The newest member of the Kamloops-Thompson board of education spent election day defrosting the refrigerator, cleaning up a work table and tossing dead flowers into the garbage.
Joe Small, a retired principal and teacher, has wanted to run for the School District 73 board since 2011, when he was still working for the district.
Once retired, he knew he wanted to seek one of the five Kamloops seats on the board.
KAMLOOPS-THOMPSON BOARD OF EDUCATION ELECTION RESULTS:
(elected) Joan Cowden 9,265 votes (13.48%)
(elected) Kathleen Karpuk 8,759 votes (12.75%)
(elected) Joe Small 6,776 votes (9.86%)
(elected) Gerald Watson 6,338 votes (9.22%)
(elected) Meghan Wade 5,467 votes (7.96%)
Christy Campbell 4,903 votes (7.14%)
Don Kitt 4,509 votes (6.56%)
Adam Jensen 4.296 votes (6.25%)
Christine Watson 3,804 votes (5.54%)
Colleen DeVeyrac 3,088 votes (4.49%)
Michael Carroll 2,892 votes (4.21%)
Barbara Morin 2,786 votes (4.05%)
Bowen Cooluris 2,464 votes (3.59%)
Colin Madland 2,062 votes (3%)
Aaron Shufletoski 1,299 votes (1.89%)
Small joins re-elected incumbents Joan Cowden, Kathleen Karpuk, Gerald Watson and Meghan Wade on the board.
Fifteen candidates were seeking the five Kamloops seats, with all four incumbents defending their seats and Small the lone challenger elected.
He fills the spot vacated by longtime trustee Annette Glover, who was unsuccessful in her run for city council.
Trustees Denise Harper, Cara McKelvey and Rhonda Kershaw were acclaimed in their areas of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
“It’s a good group of people, working well together and I am pleased with new trustee, Joe Small, who has a background in education,” said current board chair woman Harper, who was acclaimed to her position as a representative for the Chase area.
Re-elected incumbent Gerald Watson said it was clear the public has been feeling the angst of the recent job action by teachers and he hopes to work to help heal the education system of the remnants of the strike/lockout that saw students not return to school until late September.
Fellow re-elected trustee Meghan Wade said her priority when the board gets back to work is also deal with the aftermath of the strike and the morale issue in all schools.
Kathleen Karpuk, also re-elected to the board, said she experienced butterflies all day and was glad the day was done.
She said one of her priorities is to push the provincial government to listen to its own budget committee on the need to fund education.
Incumbent Joan Cowden, who topped the polls, said she spent the day putting thank-you helium balloons on some of her signs in the city.
Cowden said she was thankful to be re-elected and is looking forward to working with the new board.
She said she has no overriding issue she plans to pursue beyond “continuing to advance the district and continue to work for the kids.”
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