Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick
The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick is an organization representing 57 member municipalities in the Province of New Brunswick. All municipalities are welcome to be a member and at the present time membership consists of cities, towns, and villages. The objectives of UMNB are to:
- Unite the Municipalities of New Brunswick, through their respective councils, into a body whose common effort shall be devoted to the achievement of that which is to the benefit of all.
- Promote the exchange of information among the Municipalities of New Brunswick.
- Co-operate and liaise with other organizations and agencies toward a united front for the realization of municipal goals.
- Prepare and present to government position papers that reflect UMNB concerns/interests
At no time shall the political or religious partisanship of a representative member be expressed or be allowed to influence the policies of UMNB. Our Province is divided into nine zones with two directors from each zone sitting on our Board of Directors along with one director representing the Cities of New Brunswick. At the moment, Zone 8, the county of Gloucester, is not represented on our Board of Directors as all those Municipalities belong to our sister organization, AFMNB.
The Board of Directors of UMNB generally meet four times a year (February, May, August & November) plus before and after our Annual Conference (October) and deals with items/issues brought forward from our members, or the Provincial and/or Federal Governments. With the exception of the meetings in August and our annual conference, all Board meetings are in Fredericton.
The current Board of Directors consists of:
| Executive Comittee: | Zone | |
| Past President | Deputy Mayor Karen Titus, Perth-Andover | |
| President | Mayor David Hanson, Rexton | 1 |
| 1st Vice President | Mayor Terry James, Blacks Harbour | 4 |
| 2nd Vice President | Mayor Arthur Slipp, Woodstock | 6 |
| Sec./Treasurer | Councillor Beth Thompson, Quispamsis | 3 |
| Directors: | Zone | |
| Mayor Art Slipp, Woodstock | 6 | |
| Councillor Julie McConaghy, Millville | 6 | |
| Councillor Bob Hyslop, Riverview | 2 | |
| Councillor Tom Gillett, Chipman | 1 | |
| Mayor David Hanson, Rexton | 1 | |
| Councillor Beth Thompson, Quispamsis | 3 | |
| Councillor Scott Cochrane, Rothesay | 3 | |
| Councillor Elizabeth Collins, Riverside-Albert | 2 | |
| Councillor Robert Tinker, St. Stephen | 4 | |
| Mayor Terry James, Blacks Harbour | 4 | |
| Councillor Edith Morris, Charlo | 7 | |
| Councillor Robert Harquail, Dalhousie | 7 | |
| Deputy Mayor Diane Buchanan, Oromocto | 5 | |
| Mayor Frank Dunn, New Maryland | 5 | |
| Mayor Marcel Deschênes, Grand Falls | 9 | |
| Mayor Ludger Lang, Clair | 9 | |
| Deputy Mayor Karen Titus, Perth-Andover | Past President | |
UMNB also has several ad hoc committees which have been set up over the past few years to deal with specific issues. These are usually of short duration but require representation from among our membership. At the present time we have in place a Fiscal Advisory committee, a Governance committee, A Policing committee, a Conflict Resolution committee, a Forestry committee, and a Population Advisory/Growth committee. In particular, the Conflict Resolution committee was established in conjunction with the AMANB. This committee is available to assist in resolving disputes which occur at the local level whether they are between elected and elected or elected and staff. We have not had any municipality make use of this procedure yet but are hopeful that we will be able to assist during the upcoming term when necessary. We believe that we can save both time and money and bring about successful resolution to issues. Please call upon us if necessary.
There are several issues upon which we are working today – as mentioned above policing, governance, population growth, economic development are all issues of importance to us. At the present time we are awaiting government action on the Finn Commission report and its recommendations on the future of local governance.
Membership dues are based on assessments and decided by the annual meeting from recommendation by the Board of Directors.