Recall Effort of Bloomfield Hills School Board Members Expands

Oakland County election officials confirmed Tuesday that recall petitions have been filed against the remaining members of the Board of Education by some citizens still bristling over the recent vote to consolidate high schools. 

A clarity hearing to determine whether the petitions seeking to remove Trustees Mark Bank, Jacqueline El-Sayed and Robert Herner are viable is scheduled for July 14 in Oakland County Probate Court, said Ellie Gerber, an election specialist in the Oakland County Clerk’s Office.

The Oakland County Election Commission, comprising County Clerk Bill Bullard, County Treasurer Andy Meisner and Chief Oakland County Probate Judge Linda Hallmark, will meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac to determine whether the petitions previously filed against the other board members may be circulated.

The meeting is open to the public. 

The initial petitions filed this month against school board President Ingrid Day, Vice President Ed Ford, Secretary Kate Pettersen and Treasurer Cynthia von Oeyen accused the members of not acting in the best interests of the students and taxpayers. The petitions are primarily critical of the board’s decision to move forward with consolidation when a $74 million bond proposal to fund it failed in the November 2010 election.

On June 16, the board unanimously passed a recommendation from Superintendent Rob Glass to merge and high schools and create a Bloomfield Hills High School on two separate campuses beginning in 2013. Planning sessions will begin this month, and a millage vote is scheduled for November 2012.

The petitioners, members of the Bloomfield 20/20 citizens group, said a recall is their only recourse now that the board is moving forward with its controversial plan. If both petition efforts are approved, they’ll need to gather more than 5,200 petition signatures to get on the November ballot.

“We’ll get it,” said recall organizer Chris Fellin, who said board members have a history of making poor decisions and need replacing. “There are 12,000 of us who voted against this idea last year, and the board has proven that they’re not going to listen. People are fed up.”

Glass said he understood and respected the petitioners’ rights to challenge the board decision by recall, but he acknowledged the distraction it’s causing.

“We want to provide people with a consistent road map of where we’re going," Glass said. "This doesn’t help.”