Onaway Area Community School District recall, Michigan (2023-2024)

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Onaway Area Community School District recall
Officeholders
Erin Chaskey Lorrie Kowalski John Palmer James Rieger
Recall status
1 Recall approved; 3 Did not go to a vote
Recall election date
November 5, 2024
Signature requirement
708 signatures per board member
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

A recall election against John Palmer, member of the Onaway Area Community School District Board of Education in Michigan, was held on November 5, 2024. Palmer was defeated by Lain Veihl.

The recall effort began in November 2023. Along with Palmer, board members Erin Chaskey, Lorrie Kowalski, and James Rieger were named in recall petitions filed with the Presque Isle County Clerk and the Cheboygan County Clerk. The recall petition against Chaskey was rejected in a clarity hearing. The recall petitions against Kowalski and Rieger did not make the ballot.

Rieger was serving as president of the board at the time the recall petitions were filed. Chaskey was serving as vice president, and Kowalski was serving as secretary.

Recall vote

General election

Special general election for Onaway Area Community School District, At-large

Lain Veihl defeated incumbent John Palmer in the special general election for Onaway Area Community School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Lain Veihl (Nonpartisan)	52.3	1,512
	Submit photo	John Palmer (Nonpartisan)	46.4	1,343
		Other/Write-in votes	1.3	38

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,893
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Recall supporters

The recall petitions were filed by Stacey Porter, a resident of Onaway. The petitions listed the board members' behavior as reasons for the recall.

The petition against Chaskey said, "Chaskey allegedly was named in a grievance filed by an Onaway teacher over negative comments made to the teacher during an open meeting on Sept. 20."

The petition against Palmer said, "Palmer allegedly made the comment, 'If this is your preference, good for you. It doesn’t belong here. Keep it at home,' in reference to the LGBTQ+ community."

The petition against Reiger said:

“

Rieger allegedly violated Board Policy 2302 B(2), which states that a board member will not act in isolation, operating as if a 'board of one,' by sending Thrun Law Firm notice on Sept. 1 that, as of Sept. 30, the law firm’s services would no longer be needed and reinstating Thrun Law Firm on Oct. 2 without board approval.

”

The petitions against Kowalski referenced a grievance filed by a current teacher in the school district.

Recall opponents

Before the recall election, Palmer told the Presque Isle County Advance and Onaway Outlook, “I want to remain on this school board so that I may represent the voice of this district and keep our school going in a positive direction.”

At the hearing on their appeal of the approval of the recall petitions, Rieger and Palmer argued that one of the reasons stated for the recalls against them happened before they were in office. They argued that the petitions were invalid.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

No specific grounds are required for recall in Michigan. To get a recall on the ballot in Michigan, recall supporters must collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. They have 60 days between the collection of the first signature and the collection of the last signature on the petition. Recall petitions are eligible to collect signatures for 180 days.

The first recall petitions against Chaskey, Kowalski, Palmer, and Rieger were filed with the Presque Isle County Clerk and the Cheboygan County Clerk in November 2023. The Cheboygan County Election Commission rejected a petition against Kowalski in a clarity hearing on November 27, 2023. A clarity hearing on the first recall petitions filed in Presque Isle County was scheduled to be held on December 1, 2023, but that hearing was canceled after the first petitions were withdrawn.

The Presque Isle County Election Commission approved the petitions against Rieger, Chaskey, and Palmer in a clarity hearing on December 14, 2023. The Cheboygan County Election Commission approved the petition against Kowalski at a clarity hearing on December 18, 2023.

All four members filed appeals against the election commission's approval of the recall petitions. A 53rd Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the appeals filed by Rieger, Chaskey, and Palmer on January 25, 2024, ending the recall efforts against them until new petitions were re-filed that same day. On January 26, 2024, the same judge ruled against the appeal filed by Kowalski, allowing that petition to collect signatures. The new petitions against Rieger and Palmer were approved in a clarity hearing on February 14, 2024, while the new petition against Chaskey was rejected.

A total of 708 signatures were required per board member to put the recalls on the ballot. The deadline for candidates to file to run in the recall election was August 26, 2024.

2024 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 40 school board recall efforts against 83 board members in 2024. Recall elections in 2024 removed 14 members from office, including three who resigned before the election, and retained seven members in office. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2024 recall efforts by individual school board member.

Recall context

See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report

Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.

The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.