Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek recall, Stevens Point Area Public School District, Wisconsin (2015)
| Stevens Point Area Public School District Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Kim Shirek |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2015 Recalls in Wisconsin Wisconsin recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
|
An effort to recall Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek from their positions as at-large school board members for Stevens Point Area Public School District in Wisconsin was abandoned on February 12, 2015. Calls for the removal of Totten and Shirek were discussed in November and December 2014, and the recall effort officially began on January 9, 2015. Totten and Shirek's behavior at board meetings, including insulting other members of the board and district employees, had been criticized by community members.[1] |
On January 9, 2015, the Save Our Schools Committee led by Barb Portzen of Plover filed statement of intent papers to recall Totten and Shirek and began collecting signatures.[2] On February 12, 2015, the group stated it would stop its recall effort in favor of focusing on educating the public about the school board.[3]
Recall supporters
Arguments for recall
WSAU, "Interview with Save Our Schools community liaison Barb Portzen," February 3, 2015 |
The Save Our Schools Committee's statement of intent papers accused Totten and Shirek of not working cooperatively, being disrespectful in their communication during public meetings, micromanaging the district and focusing on removing Superintendent Attila Wedinger.[2]
Totten and Shirek's behavior at school board meetings had been criticized by district citizens and local media. The Stevens Point City-Times described both as having insulted other members of the board and "lambasted" district school employees during meetings.[1] The paper also stated that the pair "have delayed countless votes because of their unchanged lack of knowledge in the fields of ethics, business, finance and municipal government," specifically citing Totten and Shirek's opposition to "a relatively inexpensive agreement with Clean Power, arguing the district could handle its own janitorial services and holding up the contract’s resolution for a whooping nine months."[1]
Recall effort abandoned
On February 12, 2015, the recall committee released a statement explaining that they would not continue with the efforts against Totten and Shirek, and said:
| “ | As the committee and many volunteers have moved through the community having conversations and collecting signatures, it has become clear that our priority needs to shift from collecting signatures to community education. The general public was highly unaware of what was occurring on our school board, and it has now become our mission to educate our community through examples of past as well as future school board meetings.[4] | ” |
| —Save Our Schools (2015)[3] | ||
Aftermath
After the recall effort was abandoned, Totten and Shirek filed a defamation lawsuit against Brandi Makuski, editor of the newspaper Stevens Point City-Times, and Multi Media Channels, its parent company. The lawsuit claimed the newspaper had been negligent in its reporting and that it had repeatedly published false information and false allegations in 10 different articles during the recall effort. According to one of Totten and Shirek's attorneys Jacob Manian, the lawsuit seeks to clear their names. Manian said the articles in question were politically motivated and sought to remove Totten and Shirek from the board.[5]
Attorneys for Makuski said the articles were published after “an adequate investigation, based on several sources (named and unnamed) and other public records.” One attorney, Kurt Goehre, said the lawsuit was an effort to restrict the freedom of the press.[5]
Wood County Judge Todd P. Wolf took the case so that a Portage County judge could avoid a conflict of interest. Wolf set the 12-person jury trial for February 23, 2016.[5]
About the district
Stevens Point Area Public School District is located in Stevens Point, the county seat of Portage County in central Wisconsin. Portage County was home to 70,380 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Portage County outperformed the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 27.2 percent of Portage County residents aged 25 years or older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.4 percent for Wisconsin as a whole.[6]
Median household income
From 2008 to 2012, the median household income in Portage County was $51,422. During that same time period, the median household income for the entire state was $52,627.[6]
Poverty rate
The poverty rate in Portage County from 2008 to 2012 was 13.5 percent. During that same time period, it was 12.5 percent statewide.[6]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Wisconsin
The Save Our Schools Committee recall committee formed and registered its specific intent for a recall with a GAB-1 form on January 9, 2015. The committee had 60 days, or until March 10, 2015, to circulate a petition and submit them to the district’s business services office.[1][2]
The number of required signatures to successfully call a recall would have had to equal 25 percent of voters in the district from the last gubernatorial election. The number of votes cast in the November 4, 2014, gubernatorial election by the district's residents was 26,194. This meant a total of 6,549 signatures were required for a 2015 recall.[1]
If sufficient signatures had been submitted, the recall election would have been held the sixth Tuesday after the signatures' verification. For the recall to have been placed on the ballot with the spring election in April 2015, the verification would have had to occur by late February.[1] However, supporters announced in the beginning of February that they were unlikely to be able to collect sufficient signatures in the short time span.[8] On February 12, 2015, supporters announced they would be abandoning the recall effort.[3]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Stevens + Point + Area + Public + School + board + recall"
See also
- Stevens Point Area Public School District, Wisconsin
- Recall campaigns in Wisconsin
- Political recall efforts, 2015
- School board recalls
External links
Additional reading
- Stevens Point Journal, "Recall group halts School Board effort," February 12, 2015
- WSAU, "Stevens Point recall election won't make April ballot, Special election coming," February 3, 2015
- WSAU, "Residents sound off to Stevens Point school board members about recalling two members," January 27, 2015
- Stevens Point Journal Media, "Recall group to hold events for petition-signing," January 13, 2015
- Stevens Point Journal Media, "Group seeks to recall Totten, Shirek from School Board," January 9, 2015
- WSAU.com, "Recall campaign started against Stevens Point School Board members Totten & Shirek," January 9, 2015
- Stevens Point City-Times, "School Board Watch Column: Details on Recall Election Requested," December 3, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Stevens Point City-Times, "School Board Watch Column: Details on Recall Election Requested," December 3, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 WSAU.com, "Recall campaign started against Stevens Point School Board members Totten & Shirek," January 9, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stevens Point Journal, "Recall group halts School Board effort," February 12, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Stevens Point Journal, "School Board defamation lawsuit goes to trial," July 31, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 United States Census Bureau, "Portage County," accessed September 23, 2014
- ↑ Portage County, Wisconsin, "Portage County Election Information and Results," accessed September 23, 2014
- ↑ WSAU, "Stevens Point recall election won't make April ballot, Special election coming," February 3, 2015
 |
State of Wisconsin Madison (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2026 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
