Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Big Fish doesn't always get to rule the tank


He may be the mayor of the largest municipality in the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District, but when the votes came in, Mayor Mussallem was on the outside as Barry Pages was once again selected as the chair of the regional district, his second term in that office.

Pages was elected to return to his post at the December 19th meeting, which saw both Mussallem and Area A representative Des Nobels come up short when the voting was done.

All three candidates for the position made their presentations to the Regional District forum, but Mussallem's quest to have his past experience and Prince Rupert's geographic location work in his favour didn't quite come to pass.

The full report on the activities at the December 19 meeting could be found in the New Year's Eve edition of the Daily News.

Mussallem edged out in race for district role
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Pages one and two

Barry Pages was voted in for a second term as chair for the regional district during the organization's first meeting of the new term on Dec. 19.

The Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District's initial meeting of the new session was like many government bodies after an election, with a mixture of the old and new.

The most significant parcel of news from the meeting was the naming of the new chair and vice-chair.

Three candidates were nominated, with two being mayors. Masset Mayor Barry Pages along with Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem were placed in front of the board, both having sat in the chair's role before, along with Area ‘A’ representative Des Nobels who threw his hat in the ring. All three made their case for the seat.

"In the three years I have been chair, the regional district has come a long way and I would like to keep it going," said Pages.

Mussallem reiterated his 19 years of local government experience, part of that, of course, sitting as the regional district chair. He also made his case based on geography, believing the short distance between city hall and the district office would make things easier for representation.

"We need a regional chair who can be here when senior levels of government visit, making it easier to meet face-to-face.

"It is expected that the chair will always be around for meetings," said Mussallem.

In the end, board members voted in narrowly in favour of Pages, giving him four votes to the three handed to both Mussallem and Nobels.

Mussallem was then voted in as vice-chair in vote over Nobels.

As for replacing former Prince Rupert city councillor Tony Briglio in the chair of the Northwest Regional Hospital District board, Pages was also given the nod over new SQCRD member Nelson Kinney, who was then acclaimed as the vice-chair.

The SQCRD will next meet on Jan. 16.

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