Ellen Ellenburg and Gary Peppin recall, Genesee County, Michigan (2021)
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An effort to recall Gary Peppin (D) from his position on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners in Michigan was rejected in a clarity hearing on December 9, 2021. The Genessee County Election Commission voted 3-0 to not approve the petition, saying that the reason for the recall was unclear.[1][2]
This was the second time recall papers were filed against Peppin in 2021. The Genesee County Election Commission rejected the first recall petition against him at a clarity hearing on September 14, 2021. Commissioners Ellen Ellenburg (D) and Mark Young (D) were also included in the recall effort at that time. The recall petitions against them were also rejected in the same hearing.[3][4][5]
Ellenburg was elected to the commission in 2016, Peppin was elected in 2020, and Young was elected in 2012.[6][7]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
Second effort (Peppin)
Leonard Marden, a resident of Richfield Township, Michigan, started the recall effort against Peppin. The recall petition language listed lack of representation as the reason for the effort and said that Peppin had missed 41 commission and committee meetings in 2021. “Peppin never shows up to fight for us, and when he does, he votes with the radical Democrats’ agenda of mandated masks, and vaccines,” Marden said.[1]
First effort (Ellenburg, Peppin, and Young)
The recall effort started after a board meeting on August 25, 2021, in which Ellenburg, Peppin, and Young voted against a motion to hold a special meeting with residents and Medical Health Officer Dr. Pamela Hackert in order to discuss a mask requirement for students in kindergarten through 6th grade. The board of commissioners voted 6-3 to not hold the special meeting. The meeting was called, however, after three commissioners requested it. The board of commission's rules allows for any three members to call for a special meeting.[6][8]
The recall language against Ellenburg was filed by Katharine Keller, a resident of Burton, Michigan. Keller said she was pursuing the recall for Ellenburg's "silencing the voices of 3rd District citizens" through her vote against holding the special meeting.[6]
"I decided to do it because she represents constituents. Her constituents who are for and against masks deserve to have [...] the data and the science and evidence presented to us," Keller said. "By Zoom or in person, we need to have some answers."[6]
The recall language against Peppin was filed by Marden. Marden said Peppin should be recalled for his vote against the special meeting, for his vote to approve the county’s 2021-2022 budget with a deficit, and for his vote against a motion to add a discussion on vaccine passports to the board's meeting agenda for August 25, 2021.[6]
The recall language against Young said he should be recalled because the commission did not have a balanced budget and because Young did not attend a special meeting to discuss Medical Health Officer Pamela Hackert’s school mask mandate.[3]
Recall opponents
Second effort (Peppin)
In response to the second recall petition filed against him, Peppin said he had missed meetings in 2021 due to a number of surgeries. “I’ve done the best I can … for people of the 9th District,” Peppin said.[1]
First effort (Ellenburg, Peppin, and Young)
Ellenburg said she voted against holding a special meeting with Hackert because she believed it was not safe for Hackert to attend. Ellenburg said Hackert had received a death threat. She also said that the debate over the mask requirement had become a witch hunt.[6]
At the clarity hearing on September 14, 2021, Peppin's attorney said his vote against the special meeting would not have been enough to sway the board's decision.[3]
Young's attorney said the recall language was unclear because it did not specify which year's budget was not balanced. She also noted that Young's absence from the special meeting did not prevent the commission from having a quorum.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
A clarity hearing on the second recall petition against Peppin was held on December 9, 2021.[1] The Genessee County Election Commission voted 3-0 to reject the recall petition due to the reason for recall being unclear.[2]
The recall petition language for the first effort was filed on August 26, 2021. In order for the recall to move forward, the petitions had to be approved for circulation in a clarity hearing. The hearing was held on September 14, 2021. If the petitions had been approved, recall supporters would have had to collect signatures equal to 25% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the districts the commissioners represent.[6][9]
Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
See also
- Genesee County, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- County commission recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Genesee County Board of Commissioners
- Genesee County Clerk/Register Office
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 MLive.com, "Recall attempt targets Genesee County Commissioner Gary Peppin," December 7, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MLive.com, "Genesee Election Commission rejects recall language against county commissioner," December 9, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 MLive.com, "Recall language filed against 3 Genesee County commissioners tossed out," September 14, 2021
- ↑ Genesee County, Michigan, "2021 Genesee County Board of Commissioners," accessed August 31, 2021
- ↑ Genesee County Clerk, "Cumulative Results: General Election, November 3, 2020 Official results," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 MLive.com, "Two Genesee County commissioners who opposed mask meeting targeted for recall," August 26, 2021
- ↑ Genesee County Board of Commissioners, "District 5 - Mark Young," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ Genesee County Board of Commissioners, "Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Minutes," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ The Davison Index, "Two county commissioners may face recall election over mask meeting," September 2, 2021
