The death of longtime Columbia Shuswap Regional District director Ted Bacigalupo has created a vacancy on the regional district’s board.
First elected to the board in 1999, Bacigalupo handily won his seat at the table for the fifth time in last November’s municipal election, and took on the role of CSRD chair for the first time.
The regional district will begin the process of filling the vacancies at the July 19 board meeting, where directors will elect a new chair – and possibly a vice-chair.
David Raven, mayor of Revelstoke and the appointment to the CSRD board, is current vice-chair and acting chair.
If he decides to run for the chair position and wins, directors will then have to elect a new vice-chair as well.
Also at the July 19 meeting, it is anticipated a chief elections officer will be appointed and the byelection process to fill the Electoral Area C South Shuswap seat will begin.
“Under the Local Government Act, a chief elections officer must be appointed as soon as possible after a vacancy occurs,” says Carolyn Black, CSRD deputy manager of Corporate Administration Services. “And the voting date must be set no later than 80 days after the appointment, so the byelection would have to happen before Oct. 6.”
Black says she expects the byelection will take place in late September.
Notice of nomination would appear in newspapers and on the CSRD website in late July or early August, with a 10-day nomination period expected to take place in mid-August.
Anyone who is interested in representing Electoral Area C at the board level, should wait for the notice of nomination towards the end of July or early August before seeking the appropriate documentation from the regional district.