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Matthew Smith Jr. recall, Davison Community Schools, Michigan (2021-2022)
| Davison Community Schools recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Matthew Smith Jr. from his position on the Davison Community Schools Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2022. The county did not verify enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot. Supporters needed 3,689 signatures, but only 3,594 of the 4,025 they turned in were verified.[1]
The recall petition language was approved at a clarity hearing on October 4, 2021.[2][3] Two previous attempts to recall Smith were rejected in clarity hearings in 2021. The Genesee County Election Commission ruled on September 1, 2021, that the first recall petition language was not clear or factual.[4][1] On September 14, 2021, the commission rejected the language on the second recall petition in a 2-1 vote.[5]
Smith joined the seven-member board on January 1, 2019.[6] Outside of his role as a school board member, Smith also served as chairman of the Genesee County Republican Party.[7]
Recall supporters
The recall language was filed by Jenessa Phillips, a resident of Genesee County, Michigan. The third recall petition language read: "The State of Michigan has charged Matthew Michael Smith with malicious use of telecommunications services."[2] Smith pleaded guilty to the charge on November 22, 2021.[8] He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $650 in fines on January 11, 2022.[9]
The second recall petition language read: "The State of Michigan has charged Matthew M. Smith with malicious use of telecommunication services to threaten physical harm or damage to the Houghton County Clerk."[4]
The first recall petition language included Smith's charges as well as violations of board bylaws as reasons for the recall effort.[7]
"As a parent of a child in the Davison School District, I was appalled to hear about the current pending criminal charges against Davison Trustee Matthew Smith," Phillips said. "... I have witnessed on numerous occasions him bully and harass parents on social media. He has numerous potential violations of school board bylaws, like using social media to conduct school board business as well as representing personal views as views of the board. Collectively as district members a lot of parents felt something needed to be done."[7]
Recall opponents
Smith submitted the following statement to MLive on the first recall petition:[7]
| “ | It is interesting that less than 48 hours after I spoke at a peaceful protest with 500 parents regarding the mask mandate for K-6, a recall petition was filed with Genesee County’s Clerk’s office. [...] In America, we all have a guarantee to exercise our Freedom of Speech. I have exercised mine as an individual elected official on the Davison school board and have done what I believe is best for each child in Davison’s schools, including using social media to be transparent and keep parents informed about public information at board meetings.
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Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
The clarity hearing on the third recall petition was held on October 4, 2021.[2] The election commission approved the recall petition language for circulation. Smith had 10 days to appeal the decision. Smith did not submit an appeal. Recall supporters had to collect signatures equal to 25% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the school district to get the recall on the ballot, a total of 3,689 signatures. Once collected, the signatures were valid for 60 days. Recall supporters had 180 days to circulate petitions.[3][7][11] Recall supporters filed petitions with 4,025 signatures with the Genesee County Clerk's Office on January 18, 2022. The county had 35 days to verify the signatures.[1][12]
The second recall petition language against Smith was filed with the Genesee County Clerk on September 3, 2021. The clarity hearing on the petition was held on September 14, 2021.[4][5]
The first recall language was filed with the Genesee County Clerk on August 20, 2021. The clarity hearing on the petition was held on September 1, 2021.[13]
2022 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 54 school board recall efforts against 123 board members in 2022. Recall elections against school board members were held on January 11, 2022, January 18, 2022, January 24, 2022, February 15, 2022, March 29, 2022, April 4, 2022, and November 8, 2022. The school board recall success rate was 7.3%.
The chart below details the status of 2022 recall efforts by individual school board member.
2021 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 92 school board recall efforts against 237 board members in 2021. Recall elections against 17 board members were held in 2021. The school board recall success rate was 0.42%.
The chart below details the status of 2021 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Davison Community Schools, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NBC 25 News, "Not enough valid signature gathered in recall of Davison School Board member," February 4, 2022 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "novote" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mlive.com, "Date set for third recall language hearing against Davison school board member," September 22, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ABC 12 News, "Recall language has been approved against Davison school board member," October 4, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 MLive.com, "New recall language filed against Davison school board member," September 3, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 MLive.com, "Second recall filed against Davison school board member rejected," September 14, 2021
- ↑ Davison Community Schools, "Board of Education 2021," accessed August 31, 2021]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 MLive.com, "Recall filed against Davison school board member," August 24, 2021
- ↑ MLive, "Genesee County GOP chair pleads guilty to making ‘totally inappropriate’ phone call," November 22, 2021
- ↑ WNEM, "Davison school board member sentenced to probation for malicious phone call," January 11, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ MLive.com, "Recall effort against Davison school board member approved to start collecting signatures after no appeal," October 19, 2021
- ↑ MLive, "Committee to recall Matthew Smith hits signature goal, awaits special election," January 18, 2022
- ↑ The Davison Index, "Resident seeks approval of recall petition language against Smith," August 25, 2021
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