Looking resplendent in a red dress with black trim, red hair tie and red heels, Ruth Hoyte placed her hand upon the Bible, looked at Justice Jeremy Guild 鈥� decked out in his black-and-red robe 鈥� and made history.
Hoyte was officially sworn in by Guild Monday, Nov. 7, as the first female mayor of the District of Coldstream.
After Guild swore in the rest of council, Hoyte conducted her first address to the packed gallery, which included her family.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to be here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know we have a fantastic staff here at the district. I鈥檓 looking around the table and I see a very diverse, very dynamic council, and I鈥檓 looking forward to working with you.鈥�
Sworn in as councillors were newcomers Jeremy Levy and Simone Runyan, who placed two feathers upon the Bible to acknowledge the district being in the unceded territory of the Syilx, and incumbents Stephanie Hoffman, Pat Cochrane and Doug Dirk, who gave the room a chuckle with his declaration after signing his oath of office.
鈥淚 hope it鈥檚 only under these circumstances that I ever appear in front of you,鈥� said Dirk to the Supreme Court justice, who laughed.
The man Hoyte replaces as Coldstream mayor, Jim Garlick, was also sworn in to a new position as a councillor.
Former councillor Richard Enns was among those in the gallery to watch the new council sworn in.
鈥淚鈥檇 be remiss if I didn鈥檛 mention our previous council,鈥� said Hoyte. 鈥淐oun. Enns is in attendance. Thanks for being the guy beside me. And thanks to Coun. (Glen) Taylor, who is not here tonight. I always appreciated his considerate and thoughtful comments.鈥�
Hoyte said Enns and Taylor will be further honoured at the first regular meeting of the new council Nov. 14.
In her address, Hoyte said she liked the fact that a number of projects have been completed and some are in progress.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to finish them and we鈥檙e going to move on to some really great things,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank all the residents who submitted queries and answers to some of the community surveys. We will be basing a lot of our plans on those, and I look forward to engaging the residents as a whole.鈥�
Over at Vernon City Hall, six of seven incumbents and the new 鈥楪uy鈥� were being sworn in by Justice Richard Hewson.
Mayor Victor Cumming was joined by incumbents Kari Gares, Teresa Durning, Akbal Mund, Brian Quiring and Kelly Fehr, and newly elected councillor Brian Guy 鈥� all dazzling wearing their finery 鈥� in front of a large gallery.
鈥淭here have been significant successes in the last four years, and continuing to make Vernon a great place to live, work, and play for all,鈥� said Cumming in his address to council. 鈥淚ncluding maintaining infrastructure systems, organics diversion, upgrading parks, active transportation systems, the road systems, the intersections鈥︹��
Cumming said upcoming challenges council will face are known already.
鈥淭he Greater Vernon Cultural Centre, Kin Race Track Athletic Park, the newly approved Active Living Centre, completing the Grey Canal Trail, climate actions for adaptation and mitigation,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven the 2022 B.C. Winter Games in 2023. Updating our official community plan, and many more.鈥�
Both mayors made committee appointments for their respective councils Monday.
Each council gets down to business with its first regular meetings Nov. 14.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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