WHITE CLOUD, Mich. — The election commission approved the language of the recall petitions against the four Grant School Board members who voted in favor of terminating the school district's partnership with Family Health Care.
The purpose of Tuesday's meeting at the Newaygo County Clerk's Office was to determine the factuality and clarity of the petitions, and that both the board members and electors can clearly understand the reasons for the recall.
"I do believe that petitions speak for themselves and can enable the voters to have sufficient clarity of the conduct of the board members to enable them to issue their opinion and the language," said Joshua Stein, who sponsored the petition.
Board members Ken Thorne, Rachal Gort, Sabrina Veltkamp-Blok and Richard Vance are facing a recall petition after voting in favor of terminating the district's partnership with Family Health Care on both June 19 and June 30, according to official minutes.
"I think, you know, the overall concept whether it's removed them, partnership, contract, I think the electors know, based on the reading of the petition, why they're being attempted to be recalled," said Newaygo County Probate Court Judge Melissa Dykman.
The four board members had the opportunities to make their thoughts clear on the language of the petition, as they expressed that the wording of terminating the "partnership" with Family Health Care on official minutes was an overlooked mistake.
"I realized that the meeting minutes do say partnership, that would be an error in those meeting minutes that we did not catch before we approve them. So that is, further evidence of that, honestly, is that we are currently in negotiation to create or get a new contract with this health center. So we do not have the intent to terminate that partnership at all," said school board vice president Ken Thorne.
Community member Lindsay Mahlich spoke on how the board members had opportunities to clarify the wording of official minutes in June, and it does not change that the four board members voted in favor of the motion.
"If they had concerns with the verbiage, it should have been addressed, either in the discussion of that motion and documented or prior to them approving and confirming the minutes of the June 19 meeting," said Mahlich.
The petition for these board members to be recalled will now be moving forward.
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