The District of Invermere is beginning plans to hold a byelection following a district councillor’s decision to resign from the role.
Mayor Al Miller says Mark Topliff resigned from council prior to its first meeting and inauguration last week for personal reasons, this comes just weeks after last month’s municipal election.
Miller says Topliff indicated he would not be able to fulfill his duties on district council, and resigned for personal reasons.
The mayor says while the timing is disappointing, he would rather hold the byelection sooner than later during council’s current term to ensure a fresh start for its four-year mandate.
“I would rather do it [byelection] now than later,” says Miller. “Thinking about it, obviously Mark [Topliff] wasn’t able to fulfill that [district council role] and so we might as well start fresh in the new year, we’ll get somebody on who can [serve], and move forward.”
In October’s municipal election, Miller and all four district councillors were acclaimed to their roles – including Topliff
Miller expects the byelection will be held sometime in January.
“We’re a positive group, we’re going to move forward and we’re going to get the job done,” Miller says. “We’re going to get into a byelection, and hopefully we’ll have some contestants, some nominees to look at and get our last councillor up and rolling.”
Until a byelection is held, district council will operate with four members – three councillors (Gerry Taft, Kayja Becker and Theresa Wood) and the mayor.
– Al Miller – Mayor of Invermere
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