Friday July 21, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated July 24 & August 1, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | See BY-ELECTION NEWS UPDATES
CLICK HERE for the >> JULY 25, 2023 AGENDA and MEETING LINK
August 1, 2023 – SD62 fully announces the by-election
The Sooke School District 62 (SD62) Board of Education is about to establish the timeline for a trustee by-election in their Belmont Zone — for voters in Langford, Colwood, Highlands and Metchosin on the west shore side of Greater Victoria, BC.
Pending the expected resignation of trustee Ravi Parmar on July 27, SD62 has called a Special Board Meeting for Tuesday July 25 with the filling of a vacant seat by by-election on their agenda.
Parmar was elected in the Belmont Zone during the Fall 2022 election cycle, knowing full well he would be resigning in order to run as the chosen BC NDP candidate in Langford-Juan de Fuca.
Letters and timelines:
Parmar is playing the political bingo card slim to the line. He presented a letter of intention to resign on July 12, saying he intends to resign on Thursday July 27. Apparently a resignation letter is to be addressed to the secretary-treasurer of the board. He is set to be sworn in as the MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca the next day, on July 28.
Technically speaking, the July 12 letter was addressed to “Mr Harold Cull” (who currently fills the role of SD62 secretary-treasurer) but was not actually addressed to SD62 or Secretary-Treasurer, so it served as a heads-up for process.
SD62 by-election time period:
The agenda for the July 25, 2023 board meeting shows that a by-election election period would start right away on July 28, with the campaign period technically starting September 16, advance voting October 4 and 5, and the general voting day on October 14.
Current SD62 board:
The current SD62 board was elected on October 15, 2022 and sworn in on November 1, 2023. Five of the trustees were new to the SD62 board table (only Ravi Parmar and Allison Watson had been previously elected as SD62 trustees, and Ebony Logins has previously served as a municipal councilor with the District of Sooke).
Parmar stepped back from being a trustee this spring, so he could focus on running for MLA as the BC NDP candidate in Langford-Juan de Fuca. Interim SD62 Board Chair has been Amanda Dowhy since then.
Parmar won the June 24, 2023 Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election with over 50% of the voter turnout.
Current trustees:
The current profile of SD62 trustees is:
- Belmont Zone (Langford, Colwood, Highlands and Metchosin voters): Cendra Beaton, Russ Chipps, Ravi Parmar, Trudy Spiller
- Milne’s Landing Zone (Sooke and Juan de Fuca voters): Amanda Dowhy, Ebony Logins, Allison Watson
Updates:
Check the Island Social Trends By-Election section for updates throughout the summer/fall 2023 season.
===== RELATED:
Ravi Parmar to be sworn in as MLA on July 28 (July 12, 2023)
Parmar presently holds two seats in the west shore (July 2, 2023)
Parmar picks up the Horgan torch in Langford-Juan de Fuca (June 24, 2023)
Langford-Juan de Fuca: June 24 election day RESULTS (June 24, 2023)
Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election could lead to SD62 by-election (June 1, 2023)
Five brand new trustees on SD62 board (October 21, 2022)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends delivers socioeconomic news insights about life on the west shore of south Vancouver Island. Published by Brookeline Publishing House Inc, Island Social Trends follows in the footsteps of its genesis publications MapleLine Magazine 2008-2010, Sooke Voice News 2011-2013, and West Shore Voice News 2014-2020.
All news is posted at IslandSocialTrends.ca .
Editor Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Cert PR has steered this publication series for 15 years. In that time period she has covered SD62 news up close (board and committee level) since 2014 and as well as broader west shore news.
In Fall 2022 Ms Brooke was a candidate in the Belmont Zone of SD62, connecting with the community through extensive door-knocking and in the process heard a much different view of public education expectations than what is evident at the board table.
Mary P Brooke now reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery, having covered the COVID pandemic daily in 2020 and 2021 and broader BC news since 2017.
Ms Brooke has been nominated in 2023 for the Jack Webster Foundation’s Shelley Fralic Award for contributing to the community through journalism.
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