Your guide to the 2023 school board by-election candidates (vote on Saturday)
And I guess we're on summer hours now
Hello. I guess I’ve switched over to summer hours here on the newsletter though it’s not because I’m on vacation. The opposite, in fact — I am traveling for work and various other things quite a bit and I’m not finding the same time to do this so it seems as good a time as any to ease off. There’s been quite a bit going on that I do want to write about, though, so it’s not like this newsletter is going completely silent. And I definitely wanted to put something out ahead of tomorrow (Saturday’s) school board by-election.
Where, when and how to vote
First, the basics: After a new board was elected last October there were a series of issues that came up and, as a result, two candidates resigned. Again, you can read about all of that here if you missed it. With that, a by-election was called and it happens June 17. There are ten candidates, you get to mark down two choices, and the two with the most votes win. Voting takes places from 8 am to 8 pm at the following locations:
Glenview Elementary School, 7310 Cluff Rd, Prince George, B.C. V2K 2M3
Heritage Elementary School, 257 Anderson St, Prince George, B.C. V2M 6C1
Malaspina Elementary School, 7900 Malaspina Blvd, Prince George, B.C, V2N 4A9
Pineview Elementary School, 8515 Old Cariboo Hwy, Prince George, B.C. V2N 5V2
Van Bien Training Centre, 311 Wilson Crescent, Prince George, B.C. V2L 4P8
You can vote if you live in the city or own property.
You do not need to register in advance in order to vote.
You should bring two pieces of ID, one with a signature (like a driver’s licence) and one that shows you live in the city (like a utility bill). You can read a full list of qualifications and acceptable ID here.
Forum
There was one forum held, hosted by the District Parent’s Asdvisory Council and local unions representing teachers and support workers. Coverage was dominated by one candidate declaring he was dropping out of the race but you can read up on what folks had to say in the following articles:
The candidates and questionnaires
Now, the candidates. During the municipal election I put together a website with all the information I could find about them. Now I have this newsletter so I’m doing that here, and I will add to it if anything new comes out after publication so you can check the website.
While the Prince George Citizen, CKPG and the Prince George Post ran individual candidate profiles, which I link to below, My Prince George Now put their profiles in two mega-posts so you can browse them here:
Two candidates — Sarah Holland and Shar McCrory — have been endorsed by both the Prince George District Teacher’s Association (the teacher’s union) and the North Central Labour Council.
Topics covered in both the My Prince George Now posts and below include SOGI, transparent governance, graduation rates and managing the district’s budget.
Here we go, in alphabetical order by last name (note: I included social media and websites if they came up after a variety of searches. I’m afraid if they weren’t findable they weren’t very visible but will add them if they come up later. I only included personal profiles if posts were public and at least partially about the election).
Lucille (Lucy) Duncan
A residential school survivor who now works for the Central Interior Native Health Society in wellness and education.
Don Fitzpatrick
A father of five who says he’s running on inclusion.
Sarah Holland
A financial planner and mother who previously chaired the District Parent’s Association Council.
David Low
Says he was encouraged to run by friends, says he wants to bring peace to the board.
Milton Mahoney
Won in the last by-election, had a controversial partial term, unsuccessfully ran for re-election in October.
Dusty Martin
A veterinary technologist who says she’s in it for kids.
Shar McCrory
Mother of three who previously sat on the board of School District 82 for eight years, was nearly elected to the local school board in October.
Heather McKenzie
A career in education administration who currently works with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation on education projects.
Did not respond to the Prince George Post by deadline.
William (Bill) Price
A former education assistant and longtime volunteer.
Josh Silva*
He’s still on the ballot but during the forum got combatitive with the crowd over SOGI and said he was withdrawing from the race, though later said he would still sit if elected. He finished seventh, behind Shar McCrory, in the October election.
Did not respond to CKPG
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