Michael Delich and Rhonda Ruston join CBT Board

Michael Delich and Rhonda Ruston will both be joining the CBT Board for one-year terms.

Michael Delich joins the Board from Fernie and Rhonda Ruston joins the Board from Kaslo. — Photo courtesy Michael Delich and Rhonda Ruston

In addition to the appointment of Cranbrook’s Rick Jensen as the new Chair of the Columbia Basin Trust, there are also two new members joining the Board for one-year terms, expiring December 2016.

Michael Delich joins the Board from Fernie, where he is an active entrepreneur, community leader and sport leader. Rhonda Ruston joins the Board from Kaslo, where she is a lawyer and has served on the boards of the Kaslo InfoNet Society and Kaslo Institute.

Michael Delich has strong background in the hospitality, resort and ski industry.  He was a long time board member of Kootenay Rockies Tourism.  He is the president of Fernie Vacation Properties and driving force behind Fernie’s Ski Heritage awards program.

“It is an honour to serve on the (CBT) board,” he told the Fernie Free Press.

Nelson's Am Naqvi is being reappointed to the Board until December 2018. Other Board members include Larry Binks (Creston), Wendy Booth (Fairmont Hot Springs), Gord DeRosa (Trail), John Dooley (Nelson), Loni Parker (Revelstoke), Vickie Thomas (?aq'am) and Jeannette Townsend (Valemount).

The Trust's 12-member Board consists of individuals appointed by the provincial government: six from the five regional districts and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, and six others. All directors must live in the Basin.

The Board meets five times a year in communities around the Basin. The public is invited to attend in order to meet the directors and ask questions about the organization's work in the Basin. The next meeting is in Nelson on Friday, February 12, 2016.

For more information about the Board, and to read highlights and minutes from Board meetings, visit cbt.org/board.