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Benton Harbor Area Schools board recall, Michigan (2010)
| Benton Harbor Area Schools School Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Allene Smith Lue Buchana |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| February 23, 2010 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2010 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
A vote about whether to recall Dan McGinnis, Allene Smith and Lue Buchana from their positions on the Benton Harbor Area Schools school board took place on February 23, 2010.
All three school board members retained their seats.[1]
Lue Buchana:
- Keep: 552
- Recall: 531
Dan McGinnis (School board president):
- Keep: 574
- Recall: 510
J. Arlene Smith:
- Keep: 579
- Recall: 512
Recall efforts were initiated after a school board vote to privatize transportation services.[2]
On July 13, 2009 the Berrien County Election Commission approved the language for petitions to recall three school board members. The petitions were filed in June 2009 by Ronnie Brown, president of the district's service workers union. An earlier attempt was made by Virginia Huddleston, a district employee, but the language was struck down.[3]
Voter turn-out in the recall election was just 4%. The cost of the special election to the school district was approximately $14,000.[4]
The unsuccessful Benton Harbor recall effort was one of several similar efforts in 2009-2010 started by union organizers to punish school board members who voted to privatize some school functions as a way to save money.[5]
Path to the ballot
To force the recall vote, recall organizers had to collect a minimum of 426 valid signatures on recall petitions for each of the three recall targets.
See also
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2010
- School board recalls
- Berrien County, Michigan ballot measures
Footnotes
- ↑ WSJM, "Voters Reject Recalls Of BH School Board Members," February 23, 2010
- ↑ Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Digest:Privatization leads to recall," July 14, 2009
- ↑ Herald Palladium, "BHAS recall petitions move forward," July 14, 2009
- ↑ WSJM, "Cost Of BH School Board Recall Election Revealed," March 11, 2010
- ↑ MEA Exposed, "Benton Harbor stands up for bullied school board members," March 10, 2010
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