LangleyAdvance
IGA will rebuild pg A3
Your community newspaper since 1931
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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Performers were hot at a concert marking the return of Chief Sepass Theatre. by Heather Colpitts
hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
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Langley Fine Arts School students lost no time in putting the Chief Sepass Theatre back to work. The theatre, closed due to a Halloween fire, was reopened for the Phoenix Concert Jan. 7. Over 24 hours Friday and into early Saturday, students and others put on a show, with several performances open to the public. “We had over 250 different performances with our students, many alumni and some guests performing,” noted principal Jon Bonnar. And the performers enjoyed crowd numbers seasoned artists would envy. “There was a full house for many of the hours with over 3,000 people in attendance over the 24 hours. The spirit exploded out of the theatre. You could feel how much appreciation there is for this space,” he noted.
With just a spotlight and a microphone, student Ahnika Barber captivated the crowd with song during the Phoenix Concert. Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
Government HATTIE HOGETERP For Board of Education ELECT JANUARY 15, 2011 Experience – Integrity – Common Sense “the positive choice” Email: hattie.hogeterp@shaw.ca Website: hattiehogeterp.weebly.com
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Trustee hopefuls tested at forum
Four candidates for Langley School Board got in front of the public for the first time. by Heather Colpitts
hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
Four candidates standing for election on Jan. 15 are willing to take on the job of dealing with Langley School District’s $13.5 million budget shortfall. The candidates for a single trustee seat in Saturday’s byelection had a chance to sell themselves at an all-candidates forum on Thursday evening at Brookswood Secondary School. The new trustee will serve about 11 months, until the next general election, in November. The trustees made their pitches in front of a crowd of about 60 people, addressing them in the order their names will appear on the ballot. Cecelia Reekie, Brian Leonard, and Ed Wood are first-time candidates, while Hattie Hogeterp has served before, and faced the toughest questioning by the audience for having been on the previous board when the district’s financial problems started. Hogeterp said she went back over her budget documents and found nothing to show the prob-
lems, since the district financial staff didn’t discover the problems while she was a trustee. When pressed, she said that the community needs to move on. “The next 11 months are not going to be easy,” she noted. “…We have to keep the children at the centre of everything the board does.”
Reekie said the problems of the district show that the culture has to change. She lobbied for better consult between board and stakeholders, but acknowledged that there are difficult cuts coming. Wood, who works in facilities management for Vancouver, said the local district shouldn’t have to bear the financial burden.
“The provincial government should look after the debt,” he commented. “It’s a simple as that.” The resident of Langley for 25 years also advocated for better long-term planning and facility management because it saves money in the long run.
continued on page A6…
Local government
Township voters have five locations Township residents vote for a new school trustee in Saturday’s byelection. by Heather Colpitts hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
Township residents head to the polls on Saturday to vote for a new school trustee. They’ll choose from four candidates seeking to fill the Township trustee seat. Under provincial voting laws, two Langley trusteeships are chosen by Langley City with the remaining five elected by Township voters. As the vacant seat had been held by a Township representative,
Joan Bech, before her resignation, it must be refilled by the Township. The polls open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with voting at five locations: Aldergrove Community Secondary, 26850 29th Ave.; D.W. Poppy Secondary, 23752 52nd Ave.; Langley Fundamental Middle/Secondary, 21250 42nd Ave.; R.C. Garnett Elementary, 7096 201st St.; and Walnut Grove Secondary, 8919 Walnut Grove Dr. Advance polls were available on Jan. 5 and 7. Chief elections officer Susan Palmer said 79 people voted in advance. Voters must be Canadian citizens, 18 years or older of as Jan. 15, have lived in B.C. for at least six months prior to the
election, and residents or property owners in the Township for at least the past 30 days. The Township bases its voter rolls on the provincial election list, but people not on the list can register to vote at the polls on Jan. 15. To register on site, people must have at least two pieces of identification, at least one of which must have a signature, to prove their identity and residency. Non-resident property owners are eligible to vote. If not on the voters list, they must also present two pieces of ID and proof of property ownership. Each non-resident owner can only vote once, even if he or she owns more than one piece of property in the Township.