MOOSE JAW — City council has appointed Tyler Simpson as a new member of the Wakamow Valley Authority (WVA) board after another member failed to show up for any of the meetings.
During its June 9 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Keyurkumar Patel from the authority board effective immediately. In turn, it appointed Simpson for a term commencing immediately and concluding on Dec. 31, 2026, or until a successor is appointed.
A council report explained that the city clerk’s office received a confirmation letter on May 15 from the general manager of Wakamow Valley Authority saying Patel had not attended any meetings since his appointment. Furthermore, he had not responded to any of the contact attempts that the GM made, so he was deemed to have resigned.
The WVA board of directors’ handbook says a member who is absent for three consecutive meetings without notice or reasonable cause is considered to have resigned, the report said. This also aligns with a council resolution from Dec. 13, 1993, about board member absenteeism.
That resolution said:
“THAT where the Chairman’s records indicate that a member of any Board, Committee or Commission appointed by City Council, has failed to attend three (3) consecutive meetings of that Board, Committee or commission, the Chairman shall notify the City Clerk of that fact and advise in writing, whether or not the member has provided the Board, Committee or Commission with a reasonable excuse for his failure to attend the meetings; and
“THAT the City Clerk advise City Council of such cases where a reasonable excuse has not been received; and
“THAT City Council thereupon adopt: a. A resolution revoking the member’s appointment to the Board, Committee or Commission; and b. A resolution appointing another person in his stead.”
Also, two subsections in the WVA Act provide the legal framework for resignations and appointment procedures:
“5(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), an appointment may be terminated at any time by the participating party that made the appointment or by the written and signed resignation of the member appointed, and, where a member resigns, his resignation takes effect on the day it is received by the chairperson or secretary of the authority, unless a later time is specified for the purpose in the written resignation, in which case the resignation takes effect at the time so specified.”
“5(4) Where a vacancy occurs in a participating party’s representation on the authority, the participating party may appoint another person to fill the vacancy.”
The city clerk’s office received an application from Simpson on May 13, expressing interest in serving on the WVA board, the report added. So, he will fill that vacancy.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 23.
