Trustee Casey Cook says the board of education lost an "opportunity" to put the ongoing conflict-of-interest issue to bed when trustees voted down two motions on Tuesday night.
Voice New Westminster trustees Casey Cook, Lisa Graham and MaryAnn Mortensen voted in favour of moving forward with two conflict-of-interest policies, while labour-endorsed trustees Jonina Campbell, David Phelan and Michael Ewen voted against them at the finance and facilities committee meeting.
"It was an opportunity for a new board to tackle the issue head-on and put this stuff behind us so we can get on with the business of education," said Cook.
The motions called for the finance and facilities committee, which all trustees sit on, to recommend that the school board seek legal advice on conflict of interest, related to campaign contributions, and conflict of interest as identified by the auditor general's report on the school district's business company, which oversees a school in China.
Conflict of interest is an issue that has plagued the school board for several years, Cook told The Record.
"Every time we have brought up the issue of conflict and it has gone to an authority, the issue we have taken has been supported," he said.
Cook was referring to the recent auditor general's report on the school district's business company, which found that former trustee Brent Atkinson may have been in a conflict as chief executive officer of the company and a trustee.
Cook was also the first trustee to declare a conflict of interest over his daughter's employment with the district. Eventually, Ewen -who has family working in the district - followed suite.
Cook's conflict motions were "nebulous," Ewen said, explaining his vote.
"The motion was, 'Do we ask a lawyer to review conflict of interest related to the business company?'" Ewen said. "That's a recipe for thousands of dollars in legal bills. Mr. Cook is the first one to say, 'You need to be very specific and very clear when asking for a legal opinion,' unless he is the one trying to get it."
Ewen said he would support a motion to craft a conflict-of-interest policy, but ultimately he wants the board's political divisions to end.
"I think it would be nice to follow the auditor general's suggestion - just park the politics at the door, grow up and let's move on with talking about education," Ewen said.
Board of education chair James Janzen didn't attend the meeting. The longtime trustee's father, Wes Janzen, recently passed away.
