 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
School board chair fails breathalyzer Pleads guilty of having blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit after being stopped by police
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 30, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The chair of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 school board pleaded guilty Monday to driving while over the legal alcohol limit.
Allan Shortt, chairperson of YK1 school board, was charged with driving over the legal limit on Monday. - NNSL file photo |
Allan Shortt, 58, was originally charged with two counts - one for impaired driving and one for driving while having a blood-alcohol level over 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
According to court transcripts, Shortt was arrested by RCMP around 8:30 p.m. on May 27. Yellowknife RCMP received two separate complaints of a driver weaving through lanes, braking early and taking wide turns. Police caught up with Shortt - who was parked at his residence - and arrested him. Shortt admitted to having several drinks at the Black Knight earlier and agreed to provide two breath samples.
Shortt's blood alcohol content registered 140 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood -nearly twice the legal limit.
Crown prosecutor Maren Zimmer said Shortt was cooperative with police during the incident. He also entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, to his credit.
The impaired driving charge was withdrawn, but Shortt pleaded guilty to driving over the legal limit. Judge Bernadette Schmaltz fined him $1,400 plus a $210 victims of crime surcharge. Shortt is also banned from driving for one year.
Schmaltz scolded Shortt, saying the way he was driving, he was lucky things didn't turn out worse.
"Mr. Shortt, you could have killed somebody," Schmaltz said.
Alanhea Vogt, Shortt's defence attorney, said he's remorseful for what he did.
"He stopped in at the Black Knight just to say 'happy birthday' and did end up having a few drinks and then driving home. He knows there were other options available to him and he's very sorry for the bad decision that he made that evening."
In an e-mail to Yellowknifer, Shortt explained the incident was a "very regrettable lapse in judgement and completely out of
character."
He apologized but declined to make further comment.
Shortt was first elected to chair the school board in November 2010. He has been in Yellowknife since 1978 and is an active member of the community. Shortt is the senior construction superintendent for Clark Builders and past vice-president of the Yellowknife Elks Club. He has two daughters who both attended Yk1 schools, according to his trustee profile on the Yk1 website.
It's unclear what consequences Shortt will face in his role as chair of the public school board. Yk1's Trustee Code of Conduct states all trustees will conduct themselves "in a professional manner at all times while representing the board."
When contacted by Yellowknifer Wednesday, Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak stated in an e-mail it was the first he had heard of Shortt's charges and declined to comment on them.
Board policy states any trustees who fail to comply with the policy may face sanctions.
Shortt has until Jan. 31 to pay the fines and his driving prohibition is effective immediately.
| 
