Okanagan Falls hoping for swift action to elect mayor, council following municipality vote

Photo: Contributed

The board of directors with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen unanimously backed a request by Matt Taylor, the director for Okanagan Falls, to send a letter to the provincial government urging them to speed up the regulatory process so the newly-minted municipality can move forward with electing a new mayor and council as soon as possible.

On March 22, the residents of Okanagan Falls made history when they voted 588 to 512 in favour of incorporating the community into its own municipality.

The referendum vote ended decades of debate amongst residents about whether they should or should not become their own municipality, rather than maintain the status quo and allow RDOS staff and the board to manage its affairs.

During Thursday’s regular meeting of the RDOS board of directors, Taylor, the representative for Electoral Area D, forwarded a notice of motion asking the provincial government to speed up its regulatory process to allow the new municipality to elect a new mayor and council, which would then allow for the adoption of bylaws and bringing certain services from the RDOS under the jurisdiction of the new municipality.

“Okanagan Falls will incorporate, subject to government working through its processes, and will incorporate as a district municipality ,” said Taylor. “But that could take ... we’re hearing it could occur this fall, it could occur over the winter. It could occur around this time next year.

“I would like the board’s support in the form of a letter, requesting that the Minister target completion of an Order in Council that sets out letters patent for Okanagan Falls during the current spring session that ends May 29th.”

This decision simply needs cabinet approval from the governing NDP Party, said Taylor.

“It’s an Order in Council, so it comes from cabinet and goes through the Lieutenant-Governor and it’s asking the Minister to target ... I’m open to wordsmithing on what kind of language we use,” he said. “I really feel that it’s important that provincial government staff understand that it’s a priority to get this done in a timely manner now that the vote has been done.

“We don’t want to go for another six or 12 months in this current limbo.”

Decisions like the hiring of a new corporate officer and discussions about transfer of services from the RDOS to the new municipality may have already started and key decisions like this shouldn’t be done without the residents of Okanagan Falls having direct input into the process, he said.

If an election was held in late summer or early fall, the mayor and council would remain in place until the next municipal election is set for October 2026.

“We would hopefully get a 12 to 15 months term to bring over bylaws, services, etc.,” said Taylor.

Director Subrina Monteith said she fully supports Taylor’s request for the province to move quickly, wondering why the province wouldn’t want to allow a newly-minted municipality to start operating on its own as quickly as possible.

“I think that’s an important part of the conversation to understand the province’s logic,” she said.

Chief administrative officer Jim Zaffino said the incorporation of Okanagan Falls was the first of its kind for any municipality through the letters patent process.

Zaffino said he and Taylor did have a recent meeting with two provincial staffers about the letters patent process and he explained it would be a hardship on the RDOS board and the new municipality “if it takes longer than it should.”

Any unnecessary delays could affect how much taxes residents in Okanagan Falls have to pay in the next year or two and that should perhaps be mentioned in any letter sent by the RDOS board to the provincial government, said Zaffino.

“I think we’re doing our due diligence by communicating to the Minister that there’s an interest in moving us along in a timely fashion,” Taylor said. “At the moment, their staff will take as long as required to do what they feel is necessary.

Director Sue McKortoff, the mayor of Osoyoos, said she agreed sending a letter out quickly after the incorporation vote is a smart idea and sends a message to the provincial government that residents in Okanagan Falls want to move forward following the incorporation vote.

“From my experience, it could take years,” McKortoff said. “I think all of the other things going on in the country and in the province right now that you would be very lucky to get a letter back within six months.”

This article is published through the Local Journalism Initiative