How Do You Spell Recall?

Flint Board of Education member David Davenport was thwarted by poor spelling and vague language on his first two attempts to recall Mayor Dayne Walling. But earlier this month the Genesee County Election Commission finally approved his recall petition.

Kristen Longley of The Flint Journal reports:

Davenport, who also is the target of a recall attempt, now has 180 days to get more than 8,000 signatures, he said.

"If I have to knock on every door myself, I'm going to get it done," he said.

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Mayoral Recall Effort Sidetracked by Lack of Spellchecker

The Genesee County Election Commission has rejected Flint Board of Education member David Davenport's initial recall petition against Mayor Dayne Walling.

The reason?

He spelled a word wrong.

Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal reports:

The three-member commission said that David Davenport’s language “jeapordizing the safety of the citizens of Flint” wasn’t clear.

“I don’t know what this word is,” David Leyton, Genesee County Prosecutor and an election commission member, said of ‘jeapordizing.’ “Therefore, it’s unclear on it’s face.”

“It’s not a word,” added Jennie Barkey, an election commission member and Genesee Chief Probate Judge.

Davenport — who is facing a recall himself and also working to recall six of his fellow Board of Education members — quickly filed new recall language against the mayor.

Recall Fever and the Flint Board of Education

Who knew the Flint Board of Education was such a volatile group of elected officials?

Last month, the board passed a resolution to censure one of their own members, David Davenport. Laura Misjak of The Flint Journal reports:

"The resolution states specific instances of misconduct, including leaking information to the media about a closed board meeting, verbally assaulting staff during meetings, publicly criticizing board members and soliciting private information about students as though he was approved by the board to do so.

Of course, Davenport should have expected a little hostility after he initiated the process to recall six of his fellow board members last fall. Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal reports:

Davenport, who was elected to the board in May, wants to recall the six members because he believes they are violating a district policy by allowing Superintendent Linda Thompson to hold her position, while her brother Bashir, sits on the board.

Just to keep things interesting, a Flint resident turned around and filed recall petition language against Davenport last month.

"The petition reads that Davenport should be recalled for “A) inappropriately disclosing to the media details of a closed meeting of the board, B) verbally assaulting and insulting staff at board meetings, C) violating board policy by soliciting of private student information, D) violating board policy by publicly criticizing individual board members and E) publicly making derogatory and defamatory remarks, statements about public officials," according to the Journal.

Not to be outdone, Davenport set out to recall Mayor Dayne Walling for “jeopardizing the safety of the citizens of Flint.”

Melissa Burden, who is clearly on the Flint Recall beat, reports:

Davenport said he filed the petition against Walling in response to him last week pink slipping 80 police and firefighters due to city’s budget problems.

“As a leader of the city, for me to allow money to be top priority over the safety of the citizens of the city is ridiculous,” Davenport said.

Making Sense of the Flint Board of Education

Seriously, if anyone can explain the Flint Board of Education to me, I'm all ears. As you may remember, the board opted to close Central High School, then refused to sell it to Powers High for relocation. Now there's a large empty building sitting in the heart of the cultural district.

Now comes this news from Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal:

The Flint Board of Education gave the OK today for two churches to meet for the next year in two closed school buildings.

The board in unanimous vote agreed to renew its lease with Cathedral of Faith Ministries Church of God in Christ at the closed Gundry Elementary School, 6031 Dupont St. on the city's north side.

It also 7-0 voted to a least part of the closed Longfellow Middle School building, 1255 N. Chevrolet Ave., to El Bethel Evangelistic Missionary Baptist Church, which has a Davison address.

Board members David Davenport and Stephanie Robb Martin were absent.

"I like to see the buildings being occupied," said Vera J. Perry, board president. "(I'm) happy to see churches in the buildings."

Really? So why is Central sitting empty while Powers continues to look for a new location?

According to an earlier item in the Journal, the board apparently wants to reopen Central in four years, or tear it down and build a new school. They just need to some how, some way scare up the millions to do it. Is there any plan whatsoever to make this a reality? Can anyone explain what the board is thinking when it comes to Central? And what sort of influence does the mayor's office have over the board?

Family Affair

Flint voters aren't shy about recalling mayors, but what about board of education members?

Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal reports:

The Genesee County Election Commission today approved recall petition language for six Flint Board of Education members...Genesee County Elections Director Doreen Fulcher said [board member David] Davenport has 180 days to collect 8,004 valid signatures for each board member. If he gets enough signatures (they can’t be older than 90 days when he turns them in), the recall could go to ballot.

Davenport, who was elected to the board in May and could not immediately be reached for comment, wants to recall the six members because he believes they are violating a district policy by allowing Superintendent Linda Thompson to hold her position, while her brother Bashir, sits on the board.

Disappearing Schools Map

Here's a map with all the schools slated to be closed by the Flint Board of Education.


View Flint School Closings in a larger map