Trustee defends Halifax junket
Dear Editor: Re: “Halifax convention cost Board $10,000” (Courier, Sept. 15).
Contrary to the impression given, James Miller did not obtain his information about trustee expenses through Freedom of Information rules. As soon as his request was received, I directed the secretary/treasurer to provide the information to Mr Miller. To suggest that it was a Freedom of Information request is misleading. FOIPOP is used when an informal request is denied. The information he requested was readily available, so one wonders why he insinuates that he had to go through a formal process.
I also phoned Mr. Miller after he requested more information and spoke with him at some length, explaining my travel expenses.
Trustees on the Central Okanagan Board of Education receive an allowance of $1,500 a year for personal professional development. The per annum allowance can be rolled over and I had accumulated $7,500 in my personal allowance. I had not attended a Canadian School Boards Association’s Congress for six years whilst other trustees had attended and all our expenses are always open for scrutiny and are reported annually.
There are obviously some conferences which will fall in an election year. Mr. Miller states that Marjorie Brims “…who is challenging Baxter in Peachland in the Oct. 20 election… believes the optics in this case are poor.”
Would Mr. Miller and Ms. Brims expect elected officials to do all their travelling in the first years of their term and avoid doing so in an election year just because of the “optics”? I had enough money in my account to have travelled several times during the past few years, but chose not to do so.
Some trustees may have decided not to attend this year’s CSBA meeting because this is an election year and they worried that the cost might be raised at election time.
I decided that taking this route would be disingenuous and if I considered the conference useful to me as a trustee I should have the courage of my convictions and attend even if some people might use my attendance as an election issue in an effort to discredit me.
Doing things differently just because it is an election year is not being honest with oneself or the taxpayers. This is like avoiding making difficult decisions in the months leading up to an election because we might upset some voters.
The business of the current board continues until the new board takes the oath of office on Nov. 7 and there is a great deal of work to be done before then.
I absolutely support the right of taxpayers to know the details of politicians’ expenses and as I have said, all our expense claims are open for scrutiny. I hope anyone who has questions about my expenses will call me at 250-767-6153.
I expect Mr Miller will be raising this issue again in the weeks leading up to the election and will no doubt continue to make this front-page news. Moyra Baxter Peachland