Town supervisor and trustee recall, Scio Township, Michigan (2021)

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Scio Township supervisor and trustee recall
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Officeholders
Will Hathaway
Jane Vogel
Alec Jerome
Recall status
Resigned (1)
Did not go to a vote (2)
Signature requirement
25% of the votes cast in the township during the previous gubernatorial election
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2022
Recalls in Michigan
Michigan recall laws
Mayoral recalls
City council recalls
Recall reports

An effort in Scio Township, Michigan, to recall Township Supervisor Will Hathaway did not qualify for the May 2022 election.[1] The Washtenaw County Election Commission approved recall petition language against Hathaway on November 5, 2021.[2] He later appealed the approval to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court.[3] Organizers suspended the recall effort against Hathaway following a signature deadline on January 28, 2022.[4]

Trustee Jane Vogel, who was subject to the recall campaign along with Hathaway, resigned effective January 31, 2022.[5]

A previous effort to recall Hathaway, Vogel, and Trustee Alec Jerome was initiated in October 2021, but did not succeed.[6] All three recalls were rejected by the Washtenaw County Election Commission over issues with clarity in the recall language.[7]

Recall supporters

Approved petitions

David Read, a former town trustee, and resident Pat Stein initiated the recall campaign.[6] The approved petitions said that the grounds for recall were that Hathaway requested a doubling of his salary and that Vogel voted in favor of it at a special board meeting on August 17, 2021.[2]

Rejected petitions

The text of the initial recall petitions, which were not approved for circulation, appears below:[6]

Hathaway

Supervisor Hathaway has 1) consistently ignored the Open Meetings Act by curtailing residents’ right to participate remotely in Scio Township’s public meetings; 2) met with proponents of a neighborhood Special Assessment District without opponents present which resulted in pitting neighbor against neighbor; 3) censured Public Comment at Township meetings; 4) denied select Board members their right to participate in Board discussions/debates during public meetings; and 5) bypassed the Township Compensation Commission and doubled his yearly salary to $72,000 for the part-time position to which he was elected. This matter is currently under litigation.[8]

Jerome

Trustee Jerome has: 1) moved to delete residents’ comments he deemed subjective from Board minutes; 2) twice voted to deny residents, who are attending remotely due to health concerns, the ability to speak during Public Comment; 3) voted to double the salary of the part-time Supervisor, deliberately bypassing the Township’s Compensation Commission; and 4) is attempting to limit fellow Board members comments to once per agenda item with on follow-up thus eliminating robust discussion and debate.[8]

Vogel

Trustee Vogel has: 1) did not take the time to educate herself on the Open Meetings Act (OMA) or general knowledge of Township processes and procedures before taking office and ignores the advice from her more experienced and knowledgeable peers; 2) glaringly oblivious to the requirements of the OMA and continues to violate them; 3) as the Township Board representative to the Transportation Alternative Planning (TAP) committee, she instructed committee members attending remotely that it was not necessary to identify their current locations; 4) instructed the TAP secretary to discard comments made via Zoom “chat” and residents emails from TAP minutes; and 5) regularly insults fellow Board members and is rude to Township citizens.[8]

Recall opponents

Vogel responded to the recall campaign in a statement to mLive, saying, "I respect that a petition has been filed as part of the democratic process at the local level and look forward to the opportunity to offer a balanced perspective."[6]

Jerome said in a statement, "I believe in continuing to provide citizens with opportunities to communicate concerns with the Board and seek compromise in finding solutions that work for all."[6]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

The Washtenaw County Election Commission approved recall petitions against Hathaway and Vogel on November 5, 2021.[2] Hathaway and Vogel appealed the approval to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court.[3]

A previous recall effort ended on October 15, 2021, when the Washtenaw County Election Commission unanimously rejected three recall petitions on the grounds that the proposed language was not sufficiently clear.[7] For the recall election to have been scheduled, organizers would have needed to collect 2,439 signatures from registered voters in Scio Township, or about 25% of the votes cast in the township during the previous gubernatorial election.[6]

See also

External links

Footnotes