Boomer, Rachel

Halifax - Gary O'Hara doesn't storm out of school board meetings. He doesn't kick up a stink about the issues he cares about. In fact, O'Hara doesn't say much at all.

That silence has proven golden for O'Hara, chosen by provincial cabinet yesterday to be chairman of the fractious Halifax Regional School Board.

"You don't have to be heard to get good work done. I'm not one that has to have an opinion on everything; I have the ability to get work done behind the scenes, and that's a skill I hope to bring to the table," O'Hara, who represents Halifax West, Clayton Park and Fairview, said yesterday.

"I'm a good listener."

Listening will be a job requirement. The board has been its own worst enemy for nearly a year, with nasty infighting earning it the scorn of students and adults alike. First, board member Bernadette Reid was investigated for an alleged conflict of interest.

Then member Douglas Sparks refused to take his chair in a new seating arrangement.

Finally, member Peggy Draper was voted off the board, amid accusations of fraud.

The last chairman, Wade Marshall, resigned March 3, after Frank magazine discovered he'd gone bankrupt while sitting on the board and didn't report it.

O'Hara said he plans to speak with every board member before school-board meetings, to iron out disputes before they become a problem.

He says he's received good wishes from all sides of the divided board, and believes everyone wants to clean up the board's act.

"You will not see any infighting at the next meeting - or at any meeting."

Bankruptcies have proven to be a problem for board members, who are often self-employed. Until 2003, any member who declared bankruptcy while sitting on the school board was supposed to resign.

O'Hara says he went bankrupt once, but it was more than 10 years ago. He's been on the school board for the last two years.

Education Minister Jamie Muir said cabinet picked O'Hara because he's a good leader. In 2002 and 2003, he helped broker a deal that saw community fundraising to add a theatre to the new Halifax West High School.

"His participation and leadership in that was one of the prime reasons that was done so efficiently," Muir said. "I'm pretty convinced he's going to do the same thing as chair."

Gin Yee and Debra Barlow both said they wanted to be chair. Yee said he's disappointed, but he'll support O'Hara.

Source: The Daily News, April 07, 2006
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