Only a few votes shy of being elected to the chair position, Ian Morrison has been elected as the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s vice chair for a one-year term.
It’s the first time in the role for the Area F (Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls) director but it’s not a position he’s entirely new to.
“It is new, but it’s something that I’ve stepped in and served at before,” Morrison explained on Tuesday. “I’ve stepped in in that capacity as the chair of Electoral Area Services when both the chair and the vice chair have been away at conferences and that sort of thing.”
His day-to-day duties won’t change too much, save for more time spent working on community business.
“There are a few opportunities to serve in different capacities,” he noted. “You’re a stand-in for the chair if the chair is unable to attend a public event or if the chair is unavailable due to vacation or prior commitments or other things.”
Morrison will also be chairing the Electoral Area Services committee, made up of nine regional directors.
“That’s where we do the heavy lifting for the business in the electoral areas,” he said.
But his new role doesn’t mean extra-special attention for Area F and its neighbours around Cowichan Lake.
“It’s more of a position of service than anything,” Morrison said.
Morrison, Lake Cowichan councillor Bob Day, and North Cowichan mayor Jon Lefebure were all nominated for the board chair role.
“I came really close in the first ballot,” Morrison said. He received seven votes to Lefebure’s five and Day’s three.
“I guess all three of [Day’s] votes went to John.”
With Day eliminated, the second ballot favoured Lefebure by eight votes to seven. Lefebure will serve his fourth consecutive term as CVRD board chair. Only one other director in the last 50 years has accomplished the feat, Joe Allan from 1994 through 1997. Morrison replaced Allan as the representative for Area F in 2009.
When it came to the vice chair vote, both Morrison and Day were nominated. Morrison earned the position by virtue of a eight-to-seven vote in his favour.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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