New CSRD chair elected

There has been a change in leadership for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District board of directors — but not too big of a change, as the chair and vice-chair have ended up merely switching positions.

At a Nov. 21 meeting, the CSRD board of directors held elections for a new chair and vice chair.

Former vice-chair and current Electoral Area G director Natalya Melnychuk was nominated for the chair position and ran unopposed.

After accepting her new position, Melnychuk told the board her leadership would focus on inclusivity, transparency and effective communication.

“Thank you all for putting your trust in me for this position, and open lines of communication with each of you is going to be key,” she said.

“I want to help lead a board that is, as a collective, a positive face to our regional government, and I'm always open to a conversation and exploring ways to do things differently.”

Melnychuk was elected for the first time as director for the newly-formed Area G in 2022.

Director Kevin Flynn, the former board chair, and Rhona Martin, Electoral Area E director, were both nominated for the vice-chair position, leading to an election.

After the first vote resulted in a tie, Flynn won the second vote and was declared the new vice-chair.

Kevin Flynn is a longtime CSRD board member, representing the City of Salmon Arm. He served as the chair of the board since 2019.

“I want to thank the board for their previous support in my tenure as chair,” Flynn said. “I feel that moving forward, just like we've had in the past, it makes sense to have a mix of an EA [Electoral Area] and municipal director on the chair vice-chair team.”

He added he's enjoyed working with former vice-chair Melnychuk, and he hopes the swap to a vice-chair role will help maintain continuity in leadership going forward.

And since he is semi-retired and lives close to the office, he said he is available to help whenever necessary.

“I am here and available to step in, I'm available at a moment's notice,” he added.

“We still have unfinished business with changes, we’ve been through some challenging times and I really want to…continue to serve as vice-chair.”

The newly elected chair and vice-chair will serve in those positions until the board meeting next November, when elections are held again.