Rocky View County’s (RVC) newly-elected council members were sworn in at the Organization Meeting held at the County Office Oct. 29.
Council unanimously agreed to appoint returning Division 3 councillor Margaret Bahcheli as reeve and re-elected nine-year Division 6 councillor Greg Boehlke as deputy reeve.
Bahcheli was nominated by former reeve Rolly Ashdown in the first round of nominations.
No other names were suggested in the second and third rounds of nominations.
Bahcheli and Boehlke were among the seven incumbents to return to RVC council following the Oct. 21 municipal election. Councillors Liz Breakey, Ashdown, Earl Solberg, Lois Habberfield and Al Sacuta were also re-elected. New faces Jerry Arshinoff and Bruce Kendall join council to represent Divisions 2 and 9 respectively.
RVC communications manager Grant Kaiser said discussions were held during the orientation session hosted by the county Oct. 24 and 25 to “discuss what kind of person would make the best fit for reeve and deputy reeve.”
“(The) discussions were aimed at developing consensus, but they did not prevent anyone on council from nominating someone for the position at the Organizational Meeting,” said Kaiser.
“Bahcheli was the councillor people were leaning towards (for reeve), so that was a good nomination for today,” said Ashdown, adding that he thinks having a reeve from one of the western divisions in the county “might work out better in the long run.”
“I think a lot of the things spoken about council being divided between the east and west (division councillors) will be eased and council will come a little bit closer now that the reeve is from those so-called western areas,” added Ashdown.
Bahcheli said she is “really excited” and is “really looking forward to the term.”
She said she hopes to continue seeing council focus on the county’s fiscal situation.
“That was something that was started in the last term and will be continuing through the next term because there’s certainly things that can be improved on in terms of financial disclosure and some of the costing procedures we have,” said Bahcheli.
Boehlke was also acclaimed as deputy reeve.
No stranger to council or the position, Boehlke served as deputy reeve from 2007 to 2008.
“It felt great (to be acclaimed). It’s nice to know that your fellow councillors have faith in you. I think this combination of reeve and deputy reeve is a sign that we’re looking to move ahead with RVC,” said Boehlke.
The reeve and deputy reeve are appointed for one-year terms.
Council also voted on 100 appointments to 34 RVC boards and committees. According to an RVC press release, councillors received applications for board and committee membership in advance, and reviewed the merits of each application prior to voting on them at the Organizational Meeting.
“The process significantly streamlined the past practice of reviewing and debating applicants at the same time appointments were made,” stated the press release.
Appointments to the boards and committees were for three or four-year terms. Council also established the 2014 council meeting dates.
