Chair of the public board Todd White defeated by first time candidate Carole Paikin Miller

Todd White, chair of Hamilton's public board, lost his two term Ward 5 seat by 109 votes in a controversial race to newly-elected school board trustee, Carole Paikin Miller.

Paikin Miller is a retired teacher who says she ran to address educational issues.

Her husband is NDP MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Paul Miller. He is also the man against whom White has filed Ontario human rights complaints.

"Looking at the situation, I mean, there's no doubt there is a connection. I think that's blatantly obvious," said White on Tuesday.

White was chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, and had been working as a constituency assistant for NDP MPP Paul Miller for 11 years before being fired in August.

While he was still employed under Miller, White filed a complaint against his employer alleging racist comments, bullying and abuse of office resources for campaigning.

White's complaints also mention that things started to become tense at his job in 2015 when he took paternal leave to care for his baby.

He alleges Miller used "discrimination, defamation" and "breaches of privacy" to push him to leave. White was terminated by the NDP in August.

"That obviously changed my campaign plans," he says. "I became largely unavailable to campaign effectively having lost my day job."

White's filed grievances are currently in the arbitration stage.

Paikin Miller joined the trustee race in July.

"I campaigned because I want to help the kids," she says. "[This] didn't affect the campaign at all. I didn't talk about that situation with anybody."

Pat Daly, the long-time chair of the city's Catholic school board, was acclaimed in Ward 7.

The new board of trustees for the Hamilton-Wentworth School Board (HWDSB) was elected yesterday along with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic School Board (HWCSB). The results for each ward are as follows:

HWDSB

Ward 1 and 2: Christine BINGHAM

Ward 3: Chris Parkinson

Ward 4: Ray MULHOLLAND

Ward 5: Carole PAIKIN MILLER

Ward 6: Kathy ARCHER

Ward 7: Dawn DANKO

Ward 8 and 14: Becky BUCK

Ward 9 and 10: Cam GALINDO

Ward 11 and 12: Alex JOHNSTONE

Ward 13: Paul TUT

Ward 15: Penny DEATHE

HWCDSB​

Ward 1,2 and 15: Mark VALVASORI

Ward 3 and 4: Anthony PERRI

Ward 5: Aldo D'INTINO

Ward 6: Joseph BAIARDO

Ward 7: Patrick J. DALY

Ward 8 and 14: John VALVASORI

Ward 9 and 11: Louis AGRO

Ward 10: Mary NARDINI

Ward 12 and 13: Phil HOMERSKI