THURSDAY OCTOBER 25, 2018 VOL. 44, NO. 41
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We have your guide to everything you need to know about the haunting season on page 11.
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In the event of a postal strike, subscribers please This council’s last meeting was short and sweet pick up your Undercurrent from our office and tied up some loose ends.
Ander wins
With just two ballots separating candidates the mayoral race went to a recount, and chief elections officer Hope Dallas says she will not be seeking a judicial recount.
BRONWYN BEAIRSTO EDITOR
In the closest mayoral race the island’s ever seen, decided by a matter of two votes, Bowen has elected Gary Ander as mayor. Election night Mason formally requested a recount, which took place Tuesday morning. After Tuesday’s count the results remained exactly the same, chief elections officer Hope Dallas said in a press release Wednesday, that she would not be seeking a judicial recount, which would have been the next step if there was a tie, or the chance of a tie with contested ballots. The two mayoral candidates, Melanie Mason and Ander, were neck and neck for most of election night, with Mason for the most part leading, until the very end. Continued on page 3
Mayor-elect Gary Ander celebrates his win by a hair Saturday night at his home. A gathering of friends, family and councillor candidates watched the count results anxiously as Melanie Mason led the mayoral race for most of the night. Photo: Marcus Hondro
Only new West Vancouver school trustee has Bowen ties
MARIA RANTANEN
NORTH SHORE NEWS
There’s one new school trustee on the West Vancouver board of education – Lynne Block, a retired educator, came third in the polls, while incumbent Pieter Dorsman dropped off the board. Dorsman was the only candidate not from West Vancouver, coming from Lions Bay. Block is the only trustee to have lived on Bowen, though she now lives in West Vancouver. All five school trustee incumbents ran for re-election, and four of them
were successful: Carolyn Broady, Nicole Brown, Dave Stevenson and Sheelah Donahue. Block said she is “thrilled and honoured and really excited” to join the four incumbents on the West Vancouver school board, and she’s looking forward to bringing her “experience, knowledge and expertise to the table.” Block said when she was campaigning, she didn’t hear much talk about a need for change. Rather, she said she felt her experience in education was “key” as to why she resonated with the public. She has worked in elementary, secondary
and post-secondary education and with children with a wide variety of learning needs, from fetal-alcohol syndrome to autism. She also received the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. “I can’t wait to bring my 30 years of classroom and administration experience to the board,” she said. Block said she was especially happy she received a lot of support from seniors, as she believes there should be more inter-generational learning, “more collaboration, co-operation and support between all generations.” The harmonization of salaries
and benefits is one of the big challenges for West Vancouver as their teachers are some of the lowest paid in B.C., Block said. She also wants “local language” for classroom composition. West Vancouver school trustee preliminary results(official results will be posted on Wednesday, Oct. 24): Carolyn Broady 5,967 Nicole Brown 5,816 Lynne Block 5,370 Dave Stevenson 4,640 Sheelah Donahue 4,439 Pieter Dorsman 4,290 Charlotte Burns 2,719