our communities have given us the responsibility and the opportunity to lead. And while we all come to this Board with different experiences and different geographic needs, we all want the same things: a prosperous future, a healthy environment, prudent use of taxes and effective governance.”
The 24-member board is comprised of mayors (or their appointed council representative) from 13 municipalities of the region as well as three electoral areas (Juan de Fuca, Salt Spring and South Islands).
Votes on the board are weighted. In the west shore, Langford has 8 votes (Denise Blackwell, Lanny Seaton), Colwood 4 votes (Rob Martin), Sooke 3 votes (Maja Tait), View Royal 3 votes (David Screech), and Highlands 1 vote (Ken Williams). Juan de Fuca has 2 votes (Mike Hicks). That’s a total of 21 votes out of a total 86 votes.
For municipalities, each council appoints one or more elected official to the board. The formula is one director for every 25,000 population (or portion thereof). For electoral areas, citizens elect one director to the Board during general local elections.
The Board uses special voting rules based on population and the combination of participants in each service. Some votes are unweighted (one vote per director) and others are weighted based on population (one vote per 5,000 population or portion thereof).
The elected officials that are appointed to the CRD Board also serve as the Board members of the Capital Regional Hospital Board (CRHD) and starting this term CRD Board members are also appointed as the Board members of the CRHC.
Denise Blackwell has been elected as the CRHD Board Chair and Colin Plant has been elected as the CRHD Board Vice-Chair. The CRHD, a corporation of the CRD, is committed to improving and sustaining the region’s health infrastructure through its funding partnership with Island Health.
Lisa Helps (Victoria Mayor) has been elected as the Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC) Board Chair and David Screech (View Royal Mayor) has been elected as the CRHC Board Vice-Chair. The CRHC is a wholly-owned, non-profit corporation of the CRD, developing and managing affordable housing for low income families, seniors and persons living with disabilities across the region.
One of the first orders of business the CRD Board will embark upon is identification of CRD Board Priorities, which will drive organizational initiatives over the next four years. Former Metro Vancouver Board Chair Greg Moore has been hired to facilitate the priority-setting process. CRD Chief Administrative Officer Robert Lapham will work closely to support this process, which will include a review of progress on previous CRD Board priorities, regional strategies and service delivery plans.