Cumberland voters can cross one item off their municipal election to-do list: choosing a mayor.
Vickey Brown has been acclaimed to a second term as Cumberland mayor.
She said being acclaimed is a blessing because she can focus on finishing her current term without hitting the campaign trail.
“Prior to being acclaimed I was concerned about how I was going to campaign and still do the work,” Brown said. “So, this extra space is really, really great. I’m keen to do another four years.”
Brown said the village has seen a lot of highlights during her first term as mayor.
She points to the completion of Phase 1 of the village’s wastewater upgrade project as a major accomplishment. Brown said the project to upgrade the village’s wastewater treatment system to meet provincial standards has been in the works for at least the last three village council terms and that the current council was the one that moved it past the finish line.
“The new works at the lagoon and the biochar reed bed is going in right now, and it’s just a fabulous project,” Brown said. “It is the biggest project that the Village of Cumberland has ever undertaken.”
Brown said some challenges during her first term have involved constraints from the province’s funding model for municipal governments.
“The biggest challenge is we are consistently asked to do more with the funding model that the province has given us,” Brown said. “We are the smallest community in the Comox Valley, and yet we run our own sewer and water systems on top of all the other things we do. All the other communities around us have regional water and sewer services so their focus can be more on recreation or active travel. Cumberland is very limited in what we can do other than those primary infrastructure roles because of our size and the demands of those assets.”
Brown said her main focuses for the next term will be managing the village’s core services and building resiliency into its infrastructure. She points to the No. 2 Dam replacement and restoration work on Perseverance Creek as examples.
She is encouraging all eligible Cumberland voters to cast their ballots on Oct. 17. Seven candidates are running for four seats on Cumberland Village Council.
The council candidates are:
• Zanoni Agnew
• Ellian Bell
• Neil Borecky
• Kevin Snaden
• Sean Sullivan
• Troy Therrien
• Nick Ward
