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Linda Raymond recall, Marion Public Schools, Michigan (2018)
| Marion Public School District recall |
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| Recall status |
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| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2018 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Linda Raymond from her position on the Marion Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2018. The recall effort ended due to a petition circulation error.[1]
The effort to recall Raymond began in July 2018. The recall petition said Raymond had violated the Michigan Open Meeting Act by recording a closed session of a board meeting on June 20, 2018. Raymond said the recording was accidental and had been stopped and deleted before anything was discussed in the session.[2]
Raymond was one of seven district board members.[3] Five other members of the board were targeted for recall in 2017. Recall supporters for that effort alleged that the members did not provide adequate guidelines and oversight to the superintendent. The recall petition was rejected in a clarity hearing.[4]
Recall supporters
The recall effort was started by Christie Prielipp. In the recall petition, Prielipp said, "As a elected member of the board of education for the Marion Public Schools Linda Raymond recorded a closed session of Marion Board of Education in clear violation of the Michigan Open Meeting Act."[2]
Recall opponents
Raymond said she did not mean to record the closed session on June 20, 2018. She said she forgot to turn off the recorder and stopped and deleted the recording as soon as she realized it. "It was about four minutes on there, but we weren't in the meeting yet because we were waiting for the room to clear," Raymond said.[2]
The other board members told Raymond she would not face any repercussions from their level, but they put the incident into the public meeting notes.[2]
After the recall petition was approved for circulation, Raymond said, "I believe I am being attacked because I have been defending the taxpayers, students and staff of Marion Schools after the ORS investigation findings that had been started two years ago by the [Marion Education Association]." The Office of Retirement Services sent letters to former superintendent Mort Meier and Marion Central Office secretary Diana Salisbury in March 2018, saying that they owed thousands of dollars in pension payments.[5]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
The recall petition was filed with the Osceola County Clerk on July 2, 2018.[2] The petition was approved for circulation at a clarity hearing on July 20, 2018. To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had to submit the petitions with 210 signatures.[5]
After the recall petitions were turned in, Osceola County Clerk Karen Bluhm rejected the petitions after she discovered that Prielipp signed every petition as circulator even though she was not the sole circulator of the petitions. "I have at least five sworn affidavits from individuals who signed that saying Christie Prielipp was not the person who circulated it when they signed it," Bluhm said. "I made contact with (Prielipp), and she told me she wasn't. I don't think she did it maliciously and it was (done) not knowing the ramifications."[1]
2018 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
A total of 33 school board recall efforts nationwide were covered by Ballotpedia in 2018. They included 74 board members. Twelve recall elections were held in 2018. The school board recall success rate was 28.4%.
Of the 12 efforts that made it to the ballot in 2018, eight were approved and the 20 targeted members were removed from office. Another two recall elections were defeated, and the targeted members kept their seats. One effort saw a mix of results: three members retained their seats, while the fourth was removed from his. Another recall election was held after the board member resigned. Her replacement was elected through the recall. The chart below details the status of 2018 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Marion Public Schools, Michigan
- Marion Public Schools recall, Michigan (2017)
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2018
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cadillac News, "Recall effort of Marion BOE member ended after petition issue," August 21, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cadillac News, "Marion Public Schools BOE member targeted for recall," July 13, 2018
- ↑ Marion Public Schools, "Board of Education," accessed July 20, 2018
- ↑ Cadillac News, "Recall of 5 Marion BOE members failed after clarity hearing," July 26, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cadillac News, "Recall process continues for Marion BOE member," July 21, 2018
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