The City of Thompson took care of some outstanding business at its Dec. 20 meeting, appointing council members to 14 different external boards and agencies.
Councillors had previously been asked through e-mail to indicate which boards they would be interested in sitting on. Through this, it was found that only one name was brought forward for 10 of the 14 boards.
Of those 10, Coun. Judy Kolada will be the busiest member of council, as she was named to the Aboriginal Arts Centre board of directors as well as returned to the Thompson Public Library board and Community Futures North Central Development Board. Coun. Charlene Lafreniere was named to be the city's representative to both the Thompson Urban Aboriginal Strategy and the Northern Detox Programs Inc. board.
Rounding out the appointments by acclamation were Coun. Penny Byer being named to the board of the Thompson Zoo, Coun. Brad Evenson taking the city's seat on the Thompson Downtown Revitalization Committee, Coun. Dennis Fenske landing a spot on the UCN Advisory Committee, Coun. Stella Locker continuing in her role as the city's liaison with the Burntwood Regional Health Authority, and Coun. Erin Stewart staying on with the Thompson Housing Authority.
This left four positions for which multiple councillors let their names stand. Secret ballot votes took place for each of the four positions, in which Stewart beat Coun. Luke Robinson for positions on the Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Committee and the Thompson Recycling Centre boards, both of which she has held since 2009. Evenson landed a spot on the Thompson Unlimited board in a three-way race that also included Byer and Kolada, while Evenson also found his way onto the Spirit Way Inc. board of directors ahead of Byer.
Regardless of the rules governing tenure and term length on any of the individual boards, all city appointments will serve a one-year term.
Before the appointments were made, Mayor Tim Johnston noted that councillors are supposed to represent the views and opinions of the city when meeting with these external boards, not their own personal views.
