The municipal election is over and a new Osoyoos town council will be sworn in on December 1.
It is often said that collectively, the voters usually get it right. Once again that appears to be the case.
The new council contains a good mix of people with a variety of backgrounds and experience, but all have proven they are committed to making Osoyoos a better place.
For the first time ever, Osoyoos has a female mayor with Sue McKortoff. No one can question McKortoff’s work ethic or commitment to this town and her experience from the last council will be important.
The council hasn’t yet achieved gender parity, but the election of Carol Youngberg as a new councillor adds an additional female voice.
Not only is McKortoff the town’s first female mayor, but it will also be the first time the town has ever had two women on the same council.
While most members of council are older, reflecting the aging demographic of Osoyoos, Mike Campol gives council a younger face, relatively speaking. This is especially important given that Coun. Mike Plante, another younger voice, didn’t run for re-election.
With the re-election of Coun. C.J. Rhodes, along with McKortoff, both incumbents have returned to council. Their experience and background knowledge will be helpful to the new councillors.
Jim King, like the others, has proven himself to be an energetic volunteer for many local causes. He too will make a strong contribution to council.
Residents also voted decisively for a new fire hall. It’s a good thing there is a clear mandate for council to move forward as a closer vote might have left remaining questions.
It’s easy to take our volunteer firefighters for granted when you don’t need them, but when there is a fire, we appreciate the essential role they play in our community.
The new fire hall is a substantial investment, but amortized over 30 years and with a substantial contribution from the rural area, it is affordable.
The design was proposed only after extensive research and advice.
Sure a few dollars might have been saved by housing our firefighters in a substandard facility, but our stinginess would only come back to bite us in a few years.
Municipal elections almost never attract the turnout level of federal and provincial elections, but it appeared this year’s turnout was respectable compared to other municipal elections.
We won’t know the official count though for another couple of weeks.
It is always difficult to work hard and then lose an election.
Three of the losing candidates, Ray Vandenberg, Jean Clarke and Sy Murseli, ran for council after several months of campaigning hard to defeat the fire hall and force a referendum.
Regardless of whether or not their cause was the right one, they worked hard for something they believed in and for that they deserve credit.
It will take a bit of time for the rookie councillors to learn all the ropes, but they have incumbent council members and professional staff at town hall to guide them.
The new councillors are all intelligent and energetic and they will be up to speed in short order.
We thank the departing council members for their hard work and dedication and we wish the new team the best of success.
