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Town supervisor and trustee recall, Scio Township, Michigan (2021)
| Scio Township supervisor and trustee recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Jane Vogel Alec Jerome |
| Recall status |
Did not go to a vote (2) |
| Signature requirement |
| 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
- ↑ The Sun Times News, "New recall petitions filed against two Scio Township elected officials," October 26, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Sun Times News, "Scio Township recall efforts are moving to the next step," November 5, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Sun News Times, "Scio Township recall efforts headed to the courtroom," November 19, 2021
- ↑ mLive, "Residents pause campaign to recall township supervisor after failing to meet signature threshold," January 31, 2022
- ↑ The Sun Times News, "Scio Township Board Trustee Jane Vogel says she's stepping down," December 15, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 mLive, "Resident aims to oust 3 members of a Washtenaw County township board in recall effort," October 5, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 mLive, "Petitions to recall 3 members from a Washtenaw County township board rejected," October 15, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
