Ron Koetz and Jeff Davis recall, Alsea School District, Oregon (2022)
| Alsea School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Jeff Davis |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| April 4, 2022 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
A recall election against Ron Koetz and Jeff Davis, two of the five members of the Alsea School District school board in Oregon, was held on April 4, 2022.[1] The recall effort succeeded, with a majority of voters casting ballots in favor of removing both Koetz and Davis from the board.[2]
The recall was initiated when Max Hildebrand filed recall petitions with Benton County on February 18, 2022.[3][4] To get the recall on the ballot, recall organizers had to collect 76 signatures of registered voters residing in the school district.[5]
The recall petitions against Koetz and Davis criticized the board members for voting to make indoor masking in schools optional and argued that the board members' actions led to the withholding of federal funds from the school district. Recall supporters also criticized Koetz for limiting public comment at a February 2022 school board meeting. Koetz responded to the recall efforts by citing increased responsibilities following the resignation of the superintendent and Davis responded by citing his contributions to the district.[6]
The terms of Koetz and Davis were set to expire on June 30, 2023.[7]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall vote
Ron Koetz recall
Ron Koetz recall, 2022
Ron Koetz lost the Alsea School District 7J school board Position 4 recall election on April 4, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
55.4
|
204 | ||
No |
44.6
|
164 | |||
Total Votes |
368 | ||||
|
|
Jeff Davis recall
Jeff Davis recall, 2022
Jeff Davis lost the Alsea School District 7J school board Position 3 recall election on April 4, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
54.4
|
199 | ||
No |
45.6
|
167 | |||
Total Votes |
366 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
The recall petition against Koetz stated the following:[3][6]
| “ | Ron Koetz has failed to represent the public interest as Chairman of the Alsea School Board (ASB). The ASB voted and approved a resolution making masking indoors at Alsea School optional. This has placed the children, teachers, staff and community at risk of catching Covid-19. Oregon requires individuals, over the age of five, to wear a mask while indoors in a public setting (OAR-019-1025). The ASB is not legally authorized to override a State of Oregon Mandate. The ASB is breaking its own policy (GBEB Communicable Disease) which states, 'The district will follow the rules and regulations of both the State and local health authorities, pertaining to communicable diseases.'
|
” |
The recall petition against Davis stated the following:[4][6]
| “ | Jeff Davis has failed to represent the public interest as Vice-Chairman of the Alsea School Board (ASB). The ASB voted and approved a resolution making masking indoors at Alsea School optional. This has placed the children, teachers, staff and community at risk of catching Covid-19. Oregon requires individuals, over the age of five, to wear a mask while indoors in a public setting (OAR-019-1025). The ASB is not legally authorized to override a State of Oregon Mandate. The ASB is breaking its own policy (GBEB Communicable Disease) which states, 'The district will follow the rules and regulations of both the State and local health authorities, pertaining to communicable diseases.'
|
” |
Recall opponents
Koetz responded to the recall effort with the following statement:[6][9]
| “ | As the Chairman of the board for Alsea School District with the resignation of the Superintendent, my duties have multiplied three folds. If I resign or am recalled the district has no one to sign checks to pay bills or the employees of the district. The recall is only taking place because of a vigilante group of citizens with an agenda of their own. It is not about our students or staff it is about a personal agenda. I have been on the board a total of twelve year and have never heard any compliants until this group decided they needed to exercise their agenda.[8] | ” |
Davis responded to the recall effort with the following statement:[6][10]
| “ | While serving on the Alsea School Board for the past seven years, I have come to know the core issues that our small school faces. With your continued support I feel that I will be able to continue to make strides to rectify these issues. It has been my pleasure to serve and give back to my community where I was born and grew up. I hope to continue to make it a better place for all our students and staff for years to come.[8] | ” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon
Max Hildebrand filed recall petitions with Benton County on February 18, 2022.[3][4] To get the recall on the ballot, recall organizers had to collect 76 signatures of registered voters residing in the school district.[5]
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.
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.
See also
- Recall campaigns in Oregon
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Alsea School District
- Benton County, Oregon Records & Elections Department
Footnotes
- ↑ kezi.com, "Recall vote underway for two Alsea School Board members," April 6, 2022
- ↑ Benton County, Oregon, "April 4, 2022 Recall Election Official Results," accessed May 1, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Benton County, Oregon, "Prospective Petition - Recall," accessed April 14, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Benton County, Oregon, "Prospective Petition - Recall," accessed April 14, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lebanon Express, "Latest in Alsea schools is a petition to recall 2 board members," February 21, 2022
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Benton County, Oregon, "April 4, 2022 Recall Election Statements," accessed April 14, 2022
- ↑ Alsea School District, "Board Members," accessed April 14, 2022
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Benton County, Oregon, "Statement of Justification - Public Officer," accessed April 14, 2022
- ↑ Benton County, Oregon, "Statement of Justification - Public Officer," accessed April 14, 2022
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