Tiede, Clarke for school bd. chairwomen

e interrupt Zappacosta for today’s Editor’s Notebook.

WIf you’re like me, you may be all electioned out. But, there is going to be another vote in the Okanagan this coming week — elections for the position of chairperson of the various school boards.

I’m not allowed to vote, nor do I have any say ... but that hasn’t stopped me in the past.

For Central Okanagan School District, my vote for the new chair would definitely go to Lee-Ann Tiede. She topped the polls in Kelowna (the largest centre in the district), clearly a vote of confidence by the electorate.

In Okanagan Skaha, fellow trustees should show some love for Shelley Clarke. Clarke has been there 11 years (with the defeat of Ginny Manning, it’s now the secondlongest tenure) and she too topped the polls. She should be the chair. For whatever reason, SD67 has never nominated Clarke for the position of chair or vice-chair before.

One vote which I’m allowed to participate in is the proportional representation referendum.

I’m waiting for another two weeks before I mail my package in. (Premier John Horgan beat me to the punch.)

What I’d like to see is someone produce a case study, using the 2017 results as a hypothetical scenario and let me see what it is that we’re voting for. What would the outcome of the 2017 election have been if each of the three proposed systems was used? Please, anyone.

Unless that happens, I’m playing it safe and voting to keep first past the post.

And, to the letter writers in Nelson and Kamloops, please don’t call me a fear monger or part of the BC Liberal establishment.

I’m conent with the way things are, please accept that.

Here’s a system I’d like to use to determine elections ... but it’s not on the ballot. For every municipal, provincial and federal election, take the top two vote getters following the election, wait eight days and put both names in a hat and randomly draw the winner.

Hey, it worked for Peachland.

The last bullet point item was a joke. It was satirical.

You know an artist is truly great when they can leave Top 10 songs off their set lists and nobody misses them. I attended Thursday’s Rod Stewart concert. There was no “Young Turks,” no “Tonight I’m Yours (Don’t Hurt Me),” no “Love Touch,” no “The Motown Song,” no “All for Love,” no “Hot Legs,” but when you have a career as long and successful as Rod, we’d be there until 4 a.m. waiting to hear everything. By comparison, when you go to a Tom Cochrane concert, it’s a safe bet he’s going to play “Life is a Highway” and “Big League.”

If I was working as a disc jockey, the song I’d be playing this weekend would be “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher. Trivia: Cher originally disliked this Diane Warren song which eventually proved to be a career comeback for her.

And I’m outta here. I will be off for the following week to recover from the recent municipal elections. I will see you on Monday, Nov. 12.

“We should be lovers, caring for each other ...” James Miller is managing editor of The Kelowna Daily Courier and valley editor and director of content for Okanagan Newspaper Group. This column appears in Okanagan Weekend.