Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden has been re-elected as the board chair of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
In her pitch to the board of directors she said she hoped she had lived up to the ideals and ideas that she brought forward two years ago.
“Two years ago, I stood before you all and asked for your vote as Chair. At that time I said doing the right thing is not always easy, but I will always strive to do the right thing. I said that I was looking forward to hearing the passions and the plans of everyone around this table and that has not changed.”
“I said I was looking forward to building a team and to working as a team for the people of the TNRD, which is something we can never lose sight of. That is who we are here to serve. We are not here for ourselves, we are here for the 145,000 people of the district. And I said a strong leader believes in collaborations, consensus, communication, taking responsibility, admitting when you’re wrong and listening to everyone because if you do not listen you do not learn anything new. So you have had two years to see if you think I have lived.”
Roden will serve as Chair of the TNRD Board for two more years after being voted in over Area I Director Tricia Thorpe who was the only other nominee for the Chair position.
When Roden was first elected Chair in 2022, she became the second woman to take on the position in the TNRD’s history. The first was Kamloops councillor Pat Wallace who served as chair from 1983 to 1986.
Logan Lake Mayor Robin Smith will also be retaining her position of Vice-Chair. “I’m a believer in collaboration. I’m a believer in listening. I’m a believer in respectful debate, working with indigenous governments. I believe in moving forward together as a whole with a positive outlook, recognizing we’re all a part of a big team, and we can come up with solutions that can benefit people in all of our areas.”
“I really believe that there’s always a solution to every problem if we’re willing to have that conversation. I understand the importance of listening. I’ve learned a lot by doing that over the years, and I think it’s a very, very valuable trait. I believe in serving our residents with the utmost professionalism at all times.”
Smith was voted in over Area A Director, Usoff Tsao.
