RAYMOND, Wis. — Raymond School Board members Gwen Keller and Jenell Wise have officially challenged more than 170 signatures on the recall petitions against them.
School Board Clerk Amanda Falaschi has until Jan. 18 to either certify the recall or uphold Keller’s and Wise’s challenges, in which case the recall effort would effectively conclude.
Reasons for the recall refuted
Raymond Community for Truth and Transparency assembled the recall petitions and canvassed the village for the 497 signatures required to recall Keller and Wise. On Dec. 18, the group returned 666 and 667 signatures, respectively, for review.
Mitchell Berman told Racine County Eye that recalling Keller and Wise is the first step in returning Raymond School to a more peaceful, supportive environment for students.
Berman and other parents say Keller, in particular, violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law and overstepped her board member duties by discriminating against former Principal Jeff Peterson, injecting politics into what is a non-partisan board, and introducing an atmosphere of negativity with an adverse effect on students.
Keller and Wise hosted a meeting at Village Hall on Dec. 28 during which residents were invited to submit a notarized affidavit to the district to have their names removed from the recall petitions if they felt circulators had misled them.
They advertised the meeting in part through a mailer that may have been illegal. According to state statute §11.1303(2)(a), any material distributed by or for a campaign must include attribution. It must be clear to the recipient who paid for the communication, which is why political ads on television include language about who paid for it.
In response to Racine County Eye’s inquiry about who paid for the mailer, Wise said via email that various community members donated the time and materials.
“We are collecting the appropriate paperwork to document/report in accordance with state campaign finance law,” she wrote. “No district funds or resources were used.”
Hosting the meeting at the Village Hall is also problematic. Even though Wise paid for their time there, state statute prohibits using public buildings for campaign events.
The mailer details where the recall committee allegedly got it wrong:
- Keller not fulfilling BOE clerk duties in the Spring 2023 election recount.
- Response: She was out of town and the recount itself is not being challenged.
- Keller doesn’t publish meeting agendas and minutes.
- Response: Minutes are taken by district staff, approved by the board, and published accordingly.
- Keller and Wise failed to approve state-mandated curriculum.
- Response: Social-emotional learning is not state-mandated, and the district ended its contract with Second Step because parents lacked the ability to review materials that included “sensitive” topics. A new, character-based curriculum was approved in November.
- Keller and Wise failed to approve the 2023-2024 handbook.
- Response: There was concern about how the new handbook was edited, and the board voted to keep the existing handbook in place until updates can be reviewed and approved, possibly at the Jan. 18 board meeting.
- Wise allowed former Superintendent Michael Garvey to assume “a statutorily prohibited role that interferes with the duties of the board.”
- Response: Garvey acted in accordance with state statutes § 118.24 and § 123.13(1)(b).
- Keller and Wise discriminated against former Principal Jeff Peterson because of sexual orientation.
- Response: That they would discriminate against anyone based on their gender, sexual orientation or other protected classification is “ridiculous and extremely disappointing.”
- Keller and Wise violate open meetings law.
- Response: Board retreats are training opportunities and not subject to open meetings law because district business is not discussed.
According to documents obtained by Racine County Eye, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office investigated Berman’s open meetings law complaint and found no wrongdoing. Berman has asked investigators to take another look because he said he has evidence that certain individuals lied when they were interviewed about the matter.
Recall signatures challenged
Keller and Wise filed their challenges for more than 170 signatures each on Dec. 28, bringing the number of signatures they believe to be valid down to 493, below the necessary threshold of 497.
“The entire justification for the recall is a misrepresentation,” Wise stated in her challenge. “The actual purpose for the recall is that this group don’t (sic) like the decisions I am making and are using any talking point they can come up with to discredit me.”
Reasons for challenging signatures include signers not living in the Raymond school district, duplicate names, signers using fake addresses, and petition circulators misrepresenting the reason(s) for the recall petition, according to the documents filed by both Keller and Wise with the district.
Responses filed
The recall committee filed its reply to Keller’s and Wise’s challenges on Jan. 2, urging Falaschi to certify the full slate of signatures after addressing each one of Keller’s and Wise’s points, including:
- Individuals from outside the district
- Response: The committee went door-to-door and spoke to each signer, all of whom live within the district’s boundaries.
- Duplicate names
- Response: Fathers and sons often live at the same address and are both qualified electors.
- Fake addresses
- Response: Signers may rent a property, so their names wouldn’t appear on property tax records. Spouses don’t always share property ownership and wouldn’t be listed on property tax rolls.
- Misrepresenting the purpose of the petition
- Response: The committee stressed that the purpose of the recall was to unseat Keller and Wise, and the statements on the petition say so and were represented to district residents as such.
According to the Wisconsin Election Commission’s Recall of Local Elected Officials manual, Keller and Wise had two business days to file their final response.
Wise sent her reply to Falaschi via email to Racine County Eye, highlighting her knowledge of at least three individuals who filed affidavits saying the purpose of the recall was misrepresented to them.
“I urge (Falaschi) to take the full time allotted to do a thorough review of the signatures presented considering the inconsistencies we presented in our files,” she wrote. “I know of at least three affidavits … indicating there may be a broader concern with the integrity of some of the circulators of the petition.”
She concludes, “We owe it to our fellow neighbors and taxpayers to ensure that this process is thoroughly vetted.”
Racine County Eye also reached out to Gwen Keller, who echoed Wise’s sentiments in her response to Falaschi and included a detailed rebuttal list of nine points the recall committee made.
Falaschi has 31 days from the date signatures were submitted, or until Jan. 18, to certify the recall.
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