Dear Editor:
I recently read that once again, as it has been year after year after year, two labour-endorsed trustees will occupy the positions of chair and vice-chair on the New Westminster School Board.
On the one hand, this is not surprising because the labour-endorsed school trustees have long carried the mantle of power at the decision-making table; they set the meeting agendas and as a "majority body", they have the ability to endorse or reject any proposed action.
On the other hand, it is surprising; in consideration of the school district's $2.2 million dollar deficit crisis (I believe it is the third one in a decade), one would think it prudent to take a different approach to leadership.
Surprising or not (or perhaps both simultaneously), that trustees Michael Ewen and Jonina Campbell have the support of their campaign running mates (David Phelan and James Janzen) perfectly illustrates two things: (1) it underscores the power of the majority, and (2) it demonstrates their reluctance to share that power. While disappointing, this is consistent with the apparent lack of collegiality that exists among our elected trustees.
With two teacher-trustees at the helm of the school board for the coming year, the potential for both of them to be in a conflict-of-interest situation is a very real possibility and that is no small matter (just ask the mayor of Toronto who was removed from office by the courts for conflict-of-interest reasons).
Locally, it is both concerning and short-sighted for trustees Ewen and Campbell to dismiss and criticize the issue of conflict-of-interest but I am not surprised by their comments; it must be uncomfortable for them to be smack in the middle of the conflict question.
Still, burying the fact now will only offer a temporary reprieve from future problems; today's conflict-of-interest "annoyance" will be tomorrow's district "headache". Remember, we've seen this before with the high school replacement and cemetery problems.
The one thing that is a certainty is that political double-speak and denial will only hurt, not help the problem-riddled New Westminster School District. Maybe in the coming years, the board of trustees, as a whole, will demonstrate better sense and learn to share the power base of chair and vice-chair.
Terry Hilmar, New Westminster
