The Waterloo Catholic District School Board has appointed Julie Molenaar to the vacant Kitchener/Wilmot trustee seat previously held by Wendy Ashby.
Molenaar finished fifth in the voting during the October 24 election, just missing out on one of the four seats assigned to the Kitchener/Wilmot.
The board formally accepted Ashby’s resignation on May 24 after she came under scrutiny for controversial tweets she made on her personal Twitter account aimed at White Christians.
Under Section 221 of the Education Act the board had two options to fill the seat, either via a by-election or the appointment of a qualified candidate within 90 days.
The trustees voted against a by-election at a meeting last week. The public board, which is currently in the process of filling two vacant seats, determined it would cost $214,000 for Waterloo alone. That cost would have to be absorbed entirely by the board.
So instead, the Catholic board chose to select the next runner-up from the previous election.
“As part of the democratic process, eight candidates put their names forward for election as a Trustee to represent Kitchener/Wilmot,” Tracey Weiler, WCDSB chair said in a statement.
“Recognizing an election has very recently been held, the board of trustees has chosen to fill the remainder of the term by appointing Julie Molenaar, who was the fifth place finisher in that election.”
Molenaar will be sworn in at an upcoming regularly scheduled public meeting
