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Dixie School District recalls, California (2019)
| Dixie School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Brad Honsberger |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Efforts to recall two of the five members of the Dixie School District board of trustees in California began in 2019 in the midst of a debate over changing the school district's name. The effort to recall board member Marnie Glickman began in March 2019, and the effort to recall board President Brad Honsberger began in April 2019.[1][2] Neither recall effort went to a vote in 2019.[3][4]
Glickman was a leader of the effort to change the district's name. Supporters of the recall effort against her said that she disrupted "board meetings by monopolizing their agenda with her own personal goals."[1]
Honsberger had not publicly said whether he was in favor of changing the district's name at the time his recall began, according to the Marin Independent Journal. “Honsberger stands alone as the only board member who has not stated the racist, Confederate, ‘Dixie’ name should be changed,” supporters of his recall said in a statement.[2] On April 16, 2019, the board voted 3-1-0 to change the district's name by August 22, 2019. Honsberger was the only board member to vote against changing the district's name. He said he wanted the issue to go to voters as a community resolution in 2020.[5] In July 2019, the board voted 3-1 with one abstention to change the district's name to Miller Creek Elementary School District. Glickman voted against the name, while Honsberger voted in favor of it.[6]
Supporters of the name change said the name Dixie was connected "to the violence, slavery and racism of the Civil War-era South," and those who wished to keep the district's name did not "want to erase history or lose the memories of their lives growing up in the community," according to the Marin Independent Journal.[7]
Glickman's term expired in 2020. In 2019, she said she was not planning on running for re-election. Honsberger's term expired in 2023.[1][8][9]
Recall supporters
Glickman recall effort
The recall effort against Glickman was started by a group of school district residents. The notice of intent to recall said, "Trustee Glickman’s failure to act in the best interest of the Dixie School District as an elected fiduciary and trustee has caused her constituents, district staff and fellow board members to lose trust in Ms. Glickman’s ability to serve in a representative capacity to further Dixie School District’s goals."[1]
The notice also said that Glickman disrupted "board meetings by monopolizing their agenda with her own personal goals."[1] Recall supporters said Glickman surprised the community with the issue when she spoke in a TV news report in August 2018. They said she should have introduced it through civic channels.[2]
Honsberger recall effort
The recall effort against Honsberger was started by a group of school district alumni and students who attended area colleges. The group was called Students for Unity and Justice. They submitted initial recall paperwork on April 12, 2019.[2]
| “ | Mr. Honsberger’s position on ‘Dixie’ is dismissive, insensitive and extremely offensive to African Americans. Mr. Honsberger has been explicitly told the offensiveness of his position by African American constituents on countless occasions. His apathy towards the concerns of African American constituents, and status as the only board member that has not stated the Confederate, ‘Dixie’ name should change is unacceptable and upholds institutional racism.[10] | ” |
| —Students for Unity and Justice (2019)[2] | ||
Recall opponents
Glickman recall effort
District parent Teri Bleiweiss said Glickman advocated for underrepresented voices in the community. “Recalling Marnie Glickman will not silence people who oppose anti-Semitism and racism, nor will it halt their efforts,” Bleiweiss said. “The local community has been activated and the eyes of the nation are on us. Although the recall petitioners are acting within the law, history will not look back on them kindly.”[1]
Glickman said the issue of changing the district name had been brought up three times previously since 1977. She said each of those efforts failed.[2]
Honsberger recall effort
On April 12, 2019, Honsberger said he had no comment on the recall effort against him as he had not seen the recall notice.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
Supporters of the recall against Glickman filed a notice of intent to recall with the Marin County Registrar of Voters on March 5, 2019.[1] Supporters of the recall against Honsberger filed a notice of intent to recall on April 12, 2019.[2] Honsberger's recall effort did not go to a vote as recall supporters did not properly publish their notice of intent to recall.[3] Supporters of Glickman's recall announced in July 2019 that they did not collect enough signatures to get the recall on the ballot.[4]
To get the recalls on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to submit 2,851 signatures from residents of the school district within 150 days of their recall petitions getting approved for circulation.[1][2]
2019 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 20 school board recall efforts against 47 board members in 2019. Three recall elections were held in 2019. The school board recall success rate was 6.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2019 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Dixie School District, California
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2019
- School board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Dixie School District
- Marin County Elections/Registrar of Voters
- We Are Dixie website
- Marnie Glickman's school blog
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Marin Independent Journal, "Recall bid targets Dixie trustee Marnie Glickman, a leader in name change effort," March 5, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Marin Independent Journal, "Dixie area youth seek recall of school trustee," April 12, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Laurie A Pirini, Dixie School District Parent Alumni," May 1, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Marin Independent Journal, "‘Dixie’ bloc abandons recall effort against trustee," July 19, 2019
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Dixie school board in San Rafael agrees to change name many said evoked Confederacy," April 16, 2019
- ↑ Marin Independent Journal, "Dixie changes name to Miller Creek Elementary School District," July 9, 2019
- ↑ Marin Independent Journal, "Dixie board stalls on name change, draws protests," March 1, 2019
- ↑ Dixie School District, "Governing Board of Dixie School District," accessed March 7, 2019
- ↑ Marin Independent Journal, "Dick Spotswood: Glickman could avoid recall effort by running again," June 15, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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