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New faces at FVRD board

All but one of the seven electoral area incumbents at the Fraser Valley Regional District board were re-elected Saturday.

All but one of the seven electoral area incumbents at the Fraser Valley Regional District board were re-elected Saturday.

But mayors from five communities — Abbotsford, Mission, Kent, Hope and Harrison Hot Springs — who sat at the regional board were not re-elected, meaning there's going to be a sharp learning curve as the new mayors are introduced to the complexities of regional government.

"It's going to be interesting," said Dick Bogstie, long-time director in Electoral Area G (Hatzic Prairie/McConnell Creek) who lost his seat to challenger Ray Boucher by a vote of 129-87, according to the preliminary results.

"The learning curve for everybody is going to be huge," Bogstie said.

Boucher was not available to comment on his victory Monday.

Most incumbent area directors were returned with healthy majorities, except in the Chilliwack River Valley where challenger Taryn Dixon finished close behind incumbent David Lamson.

Lamson was returned in Area E (Chilliwack River Valley/Cultus Lake) by a vote of 172-148 over Dixon.

Lloyd Forman was returned in Area A (Boston Bar/North Bend) by a vote of 138-33 over Jim Fougere.

Dennis Adamson was returned in Area B (Yale/Sunshine Valley) by a vote of 104-68 over Andy Bishop.

Wendy Bales was returned in Area C (Lake Errock/Hemlock Valley) by a vote of 147-18-108 respectively over Colin Faulkner and Mel Waardenburg.

Bill Dickey was returned in Area D (Popkum/Bridal Falls) by a vote of 152-59 over Michael Henshall.

Al Stobbart was returned in Area G (Deroche/Nicomen Island) by a vote of 153-49 over Lea Ricketts.

Bogstie, who has been serving in elected office nearly continuously since he was a director at the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District three years before it merged in 1995 with two other regional districts to form the FVRD, said he's looking forward now to finally getting around to his retirement.

"I've been doing this a long time," he said, about his position at the FVRD where he was also chairman of the Community and Regulatory Services Committee.

"I'm looking forward to time for me," he said.