Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Area F director Susan Clovechok is running for election as a director-at-large on the board of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).

Online voting for the board positions has been ongoing throughout the convention, which is being held digitally this year, and will wrap at noon today (Thursday, September 24th).

“My primary reason for running is to make sure that there is a strong rural voice at the provincial table. It is important to me that the Columbia Valley, the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) and southeastern B.C. isn’t an afterthought when discussions are taking place and decisions are being made at the provincial level that could impact our lives,” said Clovechok in an email on the topic.

Clovechok noted that of the 15 candidates running for the five director-at-large positions on the UBCM board, only she and one other candidate are electoral area directors as opposed to being municipal mayors or council members. “I’m hoping we both get on the board, so that we have a better urban-rural balance on the board,” Clovechok told the Pioneer. “If you have an opportunity to represent your area, your region, it’s important to take advantage of that opportunity. We are unique in southeastern B.C., and we do have a different voice. It needs to be heard.”

A letter to the editor which ran in the July 24th edition of the Pioneer previously addressed the topic of Clovechok running for director-at-large, but Clovechok did not submit the text as a letter to the editor, nor did she ever intend for it to become formatted into a letter to the editor.