RDOS considering new electoral area
Draw a line going north-south through the centre of Skaha Lake and you’ve created a proposed new electoral area that could be up for grabs in the 2018 civic election.
The board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has given staff the goahead to begin public consultation on the plan to carve out a new Area I by dividing the existing Area D in half.
It would be the first new area added to the RDOS since its creation in 1966.
As proposed, Area I would include the communities of Kaleden, Twin Lakes, Marron Valley and Apex Mountain. The slimmed-down Area D would retain Okanagan Falls, Skaha Estates and Heritage Hills.
The division, which matches the D1-D2 split that already exists for planning purposes, was recommended by consultants hired in 2015 to assess the governance of Area D and make recommendations for improvement.
Noting the diverse communities within Area D and a population approaching 6,000 people — nearly double the next most populous area — those consultants recommended the split.
Tom Siddon, the current Area D director, believes the move would make the constituencies a more manageable size and give elected officials more time to spend with residents who require their services.
“I certainly support going in this direction,” he said.
RDOS chief administrative officer Bill Newell said in an email the cost of adding a new area would be “minimal” and consist mainly of pay and expenses for the new director totalling about $30,000 a year.
“No new programs are anticipated. Citizens of D and I will continue to pay their current tax on existing regional, sub-regional, shared and local services,” Newell added.
At the board level, the five votes currently belonging to Area D would be split based on population, with Area D hanging onto three and Area I getting two.
Area D would also have an advantage at tax time, with an estimated $2-million haul versus $1 million in Area I, based on this year’s requisition.
The new area would also bump up the total number of rural directors at the board table to nine, along with 10 municipal directors.
Public consultation on the division is expected to begin later this summer with results presented to the board in October.
If all goes as planned, the information collected will be sent on to the B.C. government, which will then ask the lieutenant governor to create the new area through an order in council.
Siddon resides in Kaleden, which would effectively make him the incumbent in Area I in the 2018 election, but he said Monday he has yet to decide if he’ll run again.