A candidate who disclaimed herself from taking the job has won the Foothills School Division Ward 1 trustee byelection. “I am pleasantly surprised and hopeful that the people here have another candidate that can be more suitable for trusteeship,” said former trustee Jeannine Tucker after winning Monday’s election. “Hopefully, there is another byelection that we can back somebody we want.” Tucker defeated former Red Deer Lake teacher Jack Molyneux 60-43 in the Oct. 22 byelection for the seat which represents the Longview, Black Diamond-Turner Valley area. But don’t expect to see her sitting at the division’s board table any time soon. Tucker, who was disqualified last year resulting in the byelection, signed Alberta Elections papers on Oct. 11 stating “that I disclaimed all right to the office of trustee of Foothills School Division and all defence of any right I have to it.” Tucker, who had won her second term as trustee in the 2017 municipal election, was disqualified in December due to fiduciary interest for operating the school canteen at the Oilfields High School in Black Diamond. When she lost her appeal in July, the school board proceeded with calling the byelection. Foothills School Division received a legal opinion that a disqualified trustee cannot run for two municipal elections after being removed from office. Tucker said she disclaimed herself from being a trustee because of the fear of facing legal and financial consequences if she is disqualified again in the event she won. Although she pulled herself from being trustee, she wasn’t totally removed from the campaign. Tucker posted on a Facebook election page on Oct. 19 that although she could not take the seat, people could still vote for her. “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 said. In a post the next day, she added: “So Voting for me will keep him from being elected.” Tucker stressed she didn’t encourage people not to vote for Molyneux. “I didn’t tell them not to vote for Jack, I told them he still had to beat me,” she said. “I never said anything disparaging about him. I never put it out there that I thought he was a bad candidate.” Meanwhile, Foothills still has no trustee. There is no second-place winner. “I am disappointed, but I won’t say anything more than that,” Molyneux said. “I hate this saying, but it is what it is. I feel badly for the people of this community. We’ll see what the board will do, there are still a lot of decisions to be made.” He would not comment on Tucker’s posts or as to whether he would run in another byelection. Tucker said she had seen disparaging comments posted by Molyneux. A comment on his Facebook page stated “Great to see Ms Tucker has taken the high ground and disclaimed herself from the Trustee position. I am sure it was not an easy decision but it will allow the constituents of Ward 1 to now move on.” Division chairman Larry Albrecht agreed the board has some decisions to make at their next meeting. “She withdrew herself, there is no winner,” Albrecht said of Tucker. “So the board will have to determine what our options are. “If we go with another byelection, we will have to take on the cost.” He estimated the Oct. 22 byelection at $5,000. “It is difficult, we are working very hard to be progressive and offer quality education,” Albrecht said. “Not having a representative in Ward 1 is a little bit difficult.” The five remaining trustees will continue to take on the duties of a Ward 1 trustee. They are Ward 2 — Bill Young; Ward 3 — Theresa Letendre; Ward 4 (Okotoks) Larry Albrecht, Sharon Nichols; Ward 5 — Jennifer Kristiansen.
