County executive to delay appointments to PRCAC

By Meg Olson

New county executive Satpal Sidhu has opted to delay any further appointments to the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) until he can meet with local groups and community members, which could leave the committee down to a bare quorum.

The January 23 regular meeting of the committee was the last for at-large member and chair Linda Hughes. “I’ve spent almost 30 years as a volunteer on various committees and this is my final night,” Hughes said.

Point Roberts Registered Voters Association (PRRVA) representative Tessa Pinckston confirmed she would be resigning her spot on the committee in February.

Local resident Pamala Sheppard netted 60 percent of votes in an email election conducted by PRCAC in December asking the community which of two applicants they would choose to fill Hughes’ seat and PRCAC forwarded these results to the county executive, who has the authority to appoint PRCAC members.

However, she and opponent Craig Grossman received a letter from Sidhu’s office on January 22 saying the decision was still pending. Sidhu “would like to take some time to learn more about the Point Roberts community as a whole,” the letter stated. “An appointment decision will likely be made within a couple of months or so.”

PRRVA acting president Allison Calder said they would be selecting a replacement for Pinckston’s position on PRCAC at their Thursday, February 6 annual general meeting at the Gulf Road community center. In the past, the county executive has appointed based on the association’s selection but Calder said she was not aware if Sidhu would want to delay the appointment of the PRRVA representative as he has said he will the at-large position.

The county executive’s office has confirmed Sidhu will come to Point Roberts on Friday, February 21 and meet with several local groups as well as PRCAC before a town hall meeting at 6 p.m.