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Pat Weaver claims Area I director position by four votes

After weeks of tedious campaigning, Pat Weaver has emerged victorious

After weeks of tedious campaigning, Pat Weaver has emerged victorious as the Cowichan Valley Regional District Area I director, defeating incumbent Klaus Kuhn.

Weaver’s victory was by no means a landslide, however, as she managed to surpass Kuhn by just four votes.

Weaver is relieved the campaign trail is behind her but is eagerly anticipating the task at hand.

“It has been a heavy month. It was a lot of work. We worked hard. The people that I had with me worked really hard. I knocked on doors, I like people to know who I am, there are a lot of new people out there and I want them to know how genuine I am about this job,” said Weaver.

Prior to Weaver being elected, Kuhn served as Area I’s director for the past three years. Kuhn said he enjoyed the time he served as a director but couldn’t help feeling slightly upset by the results.

“I’m a bit disappointed. I would have liked to continue the work I did but it didn’t work out,” said Kuhn.

Nonetheless, Kuhn was proud of what he accomplished during his time in office.

“I feel I’ve done good work, especially with regards to the attention the lake got and lakeshore protection. I’m quite glad I did it all. I enjoyed what I did,” he added.

Weaver said she based her campaign on openness.

“I want to ask the questions, get the answers and let the people know what’s going on. I think that helped a lot,” she said.

Weaver said part of her mandate is to create more jobs in the Cowichan Lake-area, get more plant fiber to the local mills and recruit more young families to the region. And of course — always an underlying issue — maintaining, preserving and protecting Cowichan Lake’s vast water resources.

“The lake is a big issue. We have to get some rules and regulations enforced to look after our home,” said Weaver.

Weaver was born and raised in Cowichan Lake area and she looks forward to serving the area which has given her so much.

“All I have to do is get down there and listen and learn and ask questions and get answers. It’s a tall order but I love where I live. It is so absolutely beautiful and it never ever ceases to impress me. It’s wonderful and it’s an honour to be able to do what we can do,” she added.

Weaver will attend CVRD meetings until she is sworn in and Kuhn’s term ends in early December.

Lake Cowichan resident, Duncan Brown also claimed a seat on District 79’s trustee school board. Brown was pleased with the local backing behind his campaign.

“I think we really worked hard on the campaign. What I was really pleased about is that I topped the polls here in Lake Cowichan, Youbou and Honeymoon Bay. It’s really nice and confidence building to have the support of my community,” said Brown.

Brown thinks of himself as a people person and encourages the community to come forward with any issues they may have with school board politics.

“I think there will be some governance issues we would like to deal with right away. We want to let the community know we are open to listening to them to make the board more accessible to the community,” he added.

Brown will be sworn in Duncan on Dec. 7 at around which time, the trustees will elect a board chair and vice chair.

Brown steps into the job, after incumbents Ann Anderson, Barb De Groot, Julie Thomas and Dianne Gunderson decided not to run in the election.

Upwards of 20 schools are governed by School District 79.