New regional board short on experience

PENTICTON – The regional district board of directors will have a lot of new faces when it reconvene for its inaugural meeting on Nov. 15.

If experience counts for anything, it may be a slow first few months as the new board gets up to speed. Five out of the nine new rural directors and five out of 10 municipal directors have little or no experience around the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen board table.

In the Electoral areas, the five new rural directors at the regional district include the following:

• Rick Knodel, Oliver rural, Electoral Area C (previous experience as an alternate)
• Ron Obirek, Okanagan Falls, Electoral Area “D”
• Riley Gettens, Okanagan Lake West/West Bench, Electoral Area “F”
• Tim Roberts, Keremeos rural/Hedley, Electoral Area “G”
• Subrina Monteith, Kaleden, Electoral Area “I”

Four experienced rural directors are returning for a consecutive term:

• Karla Kozakevich, Naramata, Electoral Area “E” 
• George Bush, Cawston, Electoral Area “B”
• Mark Pendergraft, Osoyoos Electoral Area “A”
• Bob Coyne, Princeton rural, Electoral Area “H"

The City of Penticton named their regional district representatives at yesterday evening’s, Nov. 6, inaugural council meeting.

Mayor John Vassilaki along with councillors Jake Kimberley, Frank Regehr and Julius Bloomfield will sit on the regional district board for the city. Vassilaki and Kimberley are the only two with previous experience on the board.

The Village of Keremeos will be represented by returning mayor Manfred Bauer, who has past regional district board experience.

Oliver Coun. Petra Veintimilla will serve as Oliver’s board representative, with Mayor Martin Johansen acting as alternate. Veintimilla has limited experience on the board, having served in the capacity as alternate, while Johansen is new to the board.

In Osoyoos, incumbent Mayor Sue McKortoff returns as regional district representative for the town, serving a consecutive term.

Summerland will be represented by former councillor, now Mayor Toni Boot, who served on the last regional district board, and board first-timer Coun. Doug Holmes. It is Holmes' second term as councillor.

Princeton's newly elected Mayor Spencer Coyne says he has served on regional district committees in the past, but this will be his first time sitting on the board.

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