Journal staff
A new chair and vice-chair have been elected to the Sarnia Police Services Board for 2023.
Paul Wiersma will serve as chair, a position long held by Mayor Mike Bradley, who remains on the board. Kelly Ash was elected vice-chair. The board also includes coun. George Vandenberg, and Charlene Sebastian. Joan Knight is the board's secretary.
“Wiersma and Ash will provide Board leadership, working closely with Sarnia Police Service chief Derek Davis and deputy chief designate Julie Craddock to achieve the strategic objectives and priorities for the Sarnia Police Service in the 2023-25 Business Plan,” a Sarnia Police news release noted.
Wiersma, who works as a system coordinator for alternative and continuing education for the Lambton Kent District School Board, has served four years on the police board including time as vice-chair.
He’s also served as chair on the Bluewater Health board of directors, and as vice-chair on the Sarnia Concert Association Board.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to lead the Board through a period of transformation within the police service,” he stated. “With new investment, we will have a greater opportunity to engage in more proactive and community-based policing that will be more responsive to the safety and wellbeing needs of the community.”
Ash, a branch manager for the Southwest Regional Credit Union, has also served as board chair for the Women’s Interval Home, and also served on the Sarnia-Lambton Crime Stoppers board.
"It has been an honour to serve on the SPSB for the last year,” she stated. “I am very excited to continue with the work that we have begun with my fellow board members, Chief Davis and the entire Service.
“The commitment and heart that I have seen from so many in the force is inspiring.”