A school board candidate in the upcoming municipal election is urging voters to be informed on who their choice will be.
Laurie Komon, who is running for public school board trustee in Windsor Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8, held a media event Friday afternoon across from Eastwood Public School. The building is scheduled for amalgamation and a rebuild. Concerns have arisen over those plans being shelved by the new PC majority government at Queen's Park.
Komon said she wants voters to understand that there will be more offices that are up for election than the standard mayor and council races, and that it is important that voters don't go right for the veteran candidates.
"When it comes to the municipal election, everyone is concerned about who the mayor is going to be and who the councillor is going to be," said Komon. "When they get that ballot, they've got all those names at the bottom of the list, and all they do is check a familiar name. And they've been doing it for far too long."
While not mentioning her name until the end of her remarks, Komon singled out the record of one of the incumbents, Gale Simko-Hatfield. Komon said that the district needs a full time voice, especially when the change in government may affect future plans for the public school board. She pointed out that Simko-Hatfield declared conflicts-of-interests on multiple votes due to a relative being a school board employee, and has phoned into meetings repeatedly. Komon said that while the latter practice is perfectly legal, the district needs a trustee providing their undivided attention.
"This is not just this last term. We can go back two terms and longer that this has been going on," said Komon.
Komon is running for one of two seats in the district, currently occupied by Simko-Hatfield and Cheryl Lovell. Komon was briefly joined at the media event by fellow challenger Henry Lau. Cathie Cooke is the remaining challenger in the district, which covers portions of central and east Windsor.
BlackburnNewsWindsor.com has compiled a comprehensive listing of all the school board candidates in the October 22 election.