Ousted trustee faces lawsuit

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This article was published 05/04/2016 (3641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ousted school trustee Wayne Ritcher faces a lawsuit for the $6,413.14 the River East Transcona School Division claims it’s owed.

The legal action will be heard in small claims court June 15.

River East Transcona school board ordered Ritcher’s Ward 3 seat vacant after discovering the five-term trustee no longer lived within the division.

“The board considered — they decided to put it to the courts,” superintendent Kelly Barkman said Tuesday. “The claim has been initiated by the board to recover any indemnities and division computer equipment.”

Barkman said the money allegedly owed includes trustee stipends paid after Ritcher had moved out of the division, along with the laptop computer the division issues to all members of the board.

Ritcher, who lives in River Heights, has not granted interviews since being removed from office, and could not be reached Tuesday.

River East Transcona began receiving calls from the public last fall and checked them out.

River East Transcona believes Ritcher’s primary residence is now a condominium in River Heights, though Barkman said Ritcher apparently still owns and is renting out property within River East Transcona. Provincial legislation requires school trustees to live within the division.

Ritcher was not present when the board voted to vacate his seat.

Ward 3 of River East Transcona had 16,640 eligible voters in 2014— city election officials estimate school board byelections costs $6 a voter, which would make the price of replacing Ritcher just under $100,000.

Because of the April 19 provincial election, the division has yet to call a by election.

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While trustees have always been required to live within their school division, it was only in 2006 that legislation required candidates to provide proof of their addresses. Ritcher provided evidence he lived on Durness Bay within the division when filing his nomination papers in 2014, city election officials said.

Prior to 2006, anyone challenging a trustee’s principal residence had to take on the risks and cost of challenging the trustee in court.

Shortly before being removed from office, Ritcher was interviewed on local media about the future of Kapyong Barracks, identifying himself as a nearby resident.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Nick Martin

Former Free Press reporter Nick Martin, who wrote the monthly suspense column in the books section and was prolific in his standalone reviews of mystery/thriller novels, died Oct. 15 at age 77 while on holiday in Edinburgh, Scotland.