FILE PHOTO - Peter Milobar watches the provincial polling results at the B.C. Liberal election party on May 9, 2017.
(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)
May 31, 2017 - 4:38 PM
KAMLOOPS – The faces on Kamloops city council will change this fall, with the departure of two councillors and the mayor.
Peter Milobar’s attempts to sidestep a byelection have fallen short and today, May 31, he announced his resignation. Coun. Marg Spina has handed in her letter of resignation with June 30 as her last day.
“I will be resigning, maybe on the same date as Marg, if not a day or two sooner,” Milobar says. Milobar was elected MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson earlier this month.
Coun. Ken Christian formally handed in his resignation today in order to run for mayor.
Milobar said in the past he would take an extended unpaid leave to avoid a byelection, but with Spina’s departure due to medical reasions, it made sense for Milobar to hand in his resignation at the same time.
While the details of the byelection aren’t solidified yet, City staff are working on a report outlining the byelection procedure which will be released near the end of June. The cost of a byelection estimated to be around $125,000.
Coun. Arjun Singh was unanimously voted deputy mayor in Milobar’s absence. Singh isn’t certain, but says it’s likely the byelection will be held near the end of September and any other current councillor wishing to run for the mayor’s seat will also have to resign.
Don’t expect to see Singh’s name in the race. He says he’s happy in his position as councillor and doesn’t have a desire to run for mayor.
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