Kelly Ash has been elected as chair of the Sarnia Police Service Board, and Anne Marie Gillis has been named vice chair.
Ash was nominated by outgoing board member and former chair, Paul Wiersma, during Thursday's meeting.
"My term ends on February 27. We have a board meeting on February 26, so that will be my last meeting," Wiersma said. "I look forward to giving some remarks at that time as an outgoing board member. Having served seven years and the past three years as chair, it's been a wonderful experience. I think we have experienced so much progress in terms of modernizing the police service."
Wiersma has served as a provincial appointee and a replacement has not yet been announced by the Ontario government.
Ash -- who's been a member of the board for four years and most recently served as vice chair -- said she has big shoes to fill.
"I won't be the same type of chair as Paul, but I'll be the type of chair I am. So we'll see," she said. "It's not my first time being chair of a board, but it's a little more high-profile."
Gillis was nominated vice chair by board member Chrissy McRoberts, who's also a city/county councillor.
"It's interesting because I'm vice chair on the last year of my term of office, and I was chair in 2006 on my last year, going into my second term of office. So I always come in at the last year," chuckled Gillis.
Since becoming a member of the police board in 2024, Gillis said she's noticed "a big difference" in how the police service works internally and externally, compared to her previous experience on the board in the early 2000s.
She also noted the opportunity to take questions heard during council meetings and raise them at board meetings and vice versa. She said the previous philosophy to keep the two roles separate didn't coincide with her.
"I see that there's an integrated process and under the new police act... they have a less stringent role of you must be...you are here...therefore you are, and recognizing that you bring the benefit of one -- the elected position that you were elected by the people, and the signed position that you were put here by the council."
The position of chair and vice chair is for a one-year term.
The SPS said Gerald Bernardo will be the new council appointee, as included in the February 9 city council agenda.
