County endorses McKay's bid for FCM post

Wellington County council has endorsed councillor Don McKay to stand for election to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) board of directors to finish the 2014-15 term.

In a motion passed on Jan. 6, council also agreed to assume all costs associated with McKay’s attendance at FCM board meetings.

FCM is required to fill  several positions on its board, because some of its directors, including former Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj, elected at the organization’s annual meeting last August, were not re-elected to their local positions on Oct. 27.

Councillor Lynda White noted FCM is the only municipal association that elects its directors annually. The rest elect directors for two years.

The motion was passed after a stipulation that council endorse McKay’s candidacy for subsequent terms up to and including 2018 was removed.

Councillor Dennis Lever expressed concern that might preclude other Wellington councillors from seeking positions with FCM in the future.

“I support (endorsing McKay for) the rest of this year, but I prefer the resolution reads it’s open again after that,” said Lever.

McKay told council he had no objection to the single-term endorsement.