Vrebosch elected ROMA Chairman

Rural Ontario Municipal Association
News Release

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Mayor Bill Vrebosch of the Municipality of East Ferris was elected to the position of ROMA Chairman at the recent ROMA/OGRA convention in Toronto.

Mr. Vrebosch will also serve as the Zone 9 rep which includes the northern rural communities North of Gravenhurst and west to Manitoba.

“I value the position of Chair and I wish to thank all the community representatives who voted for me. As the Chair of ROMA and the Zone 9 rep, I will be able to work with FONOM and NOMA to bring a strong Northern voice to the table.”

“The North is a vast area and we need to be at the table when our resources and quality of life are being discussed.”

“I would encourage municipal representatives to contact me with their concerns so that I can bring the message to Toronto and AMO.”

“Rural Ontario contains approximately 80 percent of the land mass of Ontario, but we only have 20 percent of the population. Many times we are lumped together by the bureaucrats into large areas that don’t make any sense to us in the North. They sometimes seem oblivious to the distance problems we face in the North and rural Ontario. They work simply on a numbers count.”
The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) is the rural municipal voice of the Province and is an integral part of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

The Rural Ontario Municipal Association has, for decades, ensured that matters which affect rural communities are brought to the attention of the provincial and federal governments. Issues which are currently before ROMA include environmental and resource development, role of agriculture and rural stewardship, economic development, maintaining bridge network and replacing its extensive roads and other infrastructure.

The ROMA Chair serves a two year term. The Chair also sits on the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Board of Directors, bringing the rural perspective to the policy development and advocacy work of AMO. ROMA members are involved in numerous committees, such as the 911 Ontario Advisory Board. The ROMA Chair meets with other organizations on matters of mutual interest, including with Ontario Federation of Agriculture.


For information on ROMA and its activities, please refer to www.roma.on.ca

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