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Houghton Lake Community Schools recall, Michigan (2017)
| Houghton Lake Community Schools Board of Education recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| May 2, 2017 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2017 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Kevin Nagel was ousted from his position on the Houghton Lake Community Schools Board of Education in a recall election on May 2, 2017. Nagel's challenger Nan Combs was elected to the seat.[1][2][3][4] The group Citizens for a Better Board of Education at HLCS started the effort against Nagel and his fellow board members Kelly Christian and Mark Souder in June 2016. The group was unable to gather enough signatures to get Souder and Christian on the May 2017 ballot. Christian was initially placed on the ballot after the recall group appealed signatures that had been rejected, but a decision by the appellate court took her name off the ballot.[5][6][7][8]
The three members were targeted for recall after Superintendent Brent Cryderman resigned from his position. Prior to his resignation, the district paid for a private investigation of Cryderman due to allegations of intimidation and not following proper procedures. Supporters of the recall said that the three board members violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act when they voted to hire the investigator in a closed meeting. Souder said that the district's attorney hired the investigator at Cryderman's request.[5][9][10][11][12]
At the time the recall started, Christian served as president of the board, and Souder served as treasurer. When the board reorganized in 2017, Christian was elected as treasurer of the board, and Souder became a regular member.[13]
Community members sought to recall three different board members in 2012, but they were unable to gather enough signatures to get the recall on the ballot. That recall effort was started based on an alleged violation of board bylaws.[14][15]
Recall vote
| Kevin Nagel, School Board Member Recall Election, Houghton Lake Community Schools, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Nan Combs |
57.8% | 740 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kevin Nagel Incumbent | 41.1% | 527 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1.1% | 14 | |
| Total Votes | 1,281 | |||
| Source: Roscommon County Clerk, "Special Election: Election Summary Report May 2, 2017 Election," accessed May 3, 2017 | ||||
Recall supporters
The first recall petition against Christian, Souder, and Nagel said that they "violated the Open Meeting Act by voting to hire a private investigator in a closed meeting to investigate an employee of Houghton Lake Community Schools without notice to the employee or to the public." It also said that the three members "acted in an unprofessional manner by failing to notify the voters of Houghton Lake Community Schools as to the hiring of the private investigator.”[11]
A total of $5,000 was spent on a private investigation of Cryderman prior to his resignation due to allegations that he did not follow proper procedures and notify the board when he purchased equipment or when he discovered a member of the district staff was recording conversations on district property without consent. There were also allegations that he intimidated people during the investigation.[12] Some district parents called the investigation "a waste of time and money," according to 9 & 10 News. At a board meeting on June 27, 2016, recall supporter Char Baker said, “Our message tonight is we're changing the school board a fresh start. We’d like to see if Mr. Cryderman, the great superintendent we did lose, if he would come back if we made some changes, there has to be changes.”[5]
Rhonday Whitlock, a recall supporter who picketed outside of the board meeting on June 27, 2016, said she supported Cryderman. "Hopefully we can do something to let him know that the community supports him and we would like to have him back," said Whitlock. "We would like these board members gone."[16]
Supporters of the recall also started a petition in November 2016 to return Cryderman to his position as superintendent.[17]
Recall opponents
After the recall effort was started, Christian, Souder, and Nagel said that they did not plan to resign.[5]
| “ | We greatly appreciate the community involvement, we appreciate that they are voicing their concerns, at the end of the day the board simply accepted Mr. Cryderman's resignation. This was not a forced call by the board, this was his choice. We hope that we can heal the community and get back to business.[18] | ” |
| —Board President Kelly Christian (June 2016)[5] | ||
Souder also said that the school district's attorney hired the investigator at the request of Cryderman before he left his position.[10] Souder additionally denied that the board violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act and said that Cryderman was notified of the investigation.[11]
Board member Steve Thompson, who did not seek re-election when his term was on the ballot in November 2016, wrote an editorial in the Houghton Lake Resorter against the recall effort.[19]
| “ | Don’t be fooled by this recall committee, they are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The recall has nothing to do with 'votes during closed session' or 'acting unprofessionally' and has everything to do with them furthering their agenda. They only care about removing board members that have held, and continue to hold, the administrators and teachers accountable, then replacing them with board members sympathetic to their cause.[18] | ” |
| —Steve Thompson (January 19, 2017)[19] | ||
Click here to read the full editorial.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
The initial petitions to recall Christian, Souder, and Nagel were verified for clarity by the Roscommon County Election Commission on July 8, 2016. The targeted board members had 10 days to appeal the petition. Souder was the only board member to file an appeal at that time. The 34th Circuit Court granted his appeal and rejected the petition. The recall effort then submitted new petition language for Souder's recall, which was approved on September 29, 2016.[20][21] Souder filed an appeal against the second petition's language in October 2016.[22] The appeal was denied, and the second petition was allowed to be circulated in November 2016.[23]
Citizens for a Better Board of Education at HLCS initially had to collect 1,623 signatures to get the recall of Christian and Nagel on the ballot.[16] After they were unable to collect enough signatures by the deadline on August 5, 2016, they requested that Roscommon County Clerk and Register of Deeds Michelle Stevenson review the number of signatures needed to get the recall on the ballot. She verified that fewer signatures were needed (1,436), and the group resubmitted their petitions on September 12, 2016.[20][24][25] The recall election for Nader was approved for the ballot and was held on May 2, 2017.[2]
The recall effort against Christian was unable to collect enough valid signatures by the September deadline due to petition errors, according to Stevenson. Her invalidation of signatures was held up by a circuit court judge in December 2016. Supporters of the recall filed a lawsuit with the circuit court on December 21, 2016, that sought to include the signatures deemed invalid by Stevenson. On February 2, 2017, the disputed signatures were deemed valid by a circuit court judge, and Christian's name was added to the ballot for May 2, 2017.[3][26]
Before the signatures were deemed valid, supporters filed a new recall petition against Christian as a back up. The new petition was approved for clarity on October 20, 2016.[27] Christian filed an appeal against the new petition on October 28, 2016, but recall supporters were allowed to continue gathering signatures.[28]
The second recall attempt against Christian had the same timeline as Souder. Citizens for a Better Board of Education did not collect enough signatures by the January 2017 deadline to get their names on the recall ballot. The judge's validation of petition signatures allowed the recall against Christian to go forward, but the recall against Souder did not.[6]
In February 2017, Stevenson asked for permission to file an appeal against the circuit court judge's ruling to allow the disputed signatures to be counted for Christian's recall petition. The Roscommon County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to allow her to use $5,000 from the county budget to file the appeal.[29] The appellate court ruled in favor of Stevenson's claim, rejecting the signatures that had previously been approved by the circuit court and taking Christian's name and the name of her challenger off the ballot.[7][8]
On May 2, 2017, Nagel and Combs were the only two candidates on the recall ballot. Combs received over 57 percent of the vote and defeated Nagel.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Houghton Lake Community Schools' recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Houghton Lake Community Schools, Michigan
- Houghton Lake Community School Board of Education recall, Michigan (2012)
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2017
- School board recalls
External links
- Houghton Lake Community Schools
- Citizens for a Better Board of Education at HLCS
- Roscommon County Clerk
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roscommon County Clerk, "Special Election: Election Summary Report May 2, 2017 Election," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Houghton Lake Resorter, "HLCS recall on Nagel OK’d," October 20, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Houghton Lake Resorter, "Judge OKs disputed signatures in HLCS recall," February 9, 2017
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Sutika files to run against Christian in recall election," February 16, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 9 & 10 News, "Houghton Lake Community Members Call for School Board Recall, Resignation," June 27, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Facebook, "Citizens for a better Board of Education at HLCS post from January 28, 2017," accessed January 30, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 CaseText, "SUTIKA V. ROSCOMMON CNTY. CLERK," March 17, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Houghton Lake Resorter, "Appellate court backs Stevenson’s appeal," March 16, 2017
- ↑ The Houghton Lake Resorter, "Recall hearing set for Friday," July 7, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Houghton Lake Resorter, "Souder’s recall sidelined, Bennett overrides election commission," August 25, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Houghton Lake Resorter, "Recall language approved," July 14, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 9 & 10 News, "Houghton Lake Schools Release Report Details Accusations Against Superintendent," June 15, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "NEW HLCS OFFICERS," January 12, 2017
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "School board recall will not be on ballot," August 30, 2012
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "HLCS board member recall petition language approved," May 24, 2012
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Up North Live, "Parents picket to bring superintendent back, recall board members," June 27, 2016
- ↑ iPetitions, "Bring Back Brent Cryderman for Superintendent," accessed November 21, 2016
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Houghton Lake Resorter, "Thompson: Recall committee a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing,'" January 19, 2016
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The Houghton Lake Resorter, "Recall petition signatures turned in, being verified," September 15, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "New recall language against Souder given the go-ahead," October 6, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Recall on Nagel to proceed," October 20, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Souder’s appeal denied, recall petitions okayed," November 24, 2016
- ↑ The Houghton Lake Resorter, "HLCS recalls will not be on November ballot," August 11, 2016
- ↑ The Houghton Lake Resorter, "Fewer signatures now required in recall effort," September 9, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Recall committee seeks inclusion of signatures," January 5, 2017
- ↑ Houghton Lake Recorder, "Recall language approved – again," October 27, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Christian files recall appeal," November 24, 2016
- ↑ Houghton Lake Resorter, "Stevenson to appeal recall petition ruling," February 23, 2017
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