Earlier this month, we brought you the wacky story of Donna Allen, the woman elected to the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School Board November 19 but refusing to be sworn-in.

The Nanaimo Daily News now reports that Allen has taken her oath of office and is working on behalf of the taxpayers of Nanaimo-Ladysmith. Her ridiculous plan to not be sworn-in and force a $100,000+ by-election has fallen by the wayside. From the story:

Allen said before she was sworn in that she believes there is now an increased awareness of the issue of criminal record checks for candidates. "I will continue to campaign for this change both within the board structure and in the wider community," Allen said She said that she received an overwhelming number of calls from people who support her cause but wanted her to take her seat on the board.

Allen said she did not want taxpayers to have to pay the estimated $100,000 cost of a byelection.

While this situation will raise many doubts about Allen going forward, this was the best result for the School Board and its taxpayers, who are already grappling with a significant deficit.

There doesn’t seem to have been much support for Allen’s boycott, according to this Daily News op/ed:

The sheer folly of forcing a byelection only six weeks after a general election was surely more than the electorate could bear.

In the end, Allen heard the same public uproar as the rest of us and really had no choice but to end her standoff and take the oath of office.

(clipped)

She conveniently neglected to mention her moral outrage over such people being allowed to stand for election until after the ballots were cast, apparently hoping to hold us all hostage until we gave her what she wanted.

We won't compare her to a preschool child, but we have noticed similar behaviour in the toddler set when they attempt to get what they want.

Such children are often forced to eventually stop holding their breath and behave appropriately. Meanwhile, Allen explains her change of heart thus: "I will continue to campaign for this change both within the board structure and in the wider community."

Anyway, Allen is now a School Trustee, and hopefully will exercise more wisdom on behalf of taxpayers going forward.