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ýý L s1 ý ý'J O ýîi LL Special to The Champion A public school board trustee says he's staying on in bis position - for now. Burlington Trustee Mike Ellis said just prior to the holidays that he has received notbing but support and encouragement from con- stituents in bis post, and be plans to remain in place for tbe time being. "l'vc been getting a lot of calîs to stay on, overwhelming actu- ally, so aithis point I've made no (final) decision. l'm staying on at the moment. Nobody from my community bas said tbat it would be best if 1 stepped down." Mr. Ellis bas been embroiled in controversy since tbe summer wben be called for an extemnal investigation into certain practices of tbe board. Specifically, be questioned tbe validity of information provided to parents of students at W.E. Breckon, an elemnentary scbool in Education Director Dusty Papke a new contract. Tbe board was later exonerated by tbe extemnal audit. Mr. Ellis was censured by tbe board in September by an 8-2 vote of trustees for making public statements about confidential board documents. The censure, wbicb lasts until February prevents bim from attending private board sessions or receiving documents related to private board meetings. Chair asked Ellis for resignation Tbe auditor's findings were presented ai tbe October 17 board meeting, at wbicb board Cbair Ethel Gardiner publicly asked for Mr. Ellis' resignation. Tbe following day, Mr. Ellis said be was "99 per cent" sure be would resign bis post by mid-November. The trustee tben later said be wasn't prepared to resign until be received assurances from tbe board tbat it will bold a byelection Ms Gardiner recently said sucb guarantees can't be made and indicated sbe wouldn't be inclined to suppont tbe calI for a byelcc- tion, wbicb would likely cost in excess of $60,000. Mr. Ellis said bis concems about tbe board remain. 'lI'm not tbe bad guy bere. 1 seem t0 be portrayed as tbe bad guy. 1 (just) brougbt up issues tbat (I feît) needed to be addressed," be said. Most recently, Mr. Ellis attended - via teleconference from bis bome -the November 21 board meeting. He avoided missing a tbird straigbt regular meeting wbicb. according to Ontario's Education Act, results in autornatic expulsion for a trustee. Mr. Ellis bas said for the past few montbs tbat be's not pbysi- cally able to attend board meetings due to bealtb problems wbicb make it difficult for bimn t0 si in one position for prolonged peni ods. In ligbt of ongoing complications, Mr. Ellis bad requested a short-terrn medical leave of absence from tbe board in September. Tbe board didn't authorize sucb a leave; instead, it offered to book bim up at bis borne witb bands-free tecbnology so be couId attend regular board meetings. Tbe offer remained in effect until tbe end of tbe year. The next Halton public board committee meeting will be beld Wednesday. Tbe next regular meeting of tbe board bas been rescbeduled for Tuesday, Jan. 22. Public session for botb begins at 8 p.m. 42 Bronte St. S. #2, Milton (905) 876-9463 REQUEST FOR BID #t02-154-P Prequalifîcation, for Main Street Reconstruction Irom James to Commercial Street Sealed Bids on formns supplied by the Town of Milton wil be received by tbe Corporate Services Department, Purcbasing until 11:00 am local trne on: Friday, January 18, 2002 Specifications and forms may be obtained at the Town Hall, 43 Brown Street. Milton, Ontario, Corporate Services Depariment, Purcbasing. During normal busi - ness bours, Monday tbrougb Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is a bid document fee of: $26.00 ($24.30 + $1.70 GST) for regular bids or $52.00 ($48.60 + $3.40 GST) for bids witb drawings. Payment can be made witb casb, cheque, Interac or Visa/Mastercard. Any inquiries regarding this tender may be directed to, tIhe Purchasing at (905) 875-5404. If you would prefer that this bid be couriered to you pleas complete tbe Request for Bid Document formi on thse Town's websîte: wwwtown.mnilton.on.ca. Plan takers and current and upcoming bids are also posted on thse web site. -J _r M 4The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, January 8, 2002 Sehool trustee says he's not resigning - for now