Rew, a Tri-City entrepreneur and businessman, later reported anonymous death threats to the police that he believed he received due to his involvement. In April 2022, Mike Lawrence, Brian Brendel, Bradley Rew and Anthony Peurrung filed petitions with the Benton County Auditor’s Office to remove the trio from office. Opponents of the recall say the action is frivolous and expensive, and that the charges levied against the school board members don’t hold merit. The Richland School Board Recall campaign group hands out signs Saturday, July 8, at the Tri-Pride gay pride festival in support of recall school board members Kari Williams, Audra Byrd and Semi Bird.
CA SCHOOL BOARD MOCKS PARENTS VIDEO FULL
The vote put the school district’s state resources and funding at risk, and ultimately led to the superintendent closing school for two full days until the action was reversed. Violating district policies and procedures by failing to assure compliance with laws and policies. Violating state law on masking at the time, exceeding their powers and responsibilities as school board members. Violating Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) by taking final action on a matter not included on a published meeting agenda. The recall was the result of February 2022 Richland School Board split 3-2 vote to go against the state’s indoor mask mandate in schools.Įach of the three who voted for lifting the mandate faced three recall charges by a citizen’s group.
Tuesday’s vote marked the end of a 16-month effort to remove the trio from office. Richland School Board members Kari Williams, Audra Byrd and Semi Bird, from left, listen Wednesday to the arguments by both attorneys involved in the recall petition against them in Benton County Superior Court.
The only one of the three on the current ballot for a 2024 term is Kari Williams. Every vote counts,” Williams said in a Tuesday text message.Ī successful recall does not preclude a school board member from running for office again.
CA SCHOOL BOARD MOCKS PARENTS VIDEO PLUS
Recall elections need to receive 50%, plus 1 vote, in order to successfully oust an elected official.Īny school board member who are recalled must vacate their position by the time Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton certifies the election Aug. The county mailed out nearly 60,000 ballots for the primary election, with most - nearly 53,000 - being mailed to voters within the Richland School District. It’s time to put our differences aside and turn our attention to supporting RSD students, families and schools,” petitioner Elizabeth Lugo, with the Richland School Board Recall campaign, said in a statement Tuesday. “We hope that the resolution of the recall process gives the community some closure. Voters were deciding Tuesday whether to recall Richland School Board members Semi Bird, Kari Williams and Audra Byrd, from left. Kari Williams: 55% (7,581 votes) in favor of recall, 45% (6,118 votes) against. Semi Bird: 56% (7,725 votes) in favor of recall, 44% (5,971 votes) against. Another tally was expected to be released by 4 p.m. The board members would need an overwhelming number of the remaining ballots in order to make up the difference after Tuesday night’s count.Įach was trailing by more than 1,400 votes.īenton County Elections Division estimates there are 3,500 more ballots left to count across all elections, making it unclear how many of those are voters in the school district. That would make them the first elected officials from the Richland district to lose office by recall. 1 primary results show voters were clearly voting to oust Kari Williams, Audra Byrd and Semi Bird in a school district recall election. Three Richland School Board members will be out of office in the next two weeks if election night voting trends hold as expected.
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