Village of Donnelly is seeking residents to put their names forward to sit on council in an upcoming byelection.
Recently, Deputy Mayor Vance Yaremko gave his resignation from council, creating the need for the Village to have a byelection to fill his vacancy.
“We need to have a byelection due to a councillor that has resigned when his spouse became the Chief Administrative Officer for the Village,” says Mayor Myrna Lanctot.
“He resigned last month and we are opening nominations to fill his spot on council.”
The Nomination period will be open until Oct. 5, Lanctot says anyone interested in sitting on council is urged to go to the Village office to pick up a nomination package.
The nomination period will remain open until Oct.5. If more than one individual puts their name forward, an election ill be held on Nov. 16 at the Village of Donnelly office.
“Yaremko chose to step back because he felt that it would be a conflict of interest,” explains Lanctot. “He chose to step back from his council position to have a clear window of zero conflict.”
Lanctot says they were set to choose a new deputy mayor at the regular meeting on Sept. 8 but chose to wait until their annual organizational meeting to choose.
“Every October we have an organizational meeting and that is when Council decides who is going to be Mayor and Deputy Mayor,” explains Lanctot.
“This is when we also choose all the appointments to committees.”
Committees that the new councillor could potentially sit on include Emergency Management, Donnelly Recreation Society, Guy-Donnelly Sportex, Smoky River Regional Council Committee, Smoky River Regional Economic Development Smoky River Physician Recruitment, and many more.
“To sit on council, it would be beneficial to have an open mind, a passion for the community, and some spare time in their day because it will take time to complete village work,” says Lanctot. “Some items that require time are reading through council package, organizing yourself for the meeting, sitting on committees, and other village obligations.
If you would like more information on putting your name forward to sit on Village of Donnelly’s council, phone the village office at 780-925-3835.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter