DAWSON CITY – The clock was counting down the minutes and Husky Bus was waiting outside to take some of the delegates to the airport.

Meanwhile, members of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) turned from the polite, but convoluted, consideration of amendments to their constitution to the essential matter of electing a new set of executive members.

Earlier in the meeting, retiring president Diana Rogerson (Faro) was honoured with a large AYC hooked rug (or wall hanging, though she was urged to use it as the former).

Current past-president Wayne Potoroka was also ending his term, and there were two vice-presidential positions to fill.

The AYC elects a new executive every second year. The remainder of the board of directors is made up of representatives appointed by the councils in all of its member communities, with the exception of the City of Whitehorse, which has two representatives.

With the time crunch obvious to everyone, candidates for the three positions were allowed only two minutes each to make their cases before the vote was called.

There were two aspirants for the president’s position. Haines Junction Mayor Michael Riseborough was concluding a term as first vice-president, and Tara Wheeler (Carmacks) has been the board representative from her community. Wheeler was elected to the president’s office.

Five candidates put forth their names for the first vice-president post: Lee Bodie (Carmacks), Gord Curran (Teslin), Susan Smith (Haines Junction) Lisa Snyder (Faro), and Samson Hartland (Whitehorse). Curran was elected.

The remainder of the candidates (without any need for further speeches) stood for the position of second vice-president, and Lee Bodie was chosen by the membership to fill the seat.

As this is a municipal election year, it’s possible that some of these people may no longer hold elected offices after November, in which case there would have to be new elections.

Last Thursday night, the conference opened with a meet ‘n’ greet session held in the ballroom of the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture.

It was, for the most part, a time to circulate, renew acquaintances and enjoy the selection of appetizer munchies, along with a few drinks.

There was little in the way of formal presentations.

Jean Langlois (Yukon Parks’ manager park planning) and Carrie Mierau (the operations manager north) were on hand to ask delegates the best method for getting feedback from their citizens as the parks branch moves toward its public review phase of consultations on the future of Yukon parks.

There will be opportunities to give feedback at the Business Connects conference set for Wednesday and Thursday in Whitehorse.

There will be two sessions in Dawson City on May 28: one for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizens and a second for the community at large.

This short presentation was followed by about 45 minutes’ worth of five-minute community updates from both incorporated communities and local advisory councils.

Only Dawson and Haines Junction exceeded their time limits, as supervised by Brodie.

Reports were essentially positive. They referred to such concerns as new lift stations, recreation centre improvements, gratitude for the territorial and federal funding that has been assisting with various projects, and praise for the various towns’ staffs.

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