The District of Houston's new chief administrative officer will be deciding soon on the future of his other public role which is as a councillor with the City of Armstrong.
Ryan Nitchie, whose Houston appointment was announced Sept. 6, expects to discuss the matter with both Houston and Armstrong councils when they gather at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention Sept. 16 to Sept. 20 in Vancouver.
"Essentially my status as an elected official is to be determined," said Ritchie.
Ritchie was elected to the Armstrong council in Oct. 2022 when local governments across B.C. held elections. Local government elections are held every four years so that the next ones are scheduled for Oct. 16, 2026.
Should Nitchie step down before Jan. 1, 2026, a byelection to fill his spot on the Armstrong council must be held. If he steps down after that date, the Armstrong council could sit for the remainder of the term with five councillors.
Nitchie hopes he can remain involved as a councillor while fulfilling his new job. “I have to sit down to discuss things with my fellow councillors and mayor,” said Nitchie.
“I would love to try and balance things for as a long as possible, and not put an undue burden on the city and the residents."
"We meet once every three weeks and there's still a lot going on that I hope I can provide my experience to council.”
Nitchie brings more than three decades of local government experience to his Houston position. He had a long stint on Armstrong council prior to stepping away before returning to run again in 2022.
More recently, Nitchie has been a partner in a local government strategic consulting business.
“I am looking forward to working with staff and council to move forward with the vision of council and build on successes,” said Nitchie, 51. “I am really excited to get to know the staff and greater community and to move forward together."
In a release, the District of Houston said it received more than 30 expressions of interest in the search to replace Michael Dewar who left earlier in the year for a job at the Town of Smithers.
From the expressions of interest, five candidates were selected for discussions. The top three candidates interviewed with council in early August, and the top two candidates later visited and toured the community, and met with council to further explore the opportunity together.
“I feel I have some good years left, and I wanted to put my knowledge and experience that I've accumulated to work in Houston,” Nitchie said.
