Booted Catholic trustee reclaims seat
[attach]2897[/attach]Angela Kennedy is back in her trustee seat, but she has not celebrated just yet, she says.
First, she wants to clear her name after a judge ordered her to step down this summer.
Kennedy was reelected as Ward 11’s Catholic school trustee Oct. 25. She garnered almost 50 percent of the vote, knocking out her closet competitor Kevin Morrison. Kennedy occupied the same seat before the judge ruled she contravened the Conflict of Interest Act.
Kennedy has decided to appeal those conflict-of-interest charges.
“I filed the notice of appeal, there is yet an appeal and my council and lawyers are working the papers,” Kennedy said. “I don’t agree with the judges decision and I continue to maintain that I acted appropriately.”
On Aug. 19, a provincial judge removed Kennedy from her seat, ruling she did not declare conflict of interest when voting on a budget matter in 2008.
“If I was guilty of anything in my situation, it was remote and insignificant. I made a mistake — one mistake. So you know, if people want to crucify me for that, well go ahead. But basically I don’t believe that I’m a tainted candidate,” Kennedy said before the election.
She wasn’t going to seek another term, and then she changed her mind just prior to the election.
“Serving in an elected capacity in the field of education is what I am most passionate about so I decided to seek a fourth term,” Kennedy said after applying in September.
Kennedy represented the Beaches and East York neighbourhoods since November 2000.
She says now she’s ready to focus on her task at hand: retouching tides with other trustees. She attended a Nov. 10 Catholic school board meet-and-greet where newly and reelected trustees met to discuss their plans and ideas before they head into office.
Kennedy said she is anxious to work and unite with her new board-mates and fellow trustees and to start acting on the school’s concerns.
The newly elected trustees are also taking part in an all day workshop on Nov. 12 in Milton. The workshop is to train and inform all school board reps about their position and the concerns of the board.
With much on her plate before she is sworn is as the trustee on Dec. 1, Kennedy is eager to do her part for the students and schools, she says.
“I’ve always acted in a respectful manner. I concentrate on my job. I get along with the people, I’m a team player — I’m not going to change what I do in any way at all.”
—With files from Joshua Freeman
