Central Arizona College Board of Governors recall, Pinal County, Arizona (2016)

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Central Arizona College Board of Governors recall

Officeholders
Gladys Christensen
Rick Gibson
Rita Nader
Jack Yarrington
Recall status
Resigned
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2015
Recalls in Arizona
Arizona recall laws
School board recalls
Recall reports

Efforts to recall Gladys Christensen (District 1), Rick Gibson (District 3), Rita Nader (District 4) and Jack Yarrington (District 5) from their positions on the five-member board of governors of the Central Arizona College in Pinal County, Arizona, were officially launched on May 26, 2015. The recall petition against Nader was successful, and a recall election for her position was scheduled for March 8, 2016. Nader resigned, however, precluding the necessity of a recall election.[1][2]

Citizens for Fair Taxation, the group behind the recall efforts, filed the petition paperwork in response to the targeted board members' vote on May 19, 2015, to approve a $105 million budget for the college district, which included a property tax increase of $85 per $100,000 of assessed value per year. This 45.7 percent increase brought the district's property tax rate from $175 to $260 per $100,000 of assessed value. This tax hike was later reduced to an increase of $35 per $100,000 of assessed value per year, a 20 percent increase.[3]

The recall petitioners failed to collect enough signatures for the recalls against Rick Gibson and Jack Yarrington. They submitted signatures for the recall against Christensen, and the Pinal County clerk certified the petition. Christenson, however, filed a complaint alleging that some of the certified signatures in her recall petition were invalid. After reviewing the case with their legal counsel, the recall petitioners abandoned the recall effort against Christensen.[4]

In February 2016, Citizens for Fair Taxation announced its intention to again attempt a recall of Christensen. After the board meeting on February 23, where the public comment section was moved to near the end of the meeting agenda, Garland Shreves said, "It was a very clear message from Gladys to the public that she did not care as board president what their views or opinions were about the matters that would be discussed by the board at that meeting."[5]

The targeted board members, their respective districts and the expiration date of their then current six-year terms are listed below:[6]

* Board President Gladys Christensen - District 1 - Term expiration: 2018
* Rick Gibson - District 3 - Term expiration: 2020
* Rita Nader - District 4 - Term expiration: 2016
* Jack Yarrington - District 5 - Term expiration: 2020

Board of Governors Member Debra Banks (District 2) was not targeted by a recall effort because she was the sole dissenter when the board voted on the budget and property tax increase.[3]

The Citizens for Fair Taxation posted the following goal on its website:

“  |

What we can do to change this is to recall the four board members in District 1, 3, 4 and 5 who voted for the increase and replace them with members who will repeal the tax and terminate the college president that encouraged them to do this.[7]

| ”

|
|

—Citizens for Fair Taxation[8]

A recall attempt was launched against board member Rita Nader in 2013 over the issue of a different tax increase approved by the board in July 2013. Backers of that recall effort failed to collect the necessary signatures to trigger a recall election.

When signatures were submitted for the recall efforts against Christensen and Nader, Garland Shreves, an orgnizer of Citizens for Fair Taxation, reported to Ballotpedia that CFFT would reach out to Rick Gibson to see if his attitude about district spending had changed. If Gibson expressed the same philosophy about district taxes, Shreves said his group would launch another recall effort against him.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Recall vote
* 2 Recall supporters
* 2.1 Recall supporter arguments
* 3 Recall opponents
* 3.1 Response by Rita Nader
* 4 Path to the ballot
* 4.1 Christensen's signature challenge
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
* 7 Recent news
* 8 Footnotes

## Recall vote[edit]

A recall vote for Rita Nader's seat was scheduled for March 8, 2016. Rita Nader resigned, however, effective December 3, 2015. Nader cited health problems and a desire to prevent additional election costs for county taxpayers. Pinal County School Superintendent Jill Broussard was tasked with appointing a replacement for Nader to serve out the remainder of her term on the Central Arizona College Board of Governors. She appointed Richard Cassalata to the position in January.[2][5] Cassalata resigned from the board a few months later, in March 2016, saying that it was impossible to enact change while Christensen remained president of the board.[9]

## Recall supporters[edit]

Citizens for Fair Taxation (CFFT) launched this recall effort as a response to a property tax increase approved by the four targeted board members and alleged long-term mismanagement of the district's academic programs and finances.[8]

The Arizona Freedom Alliance also supported this recall effort.[10]

### Recall supporter arguments[edit]

CFFT members claimed that the property tax rate increase approved by the board in May 2015 gave Pinal County the highest property taxes in the state and was harmful to the economy in the whole county. They argued that the increase was irresponsible and would drive businesses and jobs away, including jobs for Central Arizona College graduates. Further, they claimed that the only way to roll back the increase was to remove the board members that voted for it and replace them with members that would rescind the school's budget and tax increase. A summary of the group's position was posted on its website, and an excerpt of the statement is displayed below.[8]

“  |

Citizens For Fair Taxation (CFFT) believe that this is harmful to the citizens of Pinal County.

[...]

Why citizens are against this should be obvious, but we will explain: First, we are already taxed excessively. Secondly, this will discourage businesses from coming to Pinal County. We will lose potential jobs. People looking to relocate will more than likely avoid Pinal County, furthering the housing market slump.

[...]

The CAC boards rational just doesn’t make sense! No college board should be permitted by state statue to sabotage the economic development of the municipalities within the district it serves, like the CAC board has done.

The CAC board was selfish and thoughtless on how this would negatively impact all of us here In Pinal County. On the night they voted for this tax increase they also voted to give the staff at CAC a 4 percent pay increase despite the fact that most Pinal County employees have had less than 3 percent over the last 7 years combined. It just isn’t fair!

What we can do to change this is to recall the four board members in District 1, 3, 4 and 5 who voted for the increase and replace them with members who will repeal the tax and terminate the college president that encouraged them to do this. Their actions have destroyed the trust we placed in them to do the right thing for all of our county.[7]

| ”

|
|

—Citizens For Fair Taxation (CFFT)[8]

Garland Shreves, the chairman of CFFT, said, “What (was the board) thinking? They wanted all of their enchiladas today. They weren’t willing to have a little bit today and let the economy improve — build on that and allow the community to adjust. They are not the only taxing authorities that are going to be coming to the public asking for more money. But like a vacuum (the board) sucked it up.”[3]

Shreves also said, "We support the instution, but we want the institution to be fiscally responsible." He stated that the recall effort was about more than just the property tax increase. He said it was also about the years of mismanagment, both fiscal and academic, that had plagued the district. He made it clear that the CFFT supported candidates that acknowledged the importance of the college system to the community, but could work to run the district efficiently and respond to the needs of the students. Shreves argued that the targeted administration kept unprofitable, unused programs and neglected practical and highly demanded career-oriented and technical programs.[1]

Shreves responded to Rita Nader's statement about the recall, in which she said the recall was being run by "out-of-state infiltrators," by saying, “My family has lived here since 1929. I was born and raised here. Unlike Mrs. Nader, who is out-of-state herself, I’m tied to the community, where she doesn’t even live in District 4, and that is a ridiculous statement for a public official to make on an official ballot.”[11]

## Recall opponents[edit]

### Response by Rita Nader[edit]

In her official response to the recall petition filed with the Pinal County clerk's office, Nader called the recall petitioners “transplanted out-of-state infiltrators.” An excerpt of her statement is below:

“  |

My credentials are impeccable; my desire to serve is unwavering. CAC’s accomplishments under my watch are legend. I humbly seek your vote; please allow me to safeguard and maintain our community college. Past, present and future students and stakeholders are worth the time; they are worth the cost.

[...]

He [Garland Shreves] insults and disparages the college president and board members. This transplanted, bullying political wannabe, in his intended role of college Godfather, ensures ruin for CAC.[7]

| ”

|
|

—Rita Nader[11]

## Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing recall in Arizona

For successful recall petitions, signatures equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the preceding election for each relevant board of governors district candidates needed to be collected from voters registered in each of the targeted officials' districts. The signature requirements for each targeted Central Arizona College board member were:[3]

* Gladys Christensen - District 1: 2,200
* Rick Gibson - District 3: 2,859
* Rita Nader - District 4: 1,326
* Jack Yarrington - District 5: 3,678

The deadline to submit the signature petitions was September 24, 2015. The earliest possible recall election date was March 8, 2016, which was the date scheduled for the recall election for Rita Nader. In Arizona recall elections, the targeted official runs against other qualified candidates. Whoever receives the most votes finishes out the term of office. If the targeted official receives the most votes during the recall election, he or she is retained and cannot be recalled again during the remainder of the term.[3]

Before the signature submission deadline on September 24, 2015, Garland Shreves, an organizer of the recall efforts, announced that the recall petitioners had collected more than the required number of signatures for the petitions targeting Gladys Christensen and Rita Nader. The group submitted 2,599 signatures for the recall against Christensen and 1,846 signatures for the recall against Nader. These signatures needed to be verified by elections officials before recall elections could be triggered. In late October 2015, the Pinal County clerk certified 2,217 of the submitted signatures for Christensen's recall, 17 more than the minimum required threshold. A more comfortable margin was found for Nader's recall petition, in which the clerk found 1,525 valid signatures. Christensen, however, filed a complaint alleging that some of the signatures ruled valid by the clerk were, in fact, invalid. After the legal arguments were made, recall petitioners abandoned Christensen's recall. Thus, the recall targeting Rita Nader qualified for the ballot, while the recall efforts targeting Jack Yarrington, Gladys Christensen and Rick Gibson failed. Rita Nader resigned effective December 3, 2015. She cited health problems and a desire to save election costs for county taxpayers.[1][12][13]

### Christensen's signature challenge[edit]

Christensen alleged that Barbara Manning, one of the recall petitioners that collected signatures for her recall, left signature petition sheets unattended and submitted signatures that were filled in during her absence. Since petitioners are personally required to witness each signing of the petition, Christensen argued that all of the signatures collected by Manning should be thrown out. After reviewing the case with their legal counsel, the leaders of the recall petition campaign settled with Christensen and abandoned the effort.[4]

Garland Shreves, chairman of Citizens for Fair Taxation, responded, “At the end of the day, if there is merit to her case, then I respect that. However, I can say that I or anyone within our committee would never intentionally or maliciously violate the process. The reason why she is trying to do this is because this is a last-ditch effort on her part because she knows that the voters will not keep her in office and therefore that is why she is going before the courts.”[4]

## See also[edit]

* Recall campaigns in Arizona
* Political recall efforts, 2015
* Political recall efforts, 2016
* Special district recalls
* Rita Nader recall, Central Arizona College, Arizona (2013)

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Central Arizona College website
* Citizens for Fair Taxation website

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Central Arizona College Board of Governors Recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Central Arizona College Board of Governors recall, Pinal County, Arizona (2016) - Google News

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ballotpedia staff writer Josh Altic, "Telephone interview with Garland Shreves," September 24, 2015
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pinal County Elections Office, "Pinal County School Office Memo about Nader's resignation," November 24, 2015
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Casa Grande Dispatch, "Recall effort started over tax increase," May 28, 2015
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 CopaMonitor.com, "Central Arizona College: Effort to recall board president dropped," November 10, 2015
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Casa Grande Dispatch, "Group says it will try again to recall pres," February 27, 2016
6. ↑ Central Arizona College, "Board of Governors," accessed June 8, 2015
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Citizens for Fair Taxation, "Home," accessed June 8, 2015
9. ↑ Casa Grande Dispatch, "Cassalata resigns from CAC board," April 1, 2016
10. ↑ Arizona Freedom Alliance, "Home," accessed June 8, 2015
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Casa Grande Dispatch, "Member of board blasts recall effort," November 12, 2015
12. ↑ In Maricopa, "Activists claim enough signatures to recall Nader from CAC board (video)," September 12, 2015
13. ↑ Casa Grande Dispatch, "CAC recall petitions certified," October 26, 2015

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