Ray Yaworski wants to make school board governance his business.
Having sold his car dealership five years ago, Yaworski said he now has the time, energy and opportunity to pursue his long-standing interest in elected office.
Believing that “you have to walk before you run,” the 57-year-old is making his first run for office a run for a position on the Red Deer Public School District board.
“I’ve been a community builder in the past and I would like to be so again,” said Yaworski.
He said his private industry background — Yaworski ran the dealership for 20 years — can serve the district board well, a board he believes could benefit from some renewal.
“I think the school board is a little light on people from a private industry or business background. The wider diversity of people sitting at the board table you have, the more ideas will flow and the more perspectives will be aired and viewed and I think the organization as a group benefits,” said Yaworski.
Married with three adult children who have gone through the public school system, Yaworski said in business he had to make good use of funds to survive. With school district budgets facing ongoing constraints, he said his perspective would benefit the board.
“We have to find ways that we can make $1 do the work of $1.40 or $1.50. That’s what I’ve kind of done all my life in my retail career — try to find ways to make dollars do more. I can share my experience and those benefits and that knowledge with the board,” said Yaworski.
He suggested school districts across the province should band together on procurements to save money and also said buses could be using compressed natural gas, which is cleaner and cheaper than diesel fuel
Yaworski said school boards should be focused on producing good citizens and graduates in the district’s schools, and added he is concerned about Red Deer Public’s completion rates being significantly lower than those in the local Catholic division, according to 2010-11 statistics.
Other Red Deer Public School candidates are Bill Christie, Shari Hanson, Kerri Kenworthy, Lianne Kruger, Dick Lemke, Dianne Macaulay, Bev Manning, Ben Ordman, Cathy Peacocke, Kurt Spady, Bill Stuebing, Jim Watters and Milt Williams.
mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com