A second Village of Telkwa councillor during the current term has called it quits.
Councillor Rick Fuerst submitted his resignation papers last week. CAO Debbie Joujan said he is leaving the table because of a number of factors including his busy work schedule that takes him out of town a lot.
Fuerst works in the logging industry, is often in the bush and has had difficulty attending council meetings.
The announcement was made at Tuesday night’s regular council meeting. Fuerst was not in attendance and was not immediately available for comment.
This was his second term as a councillor.
Fuerst was a driving force behind the cenotaph project, was always supportive of local community initiatives and also made sure Village work went to local contractors first, whenever possible.
“I’d like to make sure we thank Councillor Fuerst for stepping up to the service and he recognized that his schedule has gotten to a point that he couldn’t continue and do an adequate job,” said Mayor Brad Layton.
Of the 14 regular council meetings held so far in 2020, Fuerst was absent for seven, appeared in person for three and participated via phone for four.
The Village will now be holding a byelection in the near future to replace him.
READ MORE: Telkwa council meeting cancelled
This comes after former councillor Matthew Monkman resigned last year due to conflicts with a new job.
A couple of meetings after Monkman resigned were cancelled because of lack of quorum.
Layton previously told The Interior News it can be tough being down a councillor.
“That’s the thing with a small council like Telkwa’s, there are many times when someone gets called away for family stuff, or whatever,” he said. “If we are missing that one person we still have quorum, but when you are down one already, we end up in a position where we might not have quorum.”
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