The residents of Lac La Biche County and surrounding areas voted to keep the Northern Lights School Division No. 69 Board of Trustees intact after last Monday’s election, with area incumbents taking their seats for another three-year term.
It was a close race as incumbent Danny Smaiel won the Ward 3 trustee seat over Brandon Cloutier by a difference of just 75 votes. The unofficial numbers see Smaiel with 515 votes and Cloutier with 440 votes.
For Cloutier, his first foray into public office was enlightening. The 28-year old even spent the day sitting in the Jubilee Hall polling station watching the voting process. He said the election process was a tough run but a great experience overall.
“It was a close fought battle, but I would like to thank my supporters for their support,” he said.
Smaiel says he is happy to be able to serve the community for another three years.
“I am looking forward to a new term and working with the community again,” said Smaiel.
It may have been a close race in Ward 3, but in Ward 5 Roxanne Suhan was re-elected with a big lead over her competitors. Suhan won the election with 372 votes, a difference of 187 over her nearest challenger Richard Creelman and 317 more than the third contender, Leeann Joe.
Suhan says she was surprised with the win and looks forward to serving the school division community.
“I am never expecting a win and I am excited to be back,” said Suhan, who is entering her fourth term as trustee.
Although it is early for projects, Suhan would like to continue working on getting the new schools into LLB and continues to put student achievement on top of the list.
“I want to make sure students always have the best opportunity to do well in the classroom,” said Suhan.
Getting the new schools attached to the Bold Center is also something Ward 4 trustee Arlene Hrynyk would like to see accomplished. Hrynyk was acclaimed this election and will take her spot as Vice Chair of the NLSD Board tomorrow at the organizational meeting in Bonnyville.
