Abby Zaitley is Hamilton’s newest public school trustee, winning the Ward 4 Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Trustee by-election with more than 50 percent of the 473 ballots cast.
Zaitley, who enjoyed backing from organized labour and progressive movements, secured 263 votes. The runner-up, former Ward 3 Trustee Larry Pattison, had 54 votes.
Zaitley ran on a platform promising collaboration, engagement, accountability, and inclusivity. She promises to work to increase mental health resources and modernize school facilities.
The exact voter turnout percentage is not available.
Beginning with the 2022 municipal election, the City of Hamilton no longer provides the number of eligible voters broken down by ward. 2022 city-wide voter turnout for the mayoral race was 35.38 percent.
6,601 ballots were cast in the 2022 Ward 4 English public school trustee election.
If Ward 4’s voter turnout was at the city-wide average, this would place this week’s by-election turnout below three percent.
Hamilton’s City Clerk will file a report certifying the results.
Once the vote is certified, Zaitley will be sworn in.
The report will include a cost estimate for administering the by-election.
The HWDSB has placed $200,000 aside to cover the cost.
By-Election to Fill Seat Resigned by Ray Mulholland
The by-election was caused by the unexpected resignation of long-time Ward 4 HWDSB Trustee Ray Mulholland, who had served over 50 years as a public school trustee.
Mulholland was first appointed in August 1972 to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton in Ward 2, a seat he filled until December 1972. He was first successfully elected in 1973 in Ward 5, which was the lower city area between Ottawa Street on the west and Strathearne Avenue / Cochrane Road on the east.
He lost in 1978. He ran in 1980, won, and never lost again.
[The area formerly known as Ward 5 became Ward 4, mainly as we know it today. Mulholland would not live in the ward he represented until the 2018 ward boundary re-alignment. He lived in the same house on Erin Avenue his entire trustee career. Erin Avenue is just east of Cochrane Road.]
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Published: January 6, 2025
Last updated: January 6, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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Never heard of her , not sure what her background is.