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RDEK directors leave office with warm goodbyes
Three Regional District of East Kootenay directors were celebrated by their elected peers and regional government staff Nov. 7.
Retiring Village of Radium Hot Springs Mayor Dee Conklin, City of Cranbrook Coun. Bob Whetham and Electoral Area B Director Heath Slee all attended their final RDEK board meeting and received high praise for their civic participation.
For Slee, he steps away from a 15-year commitment to the region and Area B, while Whetham and Conklin both served two terms at the board table, as well as at their municipal council tables.
The directors learned they are going to be missed by their peers.
District of Sparwood Mayor Lois Halko noted to the trio, “You’ll certainly be missed in the circles of local government.”
Village of Canal Flats Mayor Ute Juras pointed out she has served on the RDEK for nine years – all that time seated across from Slee. “Some marriages don’t last that long,” she laughed.
District of Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft pointed out that the Columbia Valley has been represented at the regional board table by the same five people the past six years, including Juras, Electoral Area G Director Gerry Wilkie, Electoral Area F Director and RDEK board vice-chair Wendy Booth and Conklin, who will be missed, he said.
“We’ve done a lot of things for the Columbia Valley. It’s been a good group,” Taft said.
Acclaimed Electoral Area A Director Mike Sosnowski, who along with recently re-elected Electoral Area C Director and board chair Rob Gay becomes the longest-serving regional director with Slee’s departure, said the departing board members, including Mayor Halko who opted not to run for mayor again (but was elected as a district councillor Nov. 15), said the directors will be missed “for what they brought to the board and for the way they think about life in general.”
City of Fernie Mayor Mary Giuliano added, “I am so going to miss the people who are retiring,” singling out Mayor Halko for her friendship.
Area C’s Gay said Bob Whetham will be hard to replace at the board table.
“Bob is always well prepared and his conflict resolutions skills have been much appreciated,” he said.
Whetham brought incite to the regional board table rarely found in directors, thanks to having served as the RDEK Director of Planning until his retirement in 2005.
“Manager Crane (chief administrative office Lee-Ann) and I have been here before but under different circumstances,” Whethem observed Nov. 7. “It’s been a rich and rewarding experience,” he said, thanking Crane for running “a very professional and respected organization.
“We’ve had some good frank and open discussions,” Whetham said to his fellow board members. Local government is not for the faint of heart.”
Gay said Conklin also brought a special skill set to the regional government.
“I really appreciate what you brought to the board table. The business lens has always been there,” he said.
“It’s hard to believe six years has come and gone,” Conklin said, since Radium’s first mayor Greg Deck convinced her to be his replacement. She won her first term via acclamation.
“It was a worthwhile adventure. I couldn’t replace Greg’s shoes but I did take baby steps,” she said, listing some of the big issues tackled in her time in office, such as the Kicking Horse Coffee rezoning, Lot 48, Jumbo and ridding the Columbia Valley “of an unfair recreation tax.”
Like her peers, Conklin warmly thanked regional government staff.
“The RDEK staff under the tutelage of Lee-Ann is a treasure trove of knowledge,” she said. And to her board peers she concluded, “I appreciate that each of you have the best interests of your constituents at heart.”
Conklin said Radium’s third mayor, acclaimed Clara Reinhardt, will be a “very capable replacement.”
Gay told the board that Heath Slee is leaving behind “a remarkable legacy in civic government. He has taken on many challenges.”
During his five terms as Area B’s director, Slee ascended the ranks, first with the Association of Kootenay-Boundary Local Government, where he became vice-chair and later chair, and then with the Union of B.C. Municipalities, of which he became president in 2011/2012.
“He climbed a very long ladder,” Gay said, noting Slee’s wife Barb “has put up with a lot.”
Battling emotion, Slee told his fellow directors, “Today I have come to a fork in the road. It’s been a truly wonderful experience.”
Slee thanked Area B residents. “I have so many fond memories to cherish,” he said, also paying respects to departed former directors Geri Rothel (Area A), Norm Walter (Area E) and Jim Ogilvie (City of Kimberley).
“The advice and shared experiences… what an honour it has been,” Slee said. “This has been a great board to work; always respectful of one another.”
Slee said he is also proud to have been able to bring two official community plans to Area B and he also thanked Crane and staff for their work over the years.
“I am sure that come December, with the new board, there will be a level of patience” shown them by Crane, he said.
“My mother never believed in saying goodbye, so, farewell and all the best to everyone,” he said.
Lead image: Board vice-chair, Electoral Area F Director Wendy Booth, left, with Bob Whetham, Dee Conklin and Heath Slee, and board chair Rob Gay, right.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
