July 2018

208 209 T he Regional District of Okana- gan-Similkameen (RDOS) covers an area of 10,400 square kilometers in southern British Columbia’s South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys.“The regional district form of government in Brit- ish Columbia is sort of a federation,”explains Chief Administrative Officer, Bill Newell.“It’s a hybrid between Single Tier and Two-Tier government.We have sixmember municipal- ities: Penticton,Osoyoos,Oliver, Summerland, Keremeos, and Princeton.We have about 83,000 people–25,000 are in our rural areas. The eight electoral areas elect one member directly to sit on the Board and our incorporat- ed communities appoint their elected officials to sit on the Board. So, all the 14 jurisdictions sit around one table when they talk about the THE REGIONAL DISTRICT OF OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN Okanagan- Similkameen THE REGIONAL DISTRICT OF BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE AT A GLANCE THE REGIONAL DISTRICT OF OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN WHAT: A regional district of 83,000 people WHERE: Southern British Columbia’s South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys WEBSITE: www.rdos.bc.ca