Last week marked the final meeting for two outgoing city councillors, who took a moment to reflect on their terms.
Former councillors Stacey Tyers and Michael Prevost spoke about their departure at the end of the regular meeting on Oct. 22. The date marked Tyers’ last meeting after seven years, and Prevost’s last in four.
“I really wanted to congratulate everybody who was re-elected and is elected, and most importantly I really just wanted to thank the staff. It’s really been an honour to work with you,” Tyers said. “You guys work incredibly hard and do an amazing job with very limited resources.”
Tyers was first elected to council in 2011, and won her second term in 2014. She announced her decision to not seek re-election this past August to look after her health after a recent cancer diagnosis. Though not one to keep an empty schedule, Tyers recently accepted a position in collaboration with Doctors of BC as their General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) regional coordinator for the north.
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“I’m excited to move on with my career, but I really do treasure my time with everybody here and the opportunity to represent the city and work on behalf of this community,” she says. “I’m still going to do be doing that, just in a different capacity.”
Tyers also says she’s predicting a busy year ahead, especially with LNG developments on the horizon, and recalls memories of what it was like to serve on council during the last period of major economic growth for the region.
“It’s been a real pleasure to work with you, and I’m super happy to not have to be here through the boom that we are not ready for and to have to put in all of those hours,” she says with a laugh. “For the new councillors, just so you know, it gets really busy.”
Prevost was first elected to council in 2014 and announced his decision not to seek re-election in August after accepting a new regional position with Northern Health. While he wasn’t physically at the meeting, Prevost reflected on his term over the phone.
“I really wanted to thank our dedicated city staff, for me your efforts don’t go unnoticed. I appreciate the hard work you all do…Mayor Leclerc and council, it’s been a real pleasure to serve with you. I know we all want to make Terrace a prosperous and livable community and I know council moving forward will continue with this,” Prevost said, extending his congratulations to councillor-elects Jessica McCallum-Miller and Evan Ramsay.
“Everyone, thank you, it’s been quite the experience and a real honour to represent our community over the last four years.”
Mayor Carol Leclerc spoke next and addressed the two outgoing councillors.
“It has been a pleasure to work with both of you for the last four years. I think that the conversations around the table, the experiences that you’ve both had, the careers, they’ve led to interesting discussions and perspectives,” Leclerc says, recognizing that both Tyers and Prevost brought “healthy debate” to the table.
Terrace’s new councillor-elects will be officially sworn in at City Hall on Nov. 5.
brittany@terracestandard.com
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