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Tourism Whistler board elections draw a crowd

Clare, Taber, Browning, Wallace elected at annual general meeeting

The first strongly contested board election in several years drew approximately 70 people to the May 17 Tourism Whistler annual general meeting.

Four director positions were contested this year, including three of the five newly defined positions that came about with the reorganization of the hotel lodging directorships.

Rick Clare, who was first elected to the Tourism Whistler board in 1995 and has served as chair of the board since 1997, was re-elected to the commercial director position in a close, three-way election. Clare received 366 votes to Mike Wintemute’s 352. Jay Wahono finished third in balloting with 262 votes.

Four Seasons general manager Scott Taber easily outpolled Jim Allard 1,183 to 271 for the new director position of single-managed lodging-small property.

Previously Allard and Taber were the two hotel lodging directors.

Rick Browning, managing partner of the Blackcomb Lodge, was elected director multi-managed lodging-village. Browning had 149 votes to 90 for Kimberley Hughes, manager of the Delta Village Suites.

The multi-managed lodging-Benchlands director position will be filled by Kerry Wallace, who previously was one of two non-hotel lodging directors. Wallace collected 187 votes to Paul Sanderson’s 54.

A third multi-managed lodging position, multi-managed lodging-other, was not up for election this year. John Richmond, who previously held the second non-hotel lodging position, is the director representing multi-managed lodging-other.

Fairmont Chateau Whistler general manager Michael Kaile was acclaimed as director single-managed lodging-large.

The director-at-large position is held by Patrick McCurdy. That position will be up for election next year.

The six appointed members of Tourism Whistler’s board are Tourism Whistler President Barrett Fisher, David Brownlie and Stuart Rempel of Whistler-Blackcomb, Bill Barratt and Ken Melamed of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and Dave Davenport who represents the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, ex officio.