News photo by Intern Ben Ackley An altercation between Alpena Republican Party chairman and chairman of United Conservative Voice Michael Mantas and attendee Joel Choate is pictured during a town hall meeting hosted by Alpena Public Schools Tuesday in the front oval of Alpena High School.

ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools officials said their town hall meeting on Tuesday was a success, despite an altercation that broke out during one portion of the meeting.

Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said the interaction of two individuals during the meeting took seconds, while the rest of the two-hour meeting was filled with people sharing their thoughts and positions in a respectful manner.

“Number one, we heard the concerns of our citizens on a number of issues — obviously with differing points of view,” he said. “Number two, we were able to introduce some of those policies and guiding processes that the school is bound to uphold, and that’s a big part of educating our parents and students and community about how it is the school district — the board operates and how the school administration operates — so that was a big win for us.

“And, again, we had a large group of people interested in the school, passionate about their point of view, and they came together and shared in a peaceful way, with one minor incident.”

During the town hall meeting, which drew a crowd of more than 200 people into Alpena High School’s front oval, district officials responded to parent and community member concerns publicly for the first time.

Members of the public have attended several school board meetings, asking the APS Board of Education to take a stance on a number of issues, including critical race theory, issues regarding transgender students, and climate change.

However, the board has a policy that it does not respond to public comment during its regular board meetings.

During the town hall meeting Tuesday, an altercation broke out between town hall attendee Joel Choate and Michael Mantas, chairman of the Alpena Republican Party and chairman of United Conservative Voice.

Check out the video below submitted by Michael Mantas. The News did not edit the video. Viewing on mobile? Turn your device horizontally for the best viewing experience.

It was not immediately clear how the altercation started, but Mantas indicated that he was trying to inform Rabbideau that his wife was being blocked from recording the meeting.

“Radical Left political activists intentionally blocked us from recording a public event. When I moved to continue and inform the superintendent, a man assaulted me, striking me in the chest. I defended myself and pushed the man off, at which time, law enforcement intervened,” Mantas said. “The Left is smearing me, accusing me of assault. The video and eyewitnesses reveal the truth.”

Prior to the altercation, a woman blocked Mantas’ wife from filming the town hall. After the altercation, half a dozen people positioned themselves in front of her camera while she was filming in a public space.

Choate could not be reached for comment.

APS Board of Education President Ned Heath, who said he was speaking as a member of the community and not for the board, called the altercation unfortunate.

“It put a little bit of a stain on an otherwise pretty productive conversation between both sides,” he said. “I think both sides need to kind of take a step back and start actually listening to what the other side is saying rather than continuing to spew hatred towards each other because it’s not conducive to any sort of moving forward.”

Check out the video below submitted by Michael Mantas. The News did not edit the video. Viewing on mobile? Turn your device horizontally for the best viewing experience.

Heath said regardless of someone’s political affiliations, he doesn’t know that some of the issues that have sparked such debate are issues for a school board to decide.

“They’re political issues, these are community issues, and granted some of these do trickle into education, but, are these truly issues that a school board should be dealing with, especially in the last year and a half when our kids probably haven’t gotten as great of an education as they should have,” he said. “We need to be focusing on that and making sure our kids are getting the education they need, not dealing with political matters that kids shouldn’t have anything to do with.”

Marie Fielder, chairwoman of the Alpena Democratic Party, was near the altercation when it happened.

Fielder said school district officials had asked the public not to record the meeting. Fielder said Alpena High School Principal Romeo Bourdage was notified several times that Mantas’ wife was recording the video.

Fielder said she wanted to thank Rabbideau and Meaghan Gauthier, assistant superintendent for K-12 curriculum, for holding the town hall meeting.

“I applaud our community for stepping forward and giving their voice, and I hope only productive dialogue can proceed henceforth,” she said. “I have stated several times that politics, I believe, do not belong in our school system. I know these are difficult times, but I think it’s important to keep in the back of our minds that politics should remain separate and that schools need to remember they have to follow the law set forth by the Michigan Department of Education.”

Alpena Police Department officers on Tuesday refused to comment on the incident. Calls to Police Chief Joel Jett on Wednesday were not immediately returned.

While Heath said the altercation was unfortunate, he does not believe things are getting out of control. He said there was good interaction between both sides during the July board of education meeting, but said when people cheered or interjected when others were addressing the board, he tried to put an end to it right away.

APS officials plan to hold another town hall meeting on Sept. 14, although a time and location have yet to be determined.

Rabbideau said the next town hall may be formatted differently based on the space that’s available at the meeting location, but district officials’ priority is to give people the opportunity to interact and have dialogue with the district.