Former Vancouver school trustee and longtime chair Patti Bacchus says she is considering running for the city council seat vacated by Geoff Meggs, who has been appointed John Horgan’s chief of staff.
The city will be holding a byelection, likely in October. The byelection could be an early indication of voters’ moods in advance of the next civic election, to be held October 2018.
If Bacchus does run for council, it will mean she won’t be running for school trustee, should the NDP government decide to hold a byelection for trustees, perhaps at the same time as the one to fill Meggs’ seat.
Bacchus and the entire school board was fired last fall, for failing to pass a balanced budget that required $21.8 million in cuts. The fired trustees were replaced by Dianne Turner, an appointed trustee. Since then, two reports have found evidence of bullying by trustees, centred around a contentious school closure process that could have seen 12 Vancouver schools shuttered. Meanwhile, the superintendent and secretary-treasurer have left the district, leaving it to run with Turner overseeing others acting in those positions.
Bacchus was school board chair from 2008-2014 and topped the polls in 2014 with 73,551 votes. In 2011, she earned 72,027 votes.
