Mayor Dyas defends council committees shuffle, says changes had been planned for months

The fallout of recent changes to council committee appointments has led Mayor Tom Dyas to put to bed any rumours.

In a pair of statements released Friday evening, Dyas defended the swapping of three councillors on the Regional District Central Okanagan board.

The changes to committee assignments for council members were made in a strategic planning session on April 29.

Among those changes, Ron Cannan, Mohini Singh and Gord Lovegrove were removed from the RDCO board and replaced by Rick Webber, Luke Stack and Maxine DeHart, with Singh as an alternate.

The move caused rumours to fill the air as Cannan, Singh and Lovegrove were recently three of four councillors to vote against a pay increase for council and the mayor, with Webber being the fourth member who opposed the raise.

“Any reference, which has recently been reported, that this decision was made based on how council voted on the remuneration package, which was proposed by staff, is simply unfounded,” wrote Mayor Dyas in a statement.

“As is the case with all council meetings, meeting minutes and agenda items were sent to all of council prior to the strategic planning session on April 29. Knowing this, I find it concerning that some members of council were surprised that this was on the agenda at the recent session.”

The motion for the updated RDCO appointments was carried, with Cannan and Lovegrove opposing the change.

Dyas added that at the beginning of the council term, the councillors were asked what committees they were interested in and that information was used to make the initial appointments.

“Recognizing that there was some duplication in interest for committee appointments, it was discussed with councillors that changes will be made to the appointments at a future strategic planning meeting,” added Dyas.

“In addition to the above, I had communicated to council approximately four months ago that at our next strategic planning session, which took place on April 29, 2024, I would be seeking to alternate board appointments across the various committees.”

Dyas explained that the changes will be beneficial in developing new perspectives and help council evolve and better serve the community.

Other committee changes made on April 29 include:

Southern Interior Municipal Employers’ Association

• Gord Lovegrove to Mohini Singh

Tourism Kelowna

• Charlie Hodge to Ron Cannan

Airport Advisory Committee

• Tom Dyas and Ron Cannan to Tom Dyas and Mohini Singh

Okanagan Regional Library

• Loyal Wooldridge to Gord Lovegrove

Kasuagai Sister City Society

• Rick Webber to Ron Cannan

Parcel Tax Review Committee

• Luke Stack, Maxine DeHart and Rick Webber to Luke Stack, Maxine DeHart and Tom Dyas

Bio-Solids Advisory Committee

• Gord Lovegrove, Loyal Wooldridge and Mohini Singh to Gord Lovegrove, Charlie Hodge and Mohini Singh