Monica Dziesinski

By REAGAN VOETBERG

News Staff Writer

ALPENA — The period for recall petitions signing for Alpena Public Schools Board Members Eric Lawson, Sarah Costain, and Monica Dziesinski has come to a close, and the unofficial count by recall organizers shows enough signatures to put the three board members on the ballot in November.

The signatures have been turned into Alpena County Clerk Keri Bertrand who will validate signatures and give the okay to continue with the recall if there are enough. That process will take 35 days, Yvonne Johnson, one of the recall petition organizers, said.

According to a Monday Facebook post on the Build a Better Board of Ed for Alpena Public Schools page, Costain received 4,442 signatures, Lawson received 4,338, and Dziesinski received 4,348. The Better Board of Ed page has been posting updates and information about the recall since it began.

Administrators for the Better Board of Ed page said they are confident that there will still be enough valid signatures to move forward with the recall, even after some are removed for being ineligible.

The petitions for each board member need 3,771 signatures each in order for a recall to take place. That number is calculated using 25% of the number of votes cast for all gubernatorial candidates in the last gubernatorial election in the officeholder’s electoral district, according to the State of Michigan Election Officials Manual.

Costain, Dziesinski, and Lawson will each need a challenger to face them should all three end up on the ballot in November.

Johnson said that the recall has been about giving voice to the frustration that voters have been feeling.

“We have been feeling frustrated with the performance of the board members,” she said. “We will not be ignored and we will not be silenced.”

Johnson said there were close to 2000 sheets of paper that needed to be numbered and organized to hand to the County Clerk.

The board members each shared their thoughts upon hearing the unofficial signature counts.

“Now it remains to be seen how careful they were in collecting signatures,” Lawson said. “Are all the people that signed able to vote or eligible to vote? Once that’s been determined we’ll go from there.”

“Collecting signatures is one step in the process–not the finish line,” Costain said. “The county clerk now has the important job of determining how many signatures are actually valid. If the petitions qualify, then the decision belongs to the voters. Every one of the seven school board seats will be on the ballot this November, giving the community the opportunity to choose the direction they want for the district.”

“In the meantime, I hope we can take that same level of energy and commitment and channel it into bringing forward ideas that strengthen Alpena Public Schools,” Costain continued. “Our students deserve a community focused on solutions, and I welcome anyone who wants to be part of that conversation.”

“The number of signatures submitted is not the same as the number of valid petition signatures,” Dziesinski said. “Now it’s up to the clerks to do the work, using taxpayer time and money, to determine how many signatures qualify.”

“Most importantly, our community can get back to enjoying garage sales, church, the cemetery, 5Ks, the splash pad, and every other community event without dodging political misinformation or having a petition shoved in their face,” Dziesinski said.