West Ada School District recall, Idaho (2016)

• Recall supporters
  • Arguments for recall of Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki
  • Arguments for recall of Vuittonet
• Recall opponents
  • Arguments against recall of Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki
    • Response by Dean
    • Response by Madsen
    • Response by Joki
  • Arguments against recall of Vuittonet
    • Response by Vuittonet
• Background
  • District settles with former superintendent
  • Joki resigns
  • Madsen resigns
  • District survey on replacement trustees
  • Trustees file lawsuit to halt recall election
  • Notary's role in recall effort called into question
  • Proposed bill seeks to change date of school board elections
  • State senator proposes, then withdraws bill regarding West Ada recall
  • Recall effort accused of using outside money
  • New superintendent hired
  • West Ada Files group
  • Superintendent Clark resigns; board terminates her contract
  • Vote on levy
  • Board voids Clark's contract extension
  • Board questions Clark's appointment to state board
  • Joki's lawsuit against the district
• Path to the ballot
• About the district
  • Demographics
• See also
  • Recent news
  • External links
  • Additional reading
  • References

West Ada School District Board of Trustees recall
Officeholders
Tina Dean Carol Sayles Russell Joki
Recall status
Recall approved
Recall election date
May 17, 2016
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Idaho Idaho recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall three members of the West Ada School District Board of Trustees in Idaho was on the ballot on May 17, 2016. Tina Dean, Carol Sayles, and Russell Joki were successfully recalled from their positions as Zone 1, 3, and 5 representatives, respectively. The effort originally targeted four members, but one resigned before the election. Joki also resigned from the board, but his name still appeared on the ballot as the ballots had already been finalized. A second effort to recall the fifth member of the board was abandoned in January 2016.

The effort against the four members was launched in November 2015 by a group called Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall. They targeted Dean, Sayles, Joki, and Zone 4 member Julie Madsen. Madsen decided to resign from her position rather than face the recall election. Dean, Sayles, and Joki announced that they would face the recall election and let the voters decide. Sayles and Joki filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the recall election, but the judge ruled against them, allowing the recall to continue to the ballot. A week after the court ruling, Joki announced his resignation from the board for personal reasons. Because the ballots had already been sent to absentee voters, his name still appeared on the recall election ballot.

A separate group launched an effort against the fifth member of the board, Zone 2 trustee Mike Vuittonet, in November 2015, but it was dropped in January 2016. The group, called Veterans for the Recall of Mike Vuittonet, said the district needed to focus on other things, such as its new leadership under Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells. The group also said they agreed with the Idaho-Press Tribune's editorial that called the recall attempts "misguided."

Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall questioned the board's transparency and how members treated former Superintendent Linda Clark, who resigned from her position on October 23, 2015. The group that initially targeted Vuittonet also questioned the board's transparency. They accused Vuittonet of violating the Idaho Open Meeting Law. They also objected to Vuittonet's support of the recall movement against other members of the board.

Madsen and Joki were first elected to the board on May 19, 2015. Madsen defeated incumbent Anne Ritter for her seat, and Joki won an open seat against three other challengers. Their resignations meant that the newest members of the board were appointed rather than elected. Vuittonet was re-elected to his fifth term on the board in the same election. All three of them were supposed to serve until 2019, but only Vuittonet remained on the board as of April 2016. Dean and Sayles were elected in 2013. Their terms would have expired in 2017 if they had not been recalled.

The board unanimously voted to appoint Ed Klopfenstein to replace Dean on June 7, 2016. Dean defeated Klopfenstein to initially win her seat in 2013. On June 9, 2016, the board unanimously voted to appoint Steve Smylie, former state legislator and education professor, to replace Sayles. Both Klopfenstein and Smylie were up for election on May 16, 2017.

Recall vote

Tina Dean, Zone 1 Board Member, West Ada School District
Result		Votes	Percentage
Recall		1849	62.17%
Retain		1125	37.83%
Election results via: Ada County, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed June 1, 2016

Carol Sayles, Zone 3 Board Member, West Ada School District
Result		Votes	Percentage
Recall		2242	63.03%
Retain		1315	36.97%
Election results via: Ada County, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed June 1, 2016

Russell Joki, Zone 5 Board Member, West Ada School District
Result		Votes	Percentage
Recall		1558	55.54%
Retain		1247	44.46%
Election results via: Ada County, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed June 1, 2016

Recall supporters

Arguments for recall of Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki

Christine Donnell, a former superintendent of the West Ada School District, is a co-chair of the Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall group. She served as superintendent from 1998 to 2004, after which Linda Clark took the position. Reid Olsen, a notary public and former board trustee for the district who served from 2004 to 2014, joined Donnell in the recall effort.

The group began targeting board members for recall after they voted 4-1 to void a contract extension for Superintendent Clark. The meeting took place on September 29, 2015, and as soon as the vote was recorded, the board went into executive session. After members left for the executive session, Donnell, who had attended the board meeting, spoke to the other members of the audience, calling the vote a "travesty" and saying it was "not good for the district." She called for the recall of the four board members and asked for those in attendance to help her.

In response to the board's vote to void Superintendent Linda Clark's contract extension, State Sen. Chuck Winder (R-20) said, "What they are trying to do to Linda isn’t fair, and these kinds of discussions should not go on behind closed doors.”

Donnell said that the board has not been transparent or fiscally responsible. She also said they had micromanaged the district, which resulted in negative effects for district employees.

Vuittonet held a press conference on November 19, 2015, detailing why Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki should be recalled. “I was and am dismayed by the treatment and eventual firing of one of the most respected superintendents our district has ever known,” said Vuittonet. He accused the four board members of violating open meeting laws while in executive session, saying, "I have witnessed and attended executive sessions lasting two to three hours. These meetings often drift off topic and turn into strategy meetings in violation of open meeting laws.”

Recall supporters

After both Madsen and Joki resigned, the Meridian Chamber of Commerce came out in support of the recall. At a news conference, the group issued the following statement:

“	The Chamber’s Board of Directors believe the egregious behavior of the West Ada School District Board has resulted in significant financial increases to the school budget, resignations of key administrative staff, questionable meeting practices, and a serious lack of transparency[. ...]The Meridian Chamber of Commerce believes this is a very important issue that negatively impacts our children as well as the vitality of the business community and urges you to get informed. Please join us in assuring our West Ada School District returns their primary focus to our children and vote to recall the Trustees of Zones 1 and 3.	”
—Anne Little Roberts, President & CEO, Meridian Chamber of Commerce (April 28, 2016)

In May 2016, Gov. Butch Otter (R) announced his support of the recall. “It is important to keep building on, rather than disrupting, the success that West Ada School District has achieved through years of hard work and dedication,” Otter said in a statement released by the Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall group.

The recall group also released a list of other state lawmakers who supported the recall, including Sen. Cliff Bayer (R-21), Rep. Tom Dayley (R-21B), and Rep. Steven Harris (R-21A), all of whom represented part of the West Ada School District. Former State Board of Education members Milford Terrell and Rod Lewis and Boise Regional Realtors were also listed as supporters of the recall.

Arguments for recall of Vuittonet

The group that dropped the recall effort against Vuittonet was led by Daryl S. Sallaz, a former Democratic member of the Idaho State Legislature as well as a retired teacher who worked in the Boise School District. He lived in Boise, which was outside of the West Ada School District, but he was still able to circulate a recall petition against Vuittonet, according to Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane. Sallaz was joined by two friends, and all of them were retired military members. They called their group Veterans for the Recall of Mike Vuittonet.

In addition to objecting to Vuittonet's support of the recall effort against his fellow board members, Veterans for the Recall of Mike Vuittonet accused him of violating the state's open meetings law when he voted in favor of three specific contracts for former Superintendent Linda Clark. The group called those contracts "illegal" and said they had included "lucrative benefits" for Clark.

The group also initially targeted Vuittonet for recall because of his support for "increased central office administration costs and for contracting of inefficient student transportation services. The group additionally took issue with the fact that he did not oppose a 40 percent cost overrun for Hillsdale Elementary's construction.

Joki said he supported the recall of Vuittonet "with some regret.” He said, “Mike was board chair for over ten years and during those years he presided over secret contracts and a rubber stamp board."

Recall opponents

Arguments against recall of Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki

Breck Seiniger, the district attorney who told the board they had violated the state's open meetings law when they originally voted to extend Clark's contract in June 2015, defended the board's vote to rescind that contract extension. “A solid majority of this board believes that they owe it to the parents and taxpayers of the district not to be a rubber stamp for anyone,” he said.

After Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall launched their recall effort, Dean said they had "a right to engage in the political process." Nevertheless, she said she had not done anything to warrant the recall effort against her. She also said she was concerned that the effort was started due to the board realizing a mistake and correcting it. “I find it very interesting that the only person who refused to comply with the law is the one they chose to not start a recall drive on,” said Dean.

Madsen agreed. Before she resigned, she said board members had been “vilified” for voiding a contract that violated state law. “It is my strong belief that the prior board had adopted a pattern of approving this contract secretly because its salary and perks had become so bloated and costly that they knew that taxpayers would never have approved it,” she said.

Joki said the public should have been able to see Clark's contract before it was approved for an extension. “I believe in transparency,” he said. He also said the recall effort against him, Dean, Sayles, and Madsen was "from people who are disgruntled by not getting their way anymore. It hurts two groups – kids and teachers. The difference between this board and the previous board is, the previous board approved almost everything with very little questioning. I think officials, once elected, are sent there to ask questions. There were no secrets about what I was interested in; people knew what they were going to get.”

Response by Dean

Dean responded to the recall effort against her by providing the following statement to the Meridian Press.

Zone 1 Trustee Tina Dean

“	The thing that greatly concerns me is that their decision to do (support a recall) seems to be based on our acknowledgment that we are not above the law, that we did something incorrect and we need to change it. Number two, trying to recall four-fifths of a board is extremely dangerous to the school district. … I don't know the requirements that the Ada County Clerk has in place, but if that many members of the board would be displaced, there would be no quorum. I don't think anything I did warrants a recall. I understand they didn't agree with our decision, but our responsibility as elected officials is to make decisions, and you're never going to please everybody. In this case, the only other decision that I could have made would be to vote no, that I don't believe we violated the open meeting law, (and) that clearly wasn't the case. I find it very interesting that the only person who refused to comply with the law is the one they chose to not start a recall drive on.	”
—Zone 1 Trustee Tina Dean (2015)

After announcing she would face the recall rather than resign, Dean said, "There are a lot of very caring, very skilled people in this valley, so whether I'm on the board or not this district will be in good hands."

When the Idaho Statesman asked her why she should not be recalled in an article published on April 29, 2016, Dean said:

“	The only reason I ever joined this board in the first place was because I had former students and children of my own in this district. They have been my only concern, as is evidenced by the fact that sometimes I make adults unhappy to do what is best for kids. Also some of the statements made about me in the recall petition are libelous. I have never caused chaos or been disruptive at a board meeting. It is so far against my nature. That is a clear libelous statement and there are damages that can be awarded for that. I am concerned only with getting this district back to focusing on kids.	”
—Zone 1 Trustee Tina Dean (2016)

Response by Sayles

Zone 3 Trustee Carol Sayles

When the Idaho Statesman asked her why she should not be recalled in an article published on April 29, 2016, Sayles said:

“	We have done our due diligence to follow the law. We have taken our fiduciary responsibility extremely to heart. When I make a decision I consider the parents, the patrons, and most of all I consider how it will this affect kids. Therefore I do not believe I should be recalled.	”
—Zone 3 Trustee Carol Sayles (2016)

Response by Madsen

Madsen responded to the recall effort against her by providing the following statement to the Meridian Press.

Zone 4 Trustee Julie Madsen

“	I think that it is a very unfortunate day for our community when those who uphold the law and demand transparency for taxpayers are vilified by a faction who believes that the rule of law only applies when it is convenient. Linda Clark's contract violated all of the laws and ethics that a bind a school board. It is my strong belief that the prior board had adopted a pattern of approving this contract secretly because its salary and perks had become so bloated and costly that they knew that taxpayers would never have approved it.	”
—Zone 4 Trustee Julie Madsen (2015)

After the recall effort against her turned in their final petitions, she announced she would resign if they were approved. She said the recall election would be a “distraction to the effective management of this district." She fulfilled that announcement by stepping down from her position on the board on February 19, 2016.

Response by Joki

Joki responded to the recall effort against him by providing the following statement to the Meridian Press.

Zone 5 Trustee Russell Joki

“	Those who are calling for the recall have forgotten all about the importance of the Nov. 3 supplemental levy. If that levy fails, kids and teachers are hurt, not them. I am not going to be a 'rubber stamp' board member. I believe in transparency and the June 23 meeting that added a year to Dr. Clark's contract was done without any public notice. The public should get to see the full contract. Trustee Vuittonet signed that contract and now he acts as if everything was done correctly. It wasn't. As a former board chair, he oversaw a decade of contract signings, none of which were given any public scrutiny. I can't imagine he will escape the same kind of recall that he is supporting for other trustees. This recall will no change the way I ask questions at board meetings, look for ways to increase parent involvement, or improve the way the district makes decisions. The recall supporters simply do not want the public to know about cost overruns or how the money is being spent. I will make sure there is transparency.	”
—Zone 5 Trustee Russell Joki (2015)

Joki resigned from the board on April 5, 2016. Other members of the board expressed surprise at his announcement. He said he was leaving for personal reasons and declined to discuss them.

Idaho Press-Tribune editorial

On October 14, 2015, the Idaho Press-Tribune published an editorial in opposition to the recall effort against Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki. The following is an excerpt from that editorial:

“	School board members aren’t elected to say nice things about superintendents and give them whatever they want. They are elected to make choices they believe are in the best interest of the kids who walk through those schoolhouse doors every day. They hire and fire the superintendents based on that very simple principle. If the West Ada trustees believe Clark’s contact extension was approved in violation of the law — and there’s every reason to believe it was — then good for them. They shouldn’t be recalled for being sticklers for the law. But even if the contract was approved legally and they just want to remove Clark for philosophical reasons, they’re perfectly entitled to do so. There’s nothing unethical or unprincipled about it. Recall elections shouldn’t be conducted because you don’t like how a public official votes. They should be reserved for unethical conduct. Recalling school board members for the reasons given in Caldwell and Meridian would be akin to recalling members of the Idaho Legislature because you don’t like the vote they took on the “Add the Words” bill. As long as our public officials are making a good-faith effort to conduct their business ethically, they deserve the right to govern as they see fit for the rest of their terms. If you don’t like the way they’re doing it, toss them out in the next election.	”
—Phil Bridges, Idaho Press-Tribune Editorial Board (October 14, 2015)

Arguments against recall of Vuittonet

Vuittonet denied the accusations made in the recall petition against him, except for his support of the recall effort against the other four members on the board. He admitted he had joined in the effort to recall them. He said that those board members were in "the process of dismantling one of the most successful school districts in the state," and that they had run off one of the best superintendents the state had ever had.

Response by Vuittonet

Zone 2 Trustee Mike Vuittonet

Vuittonet responded to the recall effort against him by providing the following statement to the Meridian Press.

“	The direction and policies that (the other board members) have taken, in my opinion, they're moving in the wrong direction. I don't think the things that they've done are good for the district. What's been happening in the district because of these things — and the lack of morale and anxiety of many, many people who work in our district — it's very concerning to me. I would leave my option open to be involved (in the recall efforts), because I am a citizen in the West Ada district. I certainly don't want to fail the levy because of all the turmoil. … Regardless of what's happening now, that levy is just critical. And it's about school days, it's about nine of them. It's important to our kids, it's import to our parents.	”
—Zone 2 Trustee Mike Vuittonet (2015)

Background

District settles with former superintendent

The West Ada School District agreed to pay former superintendent Linda Clark $160,000 in a settlement to avoid any lawsuits after Clark's resignation and contract termination in the fall of 2015. Dean, Sayles, Joki, and Madsen—four of the five trustees in office at the time of her termination—signed the document. Joki and Madsen added comments with their signatures. Joki's comment read, "My signature is not an admission of any wrong doing in law or in policy as a West Ada trustee.” Madsen wrote, "My signature above reflects the understanding that 100 percent of the funds paid in accordance with this agreement will be paid by ICRIMP, who independently developed the document with Linda Clark’s counsel. I was not consulted prior to its development and adamantly deny any allegations contained herein.”

Vuittonet, the fifth board member at the time of Clark's termination, was not asked to sign the settlement as he was not going to be targeted in a possible breach of contract lawsuit Clark had been preparing with her lawyer, according to Clark's attorney Erika Birch.

By signing the document, the trustees did not implicate the district in any wrongdoing, according to Birch. She said the agreement paid Clark roughly what she would have made if she had continued working through the 2015-2016 school year. Birch also called the agreement a peace offering, as both sides agreed not to sue over past grievances. The trustees' general counsel Breck Seiniger said the money for the settlement would come from the district's insurance carrier, rather than school funds.

“The administration strongly believes that it is in the best interest of education for this district that this matter comes to a conclusion and the district moves forward,” said Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells.

Joki resigns

At a board meeting on April 5, 2016, Joki announced his resignation from the board. He said he was leaving the board for personal reasons not related to the recall election and wanted to give the other members time to name his replacement. Both Vuittonet and Dean said they were surprised by his announcement. Vuittonet said Joki had been the “driving force for the reason of the recall.”

The board appointed Rene Ozuna as Joki's replacement at its meeting on April 26, 2016. She was one of four candidates who applied to fill the position. Sayles, Dean, and Philip Neuhoff, who was appointed to the board to replace Madsen on March 1, 2016, voted in favor of appointing Ozuna. Vuittonet abstained from the vote after arguing that the board should have waited longer to choose Joki's replacement.

Ozuna said she was opposed to the recall efforts. "When I learned about what was going on, I made the decision that I was going to attend the board meetings and I was going to decide for myself. I just didn't see, myself, the accusations that had been made against the board," said Ozuna. She served on the district's boundary committee and had children who attended district schools.

Because he announced his resignation so close to the recall election, Joki's name still appeared on the ballot. Ozuna was appointed to serve out the remainder of Joki's term through 2019.

Because Ozuna was sworn into office before the recall election, the board did not have to face the possibility of a loss of quorum, as two of five members faced recall, instead of two out of four.

Madsen resigns

Madsen announced her resignation from the board on February 19, 2016. “What’s not best for kids is a long recall process. It takes attention from the classroom,” said Madsen.

In response to her announcement, the other trustees scheduled a special meeting for February 22, 2016 to discuss appointing Madsen's replacement.

The members concluded the February 19 meeting early, in order to post the meeting agenda for the February 22 meeting in accordance with the Idaho Open Meeting Law's time requirement. The district clerk, however, was unable to get the agenda up in time, and the board canceled the meeting.

The cancellation came after eight former trustees and one former superintendent sent an open letter to the board, asking members to postpone the meeting in order to properly advertise the position, set up a panel to provide input on the candidates, and invite candidates to an open forum. "Anything short of an open, transparent process that involves all of the district’s stakeholders will be a continuation of the dysfunction that initiated the recall efforts," the former district officials said in the letter. The board rescheduled the meeting for March 1, 2016.

Prior to the cancellation of the February 22 meeting, trustee Mike Vuittonet criticized the decision to schedule the meeting so quickly after Madsen's announcement. He said that the board did not give community members enough time to apply to fill the position. He also said the quickly-scheduled meeting did not give the board enough time to properly vet the possible appointees or time for the public to learn about them.

Supporters of the recall also criticized the original date set for the meeting. They said the board had set the meeting so soon as a strategy to "maintain control over board appointments rather than face voters," according to the Idaho Statesman.

Prior to Madsen resigning, State Sen. Chuck Winder (R-20), a supporter of the recall effort, proposed a bill to prevent similar, future occurrences. He withdrew the bill after receiving criticism from a number of parties, including the Idaho School Boards Association.

In response to the initial criticism, Dean said, “This was not my decision. This was the decision to recall four board members.” In order to conduct executive sessions, which includes reviewing employees and discussing legal business, the board must have four members, according to state law.

When Madsen announced her resignation, the district had already received two trustee applications from parties interested in filling a vacancy on the board. The applications came after the district published a notice asking for community input on possible replacement trustees. By the time the board chose Madsen's replacement, there were a total of five candidates.

At the board's special meeting on March 1, 2016, members chose Philip Neuhoff, the founder of the West Ada Files group on Facebook, which was responsible for collecting public documents from the school district and posting them for community members to read. When the five candidates were asked if they had been involved in the recall against any of the trustees, Neuhoff said, "No, I very vocally opposed the recall against all four." The vote to appoint Neuhoff was 3-1 with Vuittonet voting against.

District survey on replacement trustees

In February 2016, the West Ada School District published a notice asking for community input on possible replacement trustees. The notice on the website read: “This is an effort to allow the public the ability to participate in determining the most desirable qualifications for the person that will fulfill the remainder of a departing Trustee’s term.” A link to the district's trustee application was also included in the notice.

The community survey and trustee applications were not published in response to a trustee's pending resignation, but rather they were shared with the public as a proactive move, according to West Ada Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells. She said district officials wanted to be able to move quickly if a trustee did resign or if the recall was allowed to go to the ballot. Ranells also said the survey would give current trustees input on which qualities the community valued in its board members.

The district received two trustee applications by the time Madsen resigned from her position on February 19, 2016. The board had 90 days to appoint a replacement. If a replacement is not named in 120 days, the board of county commissioners will appoint someone to the position.

Trustees file lawsuit to halt recall election

After the recall petitions were filed against the four board members in February 2016, Joki and Sayles filed a lawsuit with Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the progress of a possible recall election on May 17, 2016. Bail denied the temporary restraining order to halt the process of validating the recall signatures because the request contained "only boilerplate assertions that the plaintiffs would suffer damage to their reputations and their right to continue to serve as trustees.” She set the date for a preliminary injunction to stop the recall election for March 9, 2016. Soon after the judge denied the restraining order, the Ada County Elections Office verified enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.

On March 28, 2016, Judge Bail denied Joki and Sayles' injunction against the recall election. She said the recall supporters had collected the correct number of signatures as determined by Ada and Canyon County officials. Joki said he had no response to the ruling. “My plan is to continue to do what I can do to support Dr. Reynolds,” he said. Sayles said she was disappointed and she was "going to start campaigning for 'no on recall.'” She said she was optimistic that the voters would keep her on the board. “The electorate was very clear when we had four new board members within two years," she said. "I don't think they were happy with business as usual."

In their lawsuit, Joki and Sayles said the method used to calculate the number of signatures necessary to make it to the ballot was incorrect and that supporters of the recall effort should have been required to collect thousands more than they did. The recall group collected signatures equal in number to half of the votes cast in the last election in each trustee district, but Joki and Sayles said they should have collected signatures equal to half of the votes cast in the district's most recent election. The district's most recent election was held on November 3, 2015, to vote on a $28 million levy. The two board members said the turnout in that election was much higher than in previous trustee elections. Supporters of the recall collected around 2,000 signatures total, but if the number had been calculated as the two board members said it should have, they would have had to collect around 10,000.

Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R)

According to the Idaho Code:

“	The petition must be signed by registered electors of the district or school trustee zone equal in number to fifty percent (50%) of the number of electors who cast votes in the last election of the district or school trustee zone.	”
—Idaho Code 34-1702(5)

Joki and Sayles' lawsuit highlighted the phrase "last election of the district or school trustee zone" to argue that the required number of signatures should have been calculated by using the voter turnout from the levy election.

Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) said his office would have calculated the number of signatures just as the county had, but he said the court would have to decide which way was correct. "I really don't have a position on it, which one of those dates to use. In most cases, you would use the election, I think, that they were elected in, and that's the interpretation that we would have," said Denney.

Vuittonet said Joki and Sayles' lawsuit seemed "a little desperate." He said it was a tactic to try to invalidate the recall, and Donnell said it was a delaying tactic. Joki denied that the lawsuit was a delaying tactic. He said there were two ways the law could be interpreted and that he and Sayles wanted it to be sorted out.

If the court had ruled in favor of Joki and Sayles, supporters of the recall said they would have tried again and collected the necessary signatures for a later recall election.

Notary's role in recall effort called into question

Reid Olsen, a leader of the recall effort against Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki, was criticized by the Facebook group West Ada Concerned Parents because he notarized a number of the recall petitions. The group said he should have been disqualified as a notary for the petitions due to his leadership in the recall effort. They sought to have state and county officials invalidate the petitions he notarized, but the county verified the petitions and approved the recall for the ballot.

The Idaho Notary Public Act details the following as reasons a notary should be disqualified from performing services:

“	[A] notary public has a disqualifying interest in a transaction in connection with which notarial services are requested if he is named as a party to the transaction or shares the same beneficial interest as a party to the transaction.	”
—Idaho Notary Public Act

Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane said a notary's job was to witness that the person who signed as petition circulator was the one who actually circulated the petitions. He said it was not a notary's job to validate the signatures on the petition. McGrane said the county elections office had thoroughly validated the petitions.

Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) said Olsen would have had a conflict only if he had something to gain from his position as notary, such as a financial interest. "I can't see that other than getting his way on a recall that he has anything to gain," said Denney.

Proposed bill seeks to change date of school board elections

See also: Battles over school governance (2016)

State Sen. Jim Rice (R-10)

State Sen. Jim Rice (R-10) sponsored a bill in 2016 that sought to change the state's policy of holding school board elections in May to instead hold them in November, when Rice said there is a higher voter turnout. He said some districts had seen turnout as low as 1 percent in recent elections. "Schools are important, the education of our children is important, but we don't have the engagement we need," said Rice. The bill was not passed before the State Legislature's session closed for 2016.

Moving school board elections to November could have affected recall elections. If more voters go to the polls in November, more signatures would have to be collected in order to get a recall on the ballot. Rice also said, "The views of the school board are going to be more reflective of the community, which decreases the likelihood of a recall at all."

Ballotpedia tracked five school board recalls in Idaho between January 2015 and May 2016. Three—the West Bonner County School District, the Caldwell School District, and the Blaine County School District—did not go to a vote. Another recall in the Caldwell School District successfully ousted two members from the school board, and the West Ada recall ousted three members.

Want to see how this election related to state and national trends on this topic? Ballotpedia tracked this issue in the 2016 election cycle so you can see the connections and impact on this race in context.

Click here for The Bite on this topic.

State senator proposes, then withdraws bill regarding West Ada recall

Idaho Sen. Chuck Winder (R-20) proposed a bill on February 8, 2016, in reaction to the recall effort against four members in the West Ada School District. He said the bill was aimed to prevent a situation in which a quorum of school board members are targeted for recall, but resign in order to appoint their replacements. "The idea would be whenever a quorum of the board, or a majority of the board (is up for recall), they would not be allowed to replace members of the board with the intent of basically circumventing the recall process," Winder said. Ten days later, Winder withdrew the proposed bill.

State Sen. Chuck Winder (R-20)

Winder was involved in the recall effort against Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki, according to Christine Donnell, the co-leader of the effort. Because of his involvement, he received some criticism on how his bill related to the recall effort in West Ada. Before he withdrew the bill, he addressed those concerns in a newsletter published on February 12, 2016.

“	Some are concerned that I am trying to interfere with the current recall underway in the West Ada School District; however, the proposed bill would not become law until the certified petition phase was done or well underway.	”
—Idaho Sen. Chuck Winder (February 12, 2016)

Winder said the bill sought to prevent board members who had been targeted for recall from being able to appoint new members who are "of like mind." A number of other state senators questioned Winder on the wording of the bill and its intention before members of the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee voted to introduce it. Winder withdrew the bill after members of the Idaho School Boards Association said they would not support it. They said the bill “felt like it was written for a single scenario,” according to Executive Director Karen Echeverria. Winder admitted he had proposed the bill in order to shed light on the situation in West Ada. Two members targeted for recall in West Ada did resign, and the board sought to fill their positions before the recall election in order to ensure a quorum was maintained.

Idaho law allows a school board to appoint members to vacant seats if there is a quorum, which constitutes at least three sitting members. If only one or two members remain on the board, the governor appoints replacements until a quorum is represented. Those members then appoint individuals to the remaining vacancies.

Recall effort accused of using outside money

After Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall turned in final petitions to get the recall on the ballot, Madsen and Joki accused the group of being funded from groups outside of Idaho. They said the group had "amassed a campaign war chest to try to get rid of them," according to the Idaho Statesman. Christine Donnell, one of the leaders of the effort, denied those accusations, calling them “hogwash.” She estimated that the group had spent a few hundred dollars in their signature gathering process.

Because the state's campaign finance laws did not extend to recall elections, there was no way to know exactly how much either recall effort raised or spent in their attempts to oust school board members from their seats. A proposal seeking to expand the state's campaign finance laws to incorporate school board recalls and all ballot measures was rejected by the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee in February 2016. The Idaho House State Affairs Committee introduced a similar bill on March 15, 2016, but it did not get passed the committee before the legislative session ended for the year.

New superintendent hired

Dr. Mary Ann Ranells was named the next superintendent of the West Ada School District on December 15, 2015. Prior to taking the position at West Ada, Ranells served as the superintendent of the Lakeland School District in northern Idaho for six years before she retired. She started her new position in January 2016. Ranells was endorsed by the Idaho Statesman's editorial board.

On February 19, 2016, the board voted to extend Ranells' contract until July 1, 2017.

West Ada Files group

Philip Neuhoff, a West Ada School District parent, started a group called "West Ada Files" on Facebook. The group collected public documents from the school district and posted them for community members to read. Neuhoff said he had been searching for answers and hoped the group could shed light on the turmoil in the district. “I really would like for people to be able to feel that there's transparency going on in the situation,” he said. Neuhoff said West Ada Files was intended to provide information, not to editorialize.

Interest in what was going on with the district's leadership increased in 2015, according to Eric Exline, a spokesman for the district. In 18 years working for the district, he had only received two public records requests before July 2015. Between July 2015 and November 2015, Exline said he had received 13.

Superintendent Clark resigns; board terminates her contract

On October 23, 2015, Superintendent Linda Clark announced she was resigning from her position. She said the school board had “thwarted" her ability to do her job by undermining her, embarrassing her, and trying to remove her as superintendent. The board never voted to accept her resignation. Instead, at a special meeting on November 9, 2015, the board voted to terminate her contract.

At a press conference to announce her resignation, Clark said, "In an executive session, one trustee said, 'If you want to keep your legacy, you better get an exit strategy,' and another trustee said, 'I want you gone now.'" She said her lawyer worked with the school board's lawyer for weeks before her announcement to find an “amicable resolution.” Clark said that was no longer possible after the board's most recent offer. “For a pittance, the board would require that I 'play nice' for the next two weeks and then retire on the day after the levy,” Clark said. She said she had not wanted to resign prior to the levy vote on November 3, 2015, but that offer had changed her mind. “I refuse to be dishonest with the community for a few thousand dollars,” said Clark.

Joki said a number of Clark's claims during her resignation announcement were false or misleading. “Contrary to what she said, we have treated her with fairness, we have talked to her about her accomplishments, we have praised her for her achievements in this school district,” Joki said. Madsen said the board had included Clark in their focus on district issues from the beginning.

Vuittonet, a supporter of Clark, said the other members of the board "absolutely, unequivocally" pushed her out of office.

The board met in special session on November 9, 2015, to discuss the state of Clark's retirement benefits due to her resignation. At the meeting, the board voted 3-1 to terminate her contract. They were able to do that because they had never accepted her resignation. Dean, Joki, and Madsen voted in favor of the termination and Vuittonet voted against. Sayles walked out of the meeting before the vote. She said the board did not have to discuss Clark's contract in a special session. She said they should have waited to discuss it at a regular board meeting with more patrons in attendance.

The three members who voted in favor of Clark's termination said she had walked out on her job and had "engaged in using institutional privileges for promotion of political candidates or for political activities beyond local, state or national education association elections." They said both of those actions violated the Code of Ethics for Professional Educators. The board was able to say Clark had walked out on her job because a clause in her contract that would have allowed her to leave early had not been approved by the Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction. That is required by state law, according to the school board's attorney Breck Seiniger. School board members did not give further explanation about the issue concerning institutional privileges for political activities.

At a press conference on November 19, 2015, Vuittonet said that the four board members had badgered Clark in executive sessions. He said they spent over $30,000 on legal fees, most of which went into efforts to nullify Clark's contract. Half of that money went to a law firm that had determined her contract was valid, according to Vuittonet. “They pushed the opinion aside and chose not to disclose it,” he said.

In response to Clark's resignation and the back-and-forth between school board and superintendent, Rob Winslow, executive director of the Idaho Association of School Administrators, said, "I’m disappointed in this set of trustees and with this drama being played out.” He said such problems between the leaders of a school district should never play out as publicly as they did in West Ada.

Clark worked in the district for 37 years, starting as a principal at Joplin Elementary School and spending her last 11 years as superintendent. Her resignation left her with no severance package. She remained a member of the State Board of Education.

The board named Joe Yochum as interim superintendent on October 29, 2015. Before his appointment, Yochum served as the district's chief operations officer. He had been with the district for 24 years, but had only held the job as chief operations officer for four months.

In response to the appointment, Yochum said, "I will do everything I can to continue to provide an excellent education for our students and fulfill the mission of the West Ada School District.”

At the same meeting in which they appointed Yochum, the board accepted the resignation of Assistant Superintendent Barbara Leeds, who served as second in command under Clark.

Vote on levy

On November 3, 2015, residents in the West Ada School District voted to pass a $14 million per year levy lasting two years. A total of 59 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the levy. The levy was passed in two previous elections as well.

There were concerns that the levy would not pass due to two recall efforts against school board members and conflicts between the board and the former superintendent. Joe Yochum, interim superintendent of the district, said the vote to pass the levy showed “that our patrons certainly value the education that is received in West Ada School District and will support that when asked.”

The levy pays for nine instructional days and approximately 40 teaching positions. The levy was first put before voters during the Great Recession when those positions would have been cut by state funding.

Board voids Clark's contract extension

On September 29, 2015, the board voted 4-1 to void Superintendent Linda Clark's contract extension. Vuittonet was the only member to vote against voiding the contract. He said, "The contract was valid. This is not the best course of action to take.”

As soon as the vote was recorded, the board went into executive session and denied the audience a chance to speak. Vuittonet left the executive session. He said that his fellow board members were no longer on topic and that he believed they were violating open meeting laws.

The vote to void Clark's contract occurred after a school district attorney told the board it believed its original vote to extend the contract, which had taken place on June 23, 2015, had violated the Idaho Open Meeting Law as it had not been listed as an item on the agenda. The vote had also been held before two newly elected members were able to vote. The vote passed 3-2 to retain Clark as superintendent as well as extend her contract for one year, meaning it would have expired in June 2018. The vote to void that extension left Clark's contract through 2017 in place.

Vuittonet cast one of the three votes in support of the extension. The other two trustees who voted in favor are no longer on the board. Dean and Sayles voted against the extension. Madsen and Joki said the vote should not have occurred until they had joined the board.

Clark served as the district superintendent for 11 years before she resigned on October 23, 2015. She had worked in the district for a total of 37 years.

Board questions Clark's appointment to state board

Gov. Butch Otter (R)

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) appointed Clark to the Idaho Board of Education on July 31, 2015. Clark said she intended to stay in her position as superintendent of the school district in addition to serving on the state board. She previously served on other state education committees while serving as superintendent and said her responsibilities as a state board member would not take any more of her time than those had. Some board members, however, were unsure if Clark could give adequate attention to both tasks.

Joki's lawsuit against the district

In 2012, Joki filed a lawsuit against the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, the Idaho State Legislature, and the state's school districts. He said they had violated the constitutional right of the state's citizens to a free education. Joki explained the suit as follows: “The suit had two complaints. First, the Legislature has not met its constitutional duty to fund a uniform, thorough and free education. The second was that any school district charging fees as a way to make up the money is violating the constitutional requirement for a free education.”

Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Richard Greenwood

The lawsuit was eventually confined to only be against the West Ada School District after a court order found that Joki had no right to sue state officials or other school districts. Joki said he planned to use his position as a board member to fix the problems he listed in the lawsuit. He said his goal was to eliminate all education fees.

In November 2015, Judge Richard Greenwood of the Fourth Judicial Court ruled in favor of Joki. “Where a class is offered as part of the regular academic courses of the school, the course must be offered without charge,” Greenwood said in his findings. The ruling focused on Joki's grandchildren and required the district to repay the fees they had been “improperly forced to pay.” According to Joki's lawyer, Robert Huntley, the case was not about repayment but about "the unconstitutionality of fees charged by schools districts throughout the state.”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Idaho

The first step for the respective recall efforts was to collect 20 signatures from each zone that the targeted trustees represented. Once those signatures were verified by the Ada County Clerk, the recall efforts began circulating petitions. "Recall organizers must collect signatures from registered voters in each zone that equal at least 50 percent of the number of votes cast in the zone's last election," according to the Meridian Press. They had 75 days to submit the signatures to the county clerk. Once those signatures were submitted, the county clerk had 15 days to verify them.

The Ada County Clerk verified the petitions for the recall effort against Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki on February 12, 2016. The members were given five days after they received written notification to decide whether they would resign or face the recall. Madsen, the first member to receive written notification, announced her resignation on February 19, 2016. The other three members announced that they would not resign, but Joki later rescinded that claim by announcing his resignation on April 5, 2016. The recall election for Dean and Sayles was held on May 17, 2016.

Recall signature requirements
Trustee	Votes received in last election	Total votes cast in last election	Recall signatures required	Registered voters in zone
Zone 1 Trustee Tina Dean	188	505	253	18,656
Zone 2 Trustee Mike Vuittonet	318	555	278	19,559
Zone 3 Trustee Carol Sayles	339	669	335	19,357
Zone 4 Trustee Julie Madsen	522	908	454	21,921
Zone 5 Trustee Russell Joki	219	603	302	19,206

Idaho law allows a school board to appoint members to vacant seats if there is a quorum, which constitutes at least three sitting members. If only one or two members remain on the board, the governor appoints replacements until a quorum is represented. Those members then appoint individuals to the remaining vacancies.

The recall effort against Vuittonet submitted the initial signatures to the county clerk on November 9, 2015, but the clerk could initially only verify 19 of them. The group submitted additional signatures, which were verified. Members of the group said they collected more than the required signatures needed to get a recall election on the ballot, but they did not submit them. They said the district needed to focus on other issues in the district, so they dropped their recall effort.

The recall effort against Dean, Sayles, Madsen, and Joki submitted their first 20 signatures on November 16, 2015. They submitted their final petitions on February 1, 2016, and the county verified them on February 12, 2016.

The soonest a recall election would have been able to be held was March 8, 2016. To get the recall on the March ballot, the respective groups leading the recall efforts would have had to submit their signatures by December 11, 2015. Neither group was able to do that.

About the district

See also: West Ada School District, Idaho

The West Ada School District is located in Ada County, Idaho.

The West Ada School District is located in southwestern Idaho in Ada County. The county seat is Boise. The county was home to 426,236 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. In the 2013-2014 school year, the West Ada School District was the largest school district in Idaho and served 38,006 students.

Demographics

Ada County outperformed Idaho as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2009 to 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 36.0 percent of county residents aged 25 and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 25.1 percent for Idaho as a whole. The median household income in the county was $55,210, compared to $46,767 for the state of Idaho. The poverty rate in Ada County was 13.1 percent, compared to 15.5 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Ada County (%)	Idaho (%)
White	92.4	93.5
Black or African American	1.3	0.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.8	1.7
Asian	2.6	1.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2
Two or More Races	2.7	2.3
Hispanic or Latino	7.7	12.0

Presidential Voting Pattern, Ada County
Year	Republican Vote	Democratic Vote
2012	97,554	77,137
2008	93,328	82,236
2004	94,641	58,523
2000	75,050	40,650

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

• West Ada School District, Idaho
• West Ada School District elections (2015)
• Recall campaigns in Idaho
• Political recall efforts, 2016
• School board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• West Ada School District
• Ada County Elections
• Recall Mike Vuittonet West Ada Trustee
• The Concerned Citizens of West Ada School District for Trustee Recall

Additional reading

Editorials

• Idaho Statesman, "West Ada superintendent has skills to direct focus back to classroom," January 13, 2016
• Idaho Statesman, "Joki letter: No to recall," December 15, 2015
• Meridian Press, "Guest opinion: ‘The Establishment Strikes Back’ sums up the goings-on in West Ada," December 11, 2015
• Idaho Press-Tribune, "West Ada recall undermines what voters wanted," December 11, 2015
• Idaho Statesman, "Ollie letter: West Ada School District," November 2, 2015
• Idaho Press-Tribune, "Another misguided school board recall attempt," October 14, 2015