Sayward appointed councillor Bill Ives as the acting mayor, a month after previous mayors’ resignations.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs was present through a phone call when fellow councillors, Wes Cragg and Norm Kirschner voted for Ives during a council meeting held last week.
As the acting mayor, Ives will represent the village of Sayward at Strathcona Regional district council and other portfolios.
With the subsequent resignations of elected mayor, John MacDonald, on March 13 and the acting mayor, Joyce Ellis, on March 19, the final approval of Sayward’s budget was at a standstill.
In addition the chief administrative officer, Lisa Clark, who also served as the chief financial officer resigned.
READ MORE: Subsequent mayors’ resignations leaves Island village with a governance vacuum
With Ives’ appointment the budget has been signed off on and the process to get it to the provincial government by May 15 has begun.
Ives said that they are looking at appointing a temporary corporate officer/chief administrative officer to help prepare tax invoices and set things in motion at the earliest.
“A permanent appointment for the position will take place when elections are held next,” said Ives.
Elections to appoint a new mayor will also be held once the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 are lifted.
In the few weeks following the resignations, Ives said that the remaining council members “were all working in the background to keep things moving.”
Sayward with a population of 311, has an emergency preparedness committee to deal with the COVID-19 crisis which sends regular updates through the village website, e-mails and social media.
