He didn’t set the record but he has matched it.
North Cowichan mayor Jon Lefebure has become the second Cowichan Valley Regional District board chair in the last half-century to serve four consecutive terms, tying long-time Area F (Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls) director Joe Allan (1994-1997).
The vote took place at the Nov. 8 board meeting.
“I am very pleased to have been re-elected board chair and excited about the work ahead of us in the final year of our term,” Lefebure said.
Lefebure first broke onto the CVRD scene as one of North Cowichan’s three representatives back in 2003.
In 2006 he served his first one-year term as board chair.
He wasn’t on the CVRD board between 2009 and 2011 after losing out to Tom Walker, now serving as a municipal councillor, in North Cowichan’s race for mayor, but returned in 2012 after being re-elected and has been the chair since 2015.
It’ll be business as usual for Lefebure and the board, who are in the final year of their four-year terms as elected officials.
Only a few votes shy of being elected to the chair position, Ian Morrison has been elected as the CVRD’s vice chair for a one-year term.
It’s the first time in the role for the Area F (Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls) director but it’s not a position he’s entirely new to.
“It is new, but it’s something that I’ve stepped in and served at before,” Morrison explained on Tuesday. “I’ve stepped in in that capacity as the chair of Electoral Area Services when both the chair and the vice chair have been away at conferences and that sort of thing.”
His day-to-day duties won’t change too much, save for more time spent working on community business.
“There are a few opportunities to serve in different capacities,” he noted. “You’re a stand-in for the chair if the chair is unable to attend a public event or if the chair is unavailable due to vacation or prior commitments or other things.”
Morrison will also be chairing the Electoral Area Services committee, composed of the nine regional directors.
“That’s where we do the heavy lifting for the business in the electoral areas,” he said.
But his new role doesn’t mean extra-special attention for Area F and its neighbours around Cowichan Lake.
“It’s more of a position of service than anything,” Morrison said.
Morrison, Lake Cowichan councillor Bob Day, and Lefebure were all nominated for the board chair role.
“I came really close in the first ballot,” Morrison said. He received seven votes to Lefebure’s five and Day’s three.
“I guess all three of [Day’s] votes went to John.”
With Day eliminated, the second ballot favoured Lefebure by eight votes to seven.
When it came to the vice chair vote, both Morrison and Day were nominated. Morrison earned the position by virtue of an eight-to-seven vote in his favour.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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