The following are candidates' responses to the following questions: Incumbents only: With School District 43's recent difficulties, which resulted in $13.4 million in cost cutting, and a forensic audit noting lack of control and monitoring resulted in a deficit in 2012/'13, why should anyone vote for you, an incumbent who was on the board when it happened? To non-incumbents only: If you are elected, what issue would you bring to the board's attention? To all: What is your reason for running for school trustee? Also: Do you think there is enough transparency about what goes on in the school district? If not, how would you change it?
Engineer, lives in Port Moody
Expertise to offer board: advocacy
Endorsement: none
Why run: "People who are real stakeholders should be in the public education system. Who is going to do that, somebody has to speak for people in Port Moody that are the real users of the system."
What issue: "One issue I would bring forward fairly early on is the subject of the remuneration of the Coquitlam board and how it's the highest in B.C. and it's way of out whack. Coquitlam school district trustees are paid 17% higher, on average, than the next one, which is Surrey, [which] has more than double the number of students. I would look at a 10% to 20% pay cut."
Transparency: "We are underfunding public education. Nobody really knew that. School boards have to do a better job driving home this awareness. And the letters [to the provincial government] aren't going to cut it."
