Tourism Sun Peaks board elections open for voting

Elections for board positions with Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) are now open.

Members have until June 19 to vote, and successful candidates will be announced at the annual general meeting on June 27 at 4 p.m. Four positions are renewing this year, with elections in three categories and multiple candidates vying for the positions.

Arlene Schieven, president of TSP, said the number of candidates who have applied for the volunteer positions is higher than previous years.

“It’s really exciting to see so much interest from people in the community,” Schieven said

Positions in the categories of Commercial/Tenant/Independent Operator, Hotel Lodging Director, Non-Hotel Lodging Director and Residential Director are up for grabs. 

Commercial/Tenant/Independent Operator candidates include Ryan Schmalz, owner of Mountain High Pizza, and Gianpiero Furfaro, managing broker for Sotheby’s and director of ArtZone.

Non-Hotel Lodging Director candidates include Derek MacGowan, co-owner of Jardines Ski and Board Shop, Bobbe Lyall, operator of Ohana Market Deli and Lise-Anne Houde, director of operations for Electronic Arts.

Residential representative candidates include Rina Jeyakumar, founder of Araya Law and Gary Boddington, former Olympian and PlayWise CEO.

The Hotel Lodging category only has one nominee, David Kunze, general manager of Bear Country Property Management, who will win by default.

Schieven told SPIN the candidates who have stepped up want to be more involved in the community.

“Based on the conversations that I’ve had with the candidates, there’s definitely a desire to be more involved in the community and to be part of moving some things forward,” she said.

TSP is the marketing arm for Sun Peaks Resort and is responsible for advocating for Sun Peaks nationally and internationally. Schieven said the organization also plays a vital role in event functions, which is atypical for a destination marketing organization.

“We don’t have a big enough community that there are other people that are putting on events,” she explained. “We run the farmers market, and we put on all the concerts. We do a lot of things that are a little bit outside of what many destination marketing organizations do. But that’s just a function of Sun Peaks being a small community.”

All property or business owners in Sun Peaks who own land on the resort must be a member of TSP, making them eligible to vote if they have paid their dues and have registered in advance. Voting began June 5 and members of TSP will receive an email with voting instructions.