The following letter was directed to Cowichan Valley Regional District Director Mel Dorey and furnished to the Courier for publication.
Technical question, why are there not a full complement of members on the Parks Commission? It has been at about half of full numbers for a few years now - currently five members of the public and yourself.
Bylaw 2494 calls for 10 members of the public.
On the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District, when I was Electoral Director, members of all commissions were nominated at a public meeting in each community with an Electoral representative free of interference from the Electoral Director.
And a vote was conducted if more people were nominated than there were vacant positions, resulting in a broad spectrum of opinions and knowledgeable input that was respected by the director even if it did not coincide with the personal view of the director regarding a particular topic. We directors always understood we represented the voice of the majority of our constituents.
Then, the Electoral Area Director would take those names to a board meeting to be ratified, rather than the director picking people who would rubber stamp the director’s opinion without dissent.
Perhaps this method could be adopted here to fill vacant positions on the APC and Parks.
People have told me that this suggestion reeks of common sense and supports the democratic process.
Tom Hockin,
Saltair