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Vanderhoof politician running for president of UBCM

Brian Frenkel, municipal councillor, was the first Vice-President for the Union of BC Municipalities in 2019.
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Coun. Brian Frenkel. (Submitted photo)

A municipal councillor in Vanderhoof has recently been nominated for the position of President for the Union of BC Municipalities.

Coun. Brian Frenkel has been on the UBCM board since 2014 when he got appointed as he was President of the North Central Local Government Association.

After that, Frenkel ran for and got elected as UBCM’s Director-at-large in 2016. In 2017, he was elected as the 3rd Vice President and in the past year he was the first Vice-President of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).

Frenkel says as president he will have to step outside specific local and regional concerns, and address questions that impact local governments broadly including - finance, sustainability, economic development, community health and safety.

“The role of president is to articulate those common perspectives of all communities in BC, so it is necessary to set aside my personal views on many issues so that you are seeking on behalf of the whole,” he said in an email statement to the Express.

There are 13 elected positions on the UBCM Executive and a candidate must be nominated by two elected officials from a UBCM member local government or First Nation.

Post that the nominating committee reviews the qualifications of each candidate and oversees the election process at the UBCM convention. This year, voting will be completed virtually.

As a member of the UBCM team, Frenkel has chaired the Community Economic Development and Environment committees. He has been a member on the Resolution and Presidents committees as well as a member of the Federations of Canadian Municipalities where he sat on the Rural Communities committee.

Outside his role as board member, he has also been an active UBCM member of the Ministry of Forests Policy Advisory committee, The UBCM Climate Action committee, the Municipal Pension Board of Trustees, the Environmental Assessment review committee, the BC Forest Innovation Leadership and the Joint committee on Cannabis regulations.

“While I have enjoyed working on the provincial forestry files as a UBCM representative. I have truly appreciated trying to understand the concerns of local government throughout the province and advocating as best as we can, the challenges and impact that they may face,” he stated.

READ MORE: UBCM attendees endorse right for permanent residents to get the vote

READ MORE: B.C. municipal group bans foreign sponsorship at convention


Aman Parhar
Editor, Vanderhoof Omineca Express

aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com

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