APS Board of Education Trustee Gordon Snow sent an email on Sept. 4 to the school district’s principals, instructing them to poll their staff to see if any of them wanted to contribute money or purchase yard signs that promote him.

Snow sent the letter to school email accounts, which could violate the Michigan Campaign Finance Act’s restrictions on using public resources for campaigns, Jennifer​​​​ Dukarski, general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, said on Monday.

Snow used his personal email account to email the district principals.

“Based on the email, this communication and request for campaign assistance may be problematic,” Dukarski said. “This email could potentially be seen as an effort to unduly influence individuals in the schools. Further, to the degree that public funds are used to campaign, there may be a possible violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.”

Courtesy Image A screenshot of Grodon Snow’s emails to Alpena Public Schools principals.

Snow told The News he never intended to put staff in a tough situation but he does not believe he violated any laws.

“I just thought it was the natural thing to do to reach out to the people I have worked with for so long,” Snow, a former APS teacher and principal, said. “I didn’t want to put anyone in an uncomfortable situation or take away from their work. There was never any intent to break the law.”

Snow said he sent an apology letter to staff for involving them in the controversy.

The Northeast Michigan League of Conservative Education, a local political action group, has called for Snow to resign.

Snow said he does not intend to do that.

Courtesy Image A screenshot of Grodon Snow’s emails to Alpena Public Schools principals.

It remained unclear Tuesday whether a complaint had been filed with the state. The Michigan Secretary of State’s Office declined to comment.

The Michigan Campaign Finance Act says a “public body or a person acting for a public body shall not use or authorize the use of funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources to make a contribution or expenditure or provide volunteer personal services that are excluded from the definition of contribution.”

An individual convicted of violating the law faces up to a year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.

In his letter to the principals, Snow told them to poll “everyone” on their staff to see how many employees wanted to purchase a yard sign, because they cost him $14 each. He said in the email that he was not trying to pressure anyone to donate toward the sign, but was doing everything he could to get reelected.

Snow said that, before he sent out the letter in the email, he conferred with APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau, who signed off on the idea, so long as Snow sent the email from his personal email account.

Courtesy Image A screenshot of Grodon Snow’s emails to Alpena Public Schools principals.

Rabbideau said Tuesday he gave Snow the green light because he believed Snow had a right to communicate with staff.

“He is still a resident and a citizen, and I’m not going to stop a citizen from contacting staff,” Rabbideau said. “That was my thinking on that.”

Rabbideau said the school district has been in contact with attorneys from the Michigan Association of School Boards and the superintendent said the lawyers believe Snow didn’t violate any election laws.

Instead, Rabbideau said, the attorney said Snow used poor judgment in sending the letter and encouraging support.

APS school board President Anna Meinhardt said trustees will rethink the school district’s rules on the types of campaign communications they allow. She added that anyone having concerns about election violations should contact the state.

“Moving forward, the Board will review our Board Member Ethics Policy to work towards clarifying what actions are viewed as acceptable or unacceptable,” Meinhardt said in an email to The News. “However, with any campaign, if anyone has a concern about a possible violation, they can file an official complaint with the State of Michigan.”

Also in his email to the principals, Snow shared a link to the website for the Northeast Michigan League of Conservative Education. That site features profiles of the three candidates against whom Snow is competing in November’s election. Snow in his email encouraged school staff to review the bios of candidates Eric Lawson, Monica Dziesinski, and Sarah Costain.

The top three vote-getters will claim seats on the school board.

School board trustees are nonpartisan positions.

Snow closed the letter by offering to answer any questions the principals had and thanked them for their support.

Before being elected to the school board in 2008, Snow was a teacher at Lincoln and Besser elementary schools for 24 years and a principal for 10 years at Maple Ridge Elementary School, Long Rapids Elementary School, and Wilson Elementary School.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that a Michigan Association of School Boards attorney said Gordon Snow used poor judgement in sending a campaign-related email to school staff. An earlier version of this story misattributed that statement to Alpena Public Schools Superintendent Dave Rabbideau.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.