Brock Weir |
By Brock Weir
Aurora-King's new trustee on the York Region District School Board is Peter Adams-Luchowski.
A resident of Richmond Hill, Mr. Adams-Luchowski won on the third
ballot Monday night facing off against Aurora resident Dave Williams, who ran unsuccessfully for the position in the October 2010 municipal election.
Out of the 18 eligible applicants for the position who made their cases to the Board on February 28, only four were ultimately nominated by other trustees at last Monday's meeting. Rounding out the four were Tottenham resident O.P. Lamba, who was eliminated on the first ballot, and Aurora resident Angus Duff, who dropped off on the second.
After the votes came in, Mr. Adams-Luchowski said he was surprised but happy he had been appointed to fill the vacancy left by trustee Gord Kerr, who resigned in January.
"I'm very, very pleased and proud to be able to represent constituents again on this board," said Mr. Adams-Luchowski, who had previously served as a trustee for Richmond Hill before being defeated in the last election by Carol Chan.
"When people put trust in me in this field of candidates, the confidence they put in me tonight is hard to put into words with the gratitude I feel.
"I thank everyone for applying. I know what it feels like to lose. I've been there and I think people should keep trying and keep that interest maintained. For the constituents of Aurora-King, I know the workings of the board, I know how to get things done, and I am starting tomorrow."
Mr. Adams-Luchowski said he and his wife are planning to soon build a home in King Township. He first became involved with the York Region District School Board as a high school football coach in 1996 before becoming a school council member and chair, and a supply teacher. He first became one of two trustees for Richmond Hill in 2007.
During the appointment process, Dave Williams had been the favourite to win in some quarters, garnering the support of both Aurora Mayor Geoffrey Dawe and King Mayor Steve Pellegrini. After Monday's meeting, Mr. Williams said the voters in both towns were the "losers" in this process.
"I appreciate the support of the trustees that voted for me, and I appreciate the support of the electorate, the over 6,000 people that voted for me the last time, and I just lost by a very close number," said Mr. Williams. "I think the losers in the process today are the voters in Aurora and King where democracy really was circumvented for, I guess, some political reasons to bring a candidate in from another community.
"It would say to me that the candidate they chose today doesn't resonate with his own community."
This was a sentiment Mayor Dawe shared with The Auroran after Mr. Adams-Luchowski was sworn in. He said he was "disappointed" the board didn't go with a local representative, let alone Mr. Williams.
"I was very much in favour of having a by-election in the first place," he said. "I still think that is the right thing to do. The second best thing, in my opinion, would be to appoint the person who was clearly the second place person.
"Mr. Williams was within 400 votes of winning. Granted, there were only two candidates and he still garnered 6,000 votes. It's obvious that he resonated with the residents of King and Aurora. For me to run for Council in Aurora I have to live in Aurora. I don't know what the trustee requirements are, but it strikes me if you're going to have a trustee for King and Aurora it should at least be a resident of one of those two communities. We're talking about [Mr. Williams] who lives here now, has obviously indicated an interest in running in this area and working with the people in the area."
With a new trustee in place, however, Mayor Dawe said he hopes - as he has indicated during Council meetings in the past - there is an opportunity to work with the school board in making sure all stakeholders are up to date with what the Board plans to do with Aurora schools. One issue in particular that has cropped up recently is increased traffic in school areas. This, he said, has been partially exacerbated by the "repurposing" of some schools to be catchment areas for French immersion.
"They're bringing more people in, more buses are coming in by default and more car drivers are coming in," said Mayor Dawe. "At the very least I would like to see some dialogue going back and forth. The school doesn't make this decision on Friday night and start on Monday morning. They have months and then you find out a couple of months after the fact. Something like that would be a great place to start.
"I would hope that whatever [Mr. Adams-Luchowski] is doing is taking the needs of Aurora and King into account and the residents of King and Aurora."
Mr. Adams-Luchowski was sworn in on March 6.