Outgoing mayor Walter Gray is the new ICBC board of directors chair

KELOWNA – Walter Gray may be stepping down from his position as Mayor of Kelowna, but it seems he had an iron in the fire with ICBC announcing today Gray will be the new chair for their board of directors starting Nov. 30, 2014.

Gray will also make a bit of history because he'll be the first board chair appointed from the interior of B.C., with all previous chairs coming from Metro Vancouver.

Gray served on Kelowna council starting in 1986. He was elected mayor in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2011 for a total 16 years at the helm. He announced in March he wouldn't seek another term causing a flurry of candidates to step up for the Nov. 15 civic election, with Colin Basran taking the win.

Before city hall, Gray was the owner and operator of five radio stations in the Okanagan-Kootenay areas, including 96.5 FM and Four Seasons Radio Ltd. He was also director of the Salmon Arm, Enderby and Armstrong-based Sun Country Cablevision Ltd., as well as director of Fortis B.C. The list doesn't end there though. He was director of Telefilm Canada, B.C. Transit, Hall and Gray Broadcasting and Sun Country Properties. He is the past president of the B.C. Assocation of Broadcasters.

Gray applied his experience to community activities as founding director of the Snowfest Committee, past president of the Neurological Association, past president of the Kelowna-Kasugai Sister City Association, past director of the Okanagan Film Commission, past president of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Premier's Task Force on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addictions. He recently volunteered to chair for a capital fundraiser to build a 24-suite Hospice in Kelowna.

Jatinder Rai was appointed as interim chair of the board on Jan. 21 and will continue to serve until Gray takes over.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.