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Your LOCAL Media since 1918! Volume 105 Issue 20
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Thursday, January 18, 2023 s
Nickel in as new Ryley Councillor after By-Election John Mather Staff Reporter
Friday the 13th is known for its sequels and in Ryley it was a sequel as Lyndie Nickel was elected to fill the vacant council seat on Jan. 13, marking it her second time to serve the Village as a councillor. Unofficial results show her winning with a massive majority over her challenger Joshua Lee 166 votes to 11. The vote will be official on Jan. 19 following the mandatory four business day waiting period as mandated by the Election Act. “We need to work as a cohesive team,” she said. “As people have been phoning to congratulate me, I’ve been saying, ‘you know what… we’re going to create a new Team Ryley.’ “I’ll be voting on the issues from the point of view of what’s the best policy for Ryley.” She said she was unable to attend the Monday council meeting (eventually postponed) because it was held during the day and it is the day she processes payroll at her place of employment. “Fifty-five people depend on me to process the payroll so I think that’s more important. I had asked, prior to being elected, if the council meetings could be moved to another day and I had the support of another councillor, but that wasn’t approved.” She did say she would like to see council meetings changed from the day time to evening. “My preference would be for evening
meetings,” she said. “I’ve always stated my family always comes first. In order to feed my family and keep a roof over our heads I have to work. I can request that a vote be taken to change the time of the meetings. I’ve heard a lot of residents would like to have evening meetings so they could attend.” She said she had been told it costs less to hold daytime meetings because you didn’t have to pay staff overtime. However, she suggested staff could always be given time off in lieu of any evening work they may have to do in terms of being at a council meeting. Nickel is also concerned about the recent large turnover of CAOs and staff at the Village Office. “I’ve seen the CAOs move on before,” she said. “What council has to do is find the right CAO and secure one who is reliable, with previous CAO experience and able to work with our Team Ryley council.” Nickel said having had three CAOs in the first term of this council seems excessive. “I can’t really comment on why the CAOs are leaving because I’m not yet on council.” She added having two employees terminated within a day of the latest CAO being hired seems very unusual. “That’s extremely unusual,” Nickel said. “Unless there was some interviewing done between the CAO and the staff. I know in my job that would not happen that way.” Ryley CAO Julie Ulmer started her job Jan. 10 and two staff were given no-
tice Jan. 12, and told they were finished at the end of the day, Jan. 13. Nickel feels she will have an uphill battle getting consensus on the council. “It will be a straight uphill battle,” she laughed. “I’m sure I’ll feel like a mountain goat.” She added she had received congratulations from two councillors since she was elected. She said she and the other candidate in the by-election, university student Joshua Lee, watched the vote count together. “At the end I thanked him for running and he congratulated me on the win and thanked me for running.” She said moving ahead, with a list of projects she would like to see happen is the development of a spray park. “That’s a request from my sevenyear-old daughter,” she said. “I think that’s far in the future. Immediately I want to see the meeting times changed and that in future elections Ryley have advanced polls and a special ballot for those who can’t leave their home.” She said she had a list but those are high up on it. “Those are ones I’ve had residents asking me about.” She adds she has others but has to wait until she takes her seat to review the documents before she attempts to tackle projects which may involve budgeting or infrastructure. “I have to know what’s planned, if budgets are available before I can comment further.” She does advocate for issuing direc-
Ryleyʼs new councillor Lyndie Nickel was elected on Friday with a resounding 166 to 11 vote. Results are unofficial until Thursday, Jan. 19. tions to administration and then have an action list and make sure it gets followed up on a regular basis. Nickel expected she’ll be sworn in after noon on Jan. 13, but wasn’t sure. “I don’t think I need to be sworn in at a council meeting,” she said. “Usually they do, but I don’t think it’s necessary.” She said she’s ready to “hit the cliff running.” “I’m really looking forward to tackling this new job,” she said. “I love this village. To make this village a place where families want to live and want to play, that's my goal. “My kids can play across the street, we have a grocery store, we have a bank machine, it's all convenient here. “I want what’s best for this community and I want to make it better.”
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