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Sorley acclaimed as Area F regional district director

Joan Sorley took over the position of Area F director in January and says she just now feels like she’s hitting her stride.
46086tribuneJoanSorley
Joan Sorley

Joan Sorley took over the position of Area F director in January and says she just now feels like she’s hitting her stride.

“I’m starting to feel like I was making a difference and it feels like there is a lot more to do,” she says.

Sorley, the lone candidate for the directorship of the area, feels there is plenty more to do.

She says emergency preparedness and planning as it relates to forest fire hazards and potential flooding in the area are two issues.

Land-use planning including the use of watersheds and watershed conservation, the official community plan and economic development are other areas that need to be addressed, she says. In light of the recent developments around the Spanish Mountain Gold Mine project — a comprehensive assessment was ordered for the mine — she says local government needs to make sure the development occurs responsibly and that the environment is protected.

Sorley would like to improve communication between the regional district and residents and has created a Facebook page to facilitate that.

She says advocating for greater access to Internet service for residents of Area F is another priority as is the ongoing work of the Cariboo Regional Integrated Marijuana Enforcement team.

Sorley identified the future of the Sam Ketcham Memorial Pool as one of the “most important” issues facing the central Cariboo.

“That’s something I think that I intend to be spending a lot of time working on in the coming term,” she says.

“We don’t have a tax base that’s going to support a new pool so we’re going to have to get creative — find partnerships, lobby other levels of government, work with industry, maybe work with First Nations — just keep working with everybody to find a way. Because our pool, it’s days are numbered.”