STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — School Board recall organizers in Stevens Point say it is highly unlikely they will gather signatures fast enough to get on the April 7th ballot.
Save Our Schools spokesperson Barb Portzen says recalling Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek on the April ballot is just not going to be possible. “It doesn’t appear so. I think, last week, we decided that we are accepting that it’s going to have to be a special election and it is what it is.”
Portzen says she’s confident they will get enough signatures, but having the signatures and having enough time for the school district to verify them before ballot information is due is highly unlikely. Municipal clerks need that information in about a week so that ballots can be printed.
With the focus now on a special election, the Save Our Schools Committee has 60 days from the time they filed to gather petition signatures, and then the school has 30 days to verify them. “We have until March 10th to get our signatures. We have to have 6,549 signatures.”
Wisconsin guidelines require 25% of the number of people in the last gubernatorial election living within the district, which is why they need 6,549 signatures.
About 100 people have been circulating petitions, but Portzen says there have been problems getting people to sign them. “We’ve run into some stumbling blocks. One of them, we’re calling it the fear factor. We have district employees who are afraid to sign because of some possible retribution. We have business people who are afraid to sign because they own a business. That part of it is a little frustrating.”
The Save Our Schools Committee hasn’t put forward any possible replacement school board candidates yet, but Portzen says there are people willing to run against Shirek and Totten. “In the April election, the deadline has passed. The recall election, we have several people who have indicated an interest. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable giving out any names until they’re ready to do that, but we have some great community leaders who are willing to step up and try to move our district forward.”
The Save Our Schools Committee is using an empty storefront at 29-B Park Ridge Drive as their headquarters, and they are open most days between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. They can be reached via email and their Facebook page.
(Listen to our interview with Barb Portzen on our website, here.)
