El-Chantiry continues as PSB chair
Posted Jan 26, 2012 By Laura MuellerEMC News -West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry has agreed to continue as chair of the Ottawa police services board during the transition as the force looks for a new chief.
El-Chantiry originally planned to step back from the role after approximately five years of serving as the head of the board, which oversees decisions for the Ottawa Police Service.
But with the news Jan. 6 that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had appointed Chief Vern White to the Senate, Mayor Jim Watson asked El-Chantiry to stay on and lead the board through the search for a new chief and the transition when a candidate is chosen.
It's a role he is still happy to play, El-Chantiry said after being re-elected by the board for another one-year term during a Jan. 23 meeting.
El-Chantiry was appointed as one of the city's two deputy mayors shortly after his re-election in October of 2010, which marked his third term on council.
He said stepping away from the responsibilities of leading the police services board would have allowed him to spend more time on that role, El-Chantiry said.
"It was a concern at first to step down and focus on the deputy-mayor role," he said.
However, his commitment to the search for a new chief, and the mayor's request that he stay the course, swayed El-Chantiry's plan.
The vice chair of the board, Riverside South-area resident Jim Durrell (a former mayor and former president of the Ottawa Senators NHL team), was also reelected.
laura.mueller@metroland.com
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