Cypress County Reeve Richard Oster, left, and Deputy Reeve Dan Hamilton take part in discussion at council chmabers earlier this year. The two men have flip-flopped positions, with Hamilton taking over as reeve and Oster moving to deputy reeve. Oster cited a need to step back from the demanding position.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Medicine Hat News
DUNMORE
Cypress County has a new reeve following its council’s meeting on Monday with Dunmore-area representative Dan Hamilton taking over from Richard Oster.
Oster was subsequently elected deputy reeve after announcing that he wished to take a lesser role during Monday’s organizational meeting and nominated Hamilton for the county’s top elected position.
Oster also remains the representative for Ward 7, comprising Desert Blume and areas north of Seven Persons.
“I need some time to step back, and Dan will be a great leader. We’ve walked hand in hand on a lot of things, and had a lot of debate. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Hamilton said he’s viewing the position as an opportunity to continue ongoing work.
“We have some pretty good momentum going now, and we’re looking to keep that going forward,” said Hamilton, referring to business attraction and residential development in the county.
Council is also in the final phase of decision making toward the coming four-yea budget, due in December, and provincially mandated talks on inter-municipal collaboration.
“Richard did a fantastic job and I’ll have some pretty big shoes to fill,” said Hamilton, who was acclaimed as there were no other nominations for reeve.
In the vote for deputy reeve, Oster placed ahead of Irvine-Walsh councillor Darcy Giegle on a secret ballot.
Each year the county councillors can elect a reeve at an annual organizational meeting, but the position is typically retained from year to year. The reeve represents the county at official functions and also chairs meetings.
The organizational meeting was held Monday, along with a regular session to accommodate three councillors’ attendance at provincial ag service board meetings this week.
Oster was re-elected as reeve following last year’s general election, a post he previously held in 2014 and 2015 in his first-term as a councillor. He was replaced by council vote late in his final year by Giegle.
