Following a little bit of confusion, the Downtown Barrie Business Association (BIA) is wrapping up elections for its new board of directors, with the results to be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 5.
Last week, it was discovered that Meridian Credit Union's Jason Teal was ineligible to run for a seat on the BIA board, because the business had recently moved just outside the BIA's defined area.
Downtown BIA managing director Craig Stevens told BarrieToday it was an unfortunate error that, thankfully, was caught in time to do something about.
“It was a weird situation where the Meridian building had recently been moved literally just outside the eligible area and by pretty much half a parking lot,” Stevens said. “The error was caught and we rushed to make some appropriate solutions.”
The final day for voting was Friday, Nov. 23 and the first thought was to redo the whole process, which would allow people to cast their ballot differently if needed.
The BIA had City of Barrie clerk Wendy Cooke and her staff come in to provide advice and guidance through the process.
It was decided that all votes that have been cast will remain valid.
Stevens says there will be another voting day on Wednesday, Dec. 5 for those who didn’t get a chance to vote amid the confusion.
“We felt it was important to make sure everyone got a chance to vote in this election especially, because we feel we’re headed to an exciting time in the downtown area,” Stevens said. “We have more people up for nomination than I can ever remember and that is something we’re very happy about.”
Up to 10 people can be voted on to the board while two members of city council are also brought aboard.
Those eligible to vote can do so on Wednesday, Dec. 5 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Downtown Barrie BIA office, which is located at 93 Dunlop St. E., Unit 102.
Any mail-in ballots received prior to 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 will also be included.
Results of the election will be posted to the BIA website at www.downtownbarrie.ca on the evening of Dec. 5, but will remain subject to final appointment and approval of Barrie city council.
