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Uncertainty surrounds CRD chair

Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen weighing his options as the regional board prepares to elect executive at inaugural meeting

Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen will wait and see what happens around the Capital Regional District table before making a decision on his role. A new CRD board of directors is set to be sworn in and the new board chair and vice-chair elected at the Dec. 10 inaugural meeting.

“That’ll be an open position and I’ll wait and see who gets appointed and how people feel about the kind of person they want,” Jensen said, adding it tends to shift between larger and smaller community representatives.

“It really will be up to the people around the table.”

The CRD learns of its appointments to the board immediately following member municipal council inaugural meetings scheduled between Dec. 1 and 8. Oak Bay’s inaugural meeting is set for Dec. 8.

Jensen has served as Oak Bay’s director on the board and chair of the environmental services committee over the past three years.

He says the single biggest issue facing the seven core communities is wastewater treatment, and the leadership should reflect that.

“It’s someone who’s going to find the way forward amongst those seven and get on with the requirements that have been placed on us by the provincial and federal governments,” Jensen said. “One of the main goals would be that we do it with sufficient time frame so as not to jeopardize our grants.

“[That] will be a challenge for anybody.”

 

cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com