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Deputy and assistant deputy mayor appointed Town council briefs with Danielle Sachs Northern News Services Published Thursday, November 22, 2012
Both deputy and assistant deputy mayor positions had to be appointed. Jim McDonald was appointed deputy mayor and Alana Mero was appointed assistant deputy mayor. "It goes by individual votes," said Mayor Floyd Roland. During the election on Oct. 15, McDonald were the top two vote getters with 455 votes and Mero with 402. Moving beyond the election While looking into positions for the different committees – including the administration, lottery, public works and services, and leisure committees – Mayor Floyd Roland stated the importance of looking at long-term plans for the Town of Inuvik and working on solutions that would take the town beyond the election window. "As a town council we need to look at some of the long-term objectives. We should have a short time to review the mandate of each committee and return to council with revisions. We also have a role to play beyond the role of town councillor," he said. Some of those long-term goals for Inuvik include reaching out to universities in the south and science communities, showing them the research opportunities to be found in the Inuvik region, said Roland. "There's an important interest on the science side," he said. Long-term planning is important for finding a solution to energy supply as well. "We have to turn over every rock, so to speak," said Roland. "As a community, we need to figure out a strategic plan. Right now, we're very dependant on non-renewable resources and a lot of us have seen those highs and lows we've been through because of this." Curfew siren on the table The Town of Inuvik still has a curfew bylaw and siren as a standing item on the agenda. Whether or not to reinstate it has been discussed since Derek Lindsay was mayor, said Coun. Jim McDonald. Council had to discuss two separate issues with the curfew siren: one is the actual curfew bylaw and the other is the siren itself. The bylaw is unenforceable according to the courts, said Mayor Floyd Roland. "If there isn't a way of enforcing a curfew bylaw, should it even continue as an item?" he asked. With or without the bylaw, some councillors said the siren might be a good idea if only to let the kids know what time it is. "A lot of parents at the time thought it might be helpful as a reminder if the siren were to go off," said Coun. Alana Mero. "The intent was to look at the cost of reinstalling the sirens because all the infrastructure was removed," said McDonald.
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