Nominations are now open for the by-election and voting will be held on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Pictured: Former trustee Ray Mulholland. Photo Credit: HWDSB.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), Hamilton’s public school board, will be holding a byelection in January 2025 after long-time trustee Ray Mulholland announced his retirement.
Mulholland served in public office for 52 years and was board chair for seven years.
He took a leave of absence in April 2024 due to health reasons and neighbouring Ward 3 (East Hamilton Centre) Trustee Maria Felix Miller took over his duties.
But Mulholland eventually made his leave of absence permanent, writing a letter of resignation that was presented to trustees at a September board meeting.
Mulholland, who is 90 years old, was first elected in September 1972.
Trustees received a staff report at a subsequent board meeting, providing options on how to proceed with filling the vacancy left by Mulholland.
Previous vacancies have been filled by appointment.
For example, in 2019, a vacancy left by then Ward 3 Trustee Chris Parkinson, who died of a heart attack, was filled by the Board of Trustees appointed 2018 municipal election runner up Maria Felix Miller.
Miller finished only 29 votes behind Parkinson in that election.
A 2021 vacancy was also filled by the board via an open appointment process where members of the public were invited to apply for the position.
The board’s criteria was that the desired applicant have a passion for public education, insight into the ward, and “commitment to Truth and Reconciliation as well as Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.”
At the time, the board interviewed 11 candidates and eventually picked Elizabeth Wong.
Wong had previously served as a Student Trustee and was completing her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Labour Studies at McMaster University.
A HWDSB press release from 2022 says that her studies focused on “race, gender, sex, education, and social determinants of health.”
However, this time trustees voted 8-2 for a byelection to be held since the next municipal election is not until 2026.
The byelection is estimated to cost $200,000.
Nominations are now open for the by-election and voting will be held on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, with advance polls on Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, Jan. 5.
Nominations will be accepted until Nov. 22, 2024.
To be eligible to run, candidates must be Canadian citizens, 18 or older, residents or property owners in the City of Hamilton, and identified as a supporter of the public school board (as opposed to the Catholic school board).
Unlike city council, being a trustee is considered a part-time rather than a full-time job.
HWDSB trustees earn an honorarium of about $14,000 a year, while the board vice-chair earns about $17,500 and the chair approximately $21,000.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
