Newly elected Abbotsford West MLA Korky Neufeld says he will remain as a trustee on the board of education while serving in the B.C. legislature.
Neufeld told The Abbotsford News that if he had stepped down, a byelection for a new trustee would have cost taxpayers more than $200,000.
“Given that the byelection wouldn’t conclude until mid to late spring, the newly elected trustee would serve only one school year at a significant cost,” he said.
Neufeld, who was elected under the Conservative Party, also said that as a member of the opposition party, he can fulfill his responsibilities as a trustee “with little, if any, conflict of interest” with his MLA role.
Neufeld is currently serving his fifth term as a trustee with the Abbotsford school district. He was last elected in 2022, and there are two more years before the next municipal election.
He was serving as the school board chair when he was nominated in February 2024 as the provincial Conservative candidate for Abbotsford West.
Neufeld stepped down from the role, and Trustee Shirley Wilson was elected as the new chair.
Neufeld was elected as the Abbotsford West MLA on Oct. 19 with 11,483 votes, compared to 7,255 for the NDP’s Graeme Hutchinson and 940 for independent candidate James Davison.
The riding was previously held for 30 years by Mike de Jong with the Liberals and then BC United.
De Jong announced in February that he was retiring from provincial politics.
In April, he announced he was seeking the federal Conservative Party nomination for the Abbotsford-South Langley riding being vacated by retiring long-time MP Ed Fast.
The riding has not yet held its nomination vote.
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