It was an eye opener to read that Karla Kozakevich has so little faith in her fellow directors on the RDOS board that she thinks the loss of Judy Sentes on the board is worth fighting with the Mayor of Penticton (Regional Chair calls out mayor’s RDOS appointments, Western News, Nov.14).
I don’t think Kozakevich’s opinion of Sentes is held by the majority of Pentictonites, as Sentes barely squeaked in to the last seat on Penticton council this term. There will be close to a dozen members that have served as regional directors on the RDOS and have either been re-elected or have served on local city councils before. They would have sat on many boards in the past and will be familiar with board structure so sitting on a hospital board shouldn’t be a stretch.
Ms. Kozakevich is breaking new ground. I don’t recall a previous instance of a chair of the regional district criticizing the decisions of a mayor in a neighboring city that carries 40 per cent of their budget.
It seems Kozakevich has come out gunning for Vassilaki and it should be an interesting year.
There are approximately 10 other experienced board appointees that could fill that position if they want it.
Penticton council elected, by six to one, the four people that will represent Penticton. The only person voting against the appointments was Sentes. It should be noted that Sentes was selected as an alternate director which also means she will be sitting on the RDOS board on any occasion that a regular director is unable to appear. As this happens quite often the reason cannot be failure to appoint to the board. The real reason must be either the loss of the board hospital position which will go to a regular appointee or Ms. Kozakevich’s ambitions to retain the lucrative RDOS chair position.
Penticton’s council was elected to ensure that the satellite communities begin to carry their share of the recreational infrastructure they use in Penticton. If they fail in their mandate Pentictonites need to seriously question whether their city should be making an application to leave the RDOS.
Elvena Slump
Penticton