Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Silver Consolidated Schools recall, New Mexico (2016)
| Silver Consolidated Schools Governing Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Tony Egan Arnold Torres |
| Recall status |
Did not go to a vote |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in New Mexico New Mexico recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall three members from their positions on the Silver Consolidated Schools governing board in New Mexico was started in May 2016 but withdrawn in July 2016. Supporters of the effort created petitions to recall District 1 representative Chris Arvidson, District 2 representative Tony Egan, and District 4 representative Arnold Torres.[1][2] After Egan announced his resignation effective July 20, 2016, the leaders of the recall effort announced they would no longer pursue a recall election.[3]
The recall effort began in the midst of a conflict between former Silver Schools Superintendent Lon Streib and district administrators and coaches. After Streib resigned from his position effective May 27, 2016, community members voiced their disapproval of the board's plan to buy out the remainder of Streib's contract.[4] The recall effort continued after the board approved a partial buyout with a 4-1 vote. Supporters of the recall said they did not think Arvidson, Egan, and Torres could be trusted with the decision to choose a new superintendent.[5]
Both Egan and Torres held leadership positions on the board. Torres served as board president and Egan served as board vice president until he resigned.[1] The terms of all three members were supposed to be up for regular election in February 2017.[6]
Recall supporters
Silver City Education Association President Justin Wecks, former Silver Consolidated Schools governing board member Tom Laws, and Gerald “Billy” Billings, a Republican candidate for District 4 of the Grant County Commission, were involved in the recall effort. Wecks expressed regret that they had not followed through on recalling school board members in the past.[1][5]
| “ | We looked into the recall process a couple of different times and, in hindsight, I now realize that we probably should have gone through with it. Some of the reasons we did not were that the school district ends up having to foot the bill for a special election. Given the finances of the district, ultimately that was the major reason we decided not to go through with it.[7] | ” |
| —Justin Wecks (2016)[1] | ||
Wecks said Streib's resignation was "excellent news" for the district. He said that under Streib's leadership, the district had turned a $1.3 million surplus at the time former superintendent Dick Pool left into a $1.2 million deficit. Wecks also said that the district had "dropped from the top third of the state academically to the bottom third," and he accused Streib of having "run off dozens of quality teachers and staff."[8]
Laws and Billings said they pursued the recall because they did not trust the board members to choose the next district superintendent.[5] Wecks questioned the board's decision to give Streib a raise and extend his contract in 2015 just before newly elected board members were sworn into office.[9]
At a board meeting on June 21, 2016, recall supporters presented a "vote of no confidence" petition with 359 signatures. They asked the targeted board members to resign and save the district from the cost of holding a recall election.[9]
Recall supporters asked to push back the original July 18, 2016, court hearing date to determine the merit of the recall. “We don’t want a recall to take place,” Billings said. “We are hoping for another solution, but are ready to go through with it if need be.”[10] After the delay, Egan announced his resignation.[3]
Recall opponents
When voting to buyout Streib's contract, board member Frances Vasquez said, "We had to come to a decision, and what helped me make my decision tonight is that I have been given permission to actually talk to you about what the bottom line is — and the bottom line is money and our school district." She said the board could have paid up to $145,000 in salary and legal costs if they had not at least partially bought out Streib's contract. “A $60,000 price tag is an expense I can live with,” said Vasquez.[11]
Vasquez also expressed hope that without Streib the district's legal costs could go down. She said that while he was leading the district, the board had budgeted $90,000 for legal fees annually. Previously, they had spent between $15,000 and $20,000. “It all changes tonight, and tomorrow’s a new day without the upheaval, without the agony — tomorrow it’s all going to be different. When we leave this room tonight it’s going to be different,” said Vasquez.[11]
While Vasquez's explanation of her vote was greeted with applause, members of the 100-person crowd booed when Arvidson and Egan voted in favor of the $60,000 buyout. “This board does not have any authorization over any personnel decision, and this board did not make any decision about the coaches. Mr. Streib made those decisions under his own authority,” Arvidson said. “The acting superintendent will remedy any and all issues with the coaches, and the board looks forward to his report when he makes those decisions.” Harrison Schmitt Elementary School Principal John Carter was appointed the acting superintendent of the district after Streib's contract was bought out.[11]
Egan said he was not happy with how things had gone for the district throughout May 2016. Prior to his resignation, he said he looked forward to moving on.[3][11]
Background
Streib resigns amidst conflict with administrators and coaches
In May 2016, Streib put Silver High School Principal Beth Lougee and Assistant Principal Victor Oaxaca on administrative leave after they did not follow his instructions to let the head baseball, head softball, and head boy's basketball coaches go. All three coaches had successful records, making at least the semi-finals in state championships for the 2015-2016 school year. “We’re taking a stance to stand behind our coaches and teachers and our staff,” Lougee explained when she and Oaxaca did not let the coaches go.[4][8][12]
Once the two administrators were on leave, Streib told the coaches they would have to reapply for their jobs.[13] According to one of the coaches, they had been essentially let go due to "a lack of leadership in the programs."[12]
In response to Streib's actions, 17 other coaches in the district published an intent-to-resign letter in the Silver City Daily Press. Streib accepted the letter as their collective resignation, though all 17 coaches said they had not resigned and asked for reasons for their termination.[4][8][13]
In the midst of this conflict, Streib announced his resignation from the district effective May 27, 2016. He was first appointed to the position in October 2012 after he served as superintendent of the Crook County School District in Wyoming.[14]
Before a special school board meeting on May 26, 2016, a large group of community members, including some recall supporters, spoke out against the board's plan to buyout Streib's contract. The board voted 4-1 to pay Streib $60,000, nearly half of the approximately $133,000 the board could have paid for his contract through June 2017. Torres cast the lone dissenting vote.[4][11]
In the same meeting that they approved Streib's buyout, board members also unanimously voted to appoint Harrison Schmitt Elementary School Principal John Carter as the district's interim superintendent. Carter promised the members of the audience two things: "One of them is you can’t change the past. You can only work on the future. And the second is I’m not going to make you happy every time, but I will listen — and, granted, I don’t polish too well, so you get what you get and I’ll try to do my best.” He also promised to work with the administrators who were on leave and the coaches who had either resigned or been fired.[11]
Carter took Lougee and Oaxaca off administrative leave, and he reinstated the 17 coaches who had published in the intent-to-resign letter. Carter said he had to look into the reasons behind the decision to let the three head coaches go before reinstating them. "It’s not that I have any necessary suspicions, I just want to make sure that it is put to rest and it’s put to rest as a personnel issue if necessary," said Carter.[13]
On June 21, 2016, the school board unanimously voted to move forward in their search for a new superintendent. At the same meeting, recall supporters urged Arvidson, Egan, and Torres to resign and save the district the cost of a recall election. They said they did not trust the three board members with the responsibility of choosing the next superintendent.[9]
Email among board members could constitute Open Meetings Act violation
Before they voted to partially buyout Streib's contract, board members admitted to the Silver City Daily Press that they had all been included on an email thread with Streib about letting three head coaches go, which could constitute a violation of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act. Board member Mike McMillan admitted to having replied to the email, but said he did not receive replies from any other board member. Egan said he received the email, but did not reply. District employees who were included on the email, however, said a number of board members had responded.[15]
New Mexico Foundation for Open Government Executive Director Susan Boe said the emails could be considered compliant with the open meetings law as long as they were informational and no business was discussed. The board would be considered in violation of the law if the email prompted a discussion of issues in the district.[15]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in New Mexico
Recall supporters started the process on May 25, 2016, but they withdrew their support of the recall in July 2016. The next step would have been for a civil court judge to rule on the allegations listed on the recall petitions. If the recall had continued, supporters would have had to collect signatures from approximately one-third of the school district residents who voted in the last school board election in each district the targeted board members represented. Because of low voter turnout in the last election, recall supporters would have had to collect between 18 and 45 signatures per member.[1][3][5][10]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Silver Consolidated Schools' recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Silver Consolidated Schools, New Mexico
- Recall campaigns in New Mexico
- Political recall efforts, 2016
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Silver City Daily Press, "Petitions being circulated to recall 3 members," May 26, 2016
- ↑ Silver Consolidated Schools, "Petitions being circulated to recall 3 members," May 26, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Silver City Daily Press, "BREAKING: Egan to resign from Silver School Board," July 20, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Silver City Daily Press, "Opponents prepare to make voices heard tonight," May 26, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Silver City Daily Press, "Group forging ahead with Silver Schools recall effort," June 8, 2016
- ↑ Silver City Daily Press, "Silver Schools’ budget now projects surplus," June 1, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Silver City Daily Press, "Upheaval in Silver Schools," May 24, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Silver City Daily Press, "Superintendent search starts amid recall push," June 22, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Silver City Sun-News, "School board recall proponents seeking different solution," July 18, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Silver City Daily Press, "Silver superintendent bought out; Carter appointed interim," May 27, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Silver City Daily Press, "Streib’s order to fire coaches sparks conflict," May 24, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Silver City Daily Press, "Most — but not all — SHS coaches reinstated," May 28, 2016
- ↑ The Sundance Times, "CCSD prepares to appoint interim superintendent," October 18, 2012
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Silver City Daily Press, "School board involved in order to fire coaches," May 25, 2016
 |
State of New Mexico Santa Fe (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | 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 |
