My Top 3 Local Political Stories in 2011 (Updated)

So as we wrap up 2011 - let's look at my top 3 local political stories for 2011:

a) Re-elected Williams Lake Mayor
b) New OCP/ICSP in Williams Lake
c) First-time elected First Nations Cariboo Regional District Rural (Electoral Area) Director

a) Kerry Cook did what has not been done in 15 years in Williams Lake (since 1996) and that is become a re-elected Mayor of Williams Lake.  The last re-elected Mayor was Walt Cobb in the mid-90's.  Sometime in the new year, Municipal Councils' in Wells, Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House will begin "Strategic Planning" to set their goals for the 2011-2014 term.  In fact, we know already that Quesnel Council will be doing their Strategic Planning and Orientation Session on Friday, Jan 13th/Saturday, Jan 14th & Friday, Feb 3rd/Saturday, Feb 4th. It'll be interesting to read about the municipal councils' "Strategic Plans" for the upcoming term as they are released to the public

b) The City of Williams Lake started the ICSP/OCP development process back in 2007 where it was called "Imagine Our Future" and unlike the typical process of asking the public to come to their local Municipal Hall to provide input for a new Official Community Plan, the City of Williams Lake took the process of developing an Official Community Plan straight to the public and won a Federation of Canadian Municipalities award for it and it is fair to say that amending the new OCP/ICSP will be a "tall order" for this Council or any future Williams Lake City Council.  The next major planning task, in my opinion, will be to repeal City of Williams Lake Zoning Bylaw #1825, 2002 and enact a new Zoning Bylaw.  This action was also recommended by Staff to ensure the City's OCP/Zoning Bylaws compliment each other

c) For the first time (and readers' can correct me if I'm wrong) - Roger William became the 1st Cariboo Regional District Director for Electoral Area 'J' with local First Nations' heritage.

Director William will bring, in my view, his years of First Nations experience around how First Nations view various issues like land-use planning, resource extraction issues, etc to the Regional Board table.  This, in my view, is a positive development and hopefully inspires other First Nations people to run for local offices like Mayor, Councillors', School Trustees and Regional District Director

Update on Jan 4th, 2012 - a reader has informed me that CRD Area 'K' Director Chad Mernett also has First Nations heritage.  With 2 First Nations based CRD Directors at the Regional government table - I believe it adds to the quality of decision around the Cariboo Regional District Board table... :)

Tomorrow - I'll look at my top 3 picks for provincial political stories in 2011 and Friday - I'll look at my top 3 picks for the federal political stories in 2011