?After five years as board chairman and in the wake of a surprisingly narrow election victory at City Hall, Peter Milobar announced Thursday he will step aside from the position. The Kamloops mayor told the 23 other members of the Thompson Nicola Regional District Board that he will not let his name stand for the chair position. In doing so he will forgo about $18,000 a year premium on his mayor’s salary one third of that tax free income. The chair is voted in by secret ballot once a year by board members. The new chairman will be elected at the TNRD’s inaugural meeting, Dec. 8. "Some of you have asked me to (run again). Others won’t be upset by this conversation," he joked. Milobar’s five year tenure as chairman was unusually long by standards of the past two decades, as was his status as both mayor and head of the regional board. The board is dominated by directors from rural and small municipalities. Prior to Milobar’s reign, a city director hadn’t served as chair since Kamloops councillor Pat Wallace, from 1983 86. Several directors pointed to Randy Murray, fresh from a convincing election win in Nicola Valley Area M as a potential new chairman. Murray told reporters he will determine support and consider taking a run at the position. "I’m giving it some thought," he said. Another contender is Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta, who has served as chairman for four years over the past two decades on the board. Asked by reporters Thursday if he would take a run at the position, Ranta said he would "consider all options. "I haven’t given any thought to it," he said. "I just heard chairman Milobar’s decision to step aside." The stipend for chairman is $30,000 a year ($12,000 as director and $18,000 as chair), one third of that tax free. Following last Saturday’s election, several directors told The Daily News it was time for a rural director to guide the board. Milobar said his decision wasn’t motivated by a fear of losing nor by his narrow mayoral victory over local farmer Dieter Dudy on Nov. 19. Instead, Milobar said he wants to focus on health care and will campaign to lead the Thompson health board, which approves capital decisions for Royal Inland Hospital. "I think that might be a more appropriate role. I thought it was important people had a clear couple of weeks (to campaign)."
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