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Ward 1 trustee soap opera must end

The soap opera The Trustee’s Empty Chair continues after no one was elected in the Foothills School Division byelection on Monday.

The soap opera The Trustee’s Empty Chair continues after no one was elected in the Foothills School Division byelection on Monday. Well technically, disqualified trustee Jeannine Tucker did get 17 more votes than Jack Molyneux, but because she had removed herself from being a trustee, she can’t take the job. This drama started nearly a year ago to the day when Tucker was re-elected as trustee in the 2017 municipal election. Hold on, the plot thickens, she was disqualified in December for a conflict of interest due to her running the canteen at Oilfields High School. After a legal case, in which Tucker’s appeal was denied, Foothills finally got to set a byelection. Tucker chose to run, despite the real possibility she would be disqualified due to Alberta regulations. However, she disclaimed herself on Oct. 11, which logically would have meant Molyneux is the winner in this two-person race. Nope. While Tucker dissolved herself from the election, she did post on a Facebook page on Oct. 19 – three days before the byelection and eight days after disclaiming herself -- “that by voting for me, you get the chance to find someone equally good to run in the next by-Election [sic] that as a community you are willing to support.” She told the Wheel she did not tell anybody not to vote for Molyneux, but the Facebook post was not exactly a ringing endorsement. With just 103 votes cast – less than half of the people at an Oilfields Christmas for example – maybe the protest, sympathy vote or whatever the cause got a person who disclaimed the job – who can’t take the job -- elected. Meanwhile, another taxpayer funded byelection will likely be called and the good people in Black Diamond, Longview and the Turner Valley area will have gone a full year without their elected representative at the board table. This is one drama that must come to an end.  




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