Village council recall, Sand Lake, Michigan (2021-2022)

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Sand Lake village council recall

Officeholders
Rachel Gokey

Mollie Doerr
Marcia Helton

Stacy Rudicil

Recall status
Recall approved (Gokey)

Did not go to a vote (Doerr)

Did not go to a vote (Helton & Rudicil)
Recall election date
November 2, 2021
Signature requirement
25% of votes cast at previous gubernatorial election
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2022
Recalls in Michigan
Michigan recall laws
City council recalls
Recall reports

An election to recall Village Trustee Rachel Gokey was held on November 2, 2021, in Sand Lake, Michigan.[1][2] Voters approved the recall, electing Jack Christensen to the seat by a margin of 75% to 25%.[3]

Two additional, separate recall campaigns did not qualify for the May 2022 ballot after organizers failed to submit signatures by the deadline of January 28, 2022.[4] The first campaign was aimed at recalling Trustees Marcia Helton and Stacy Rudicil.[5] The second campaign was aimed at recalling Village Board President Mollie Doerr.[6]

## Contents

* 1 Recall vote
* 2 Gokey recall
* 2.1 Recall supporters
* 2.2 Recall opponents
* 2.3 Path to the ballot
* 3 Helton and Rudicil recall
* 3.1 Recall supporters
* 3.2 Recall opponents
* 3.3 Path to the ballot
* 4 Doerr recall
* 4.1 Recall supporters
* 4.2 Path to the ballot
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
* 7 Footnotes

## Recall vote[edit]

General election

##### Special general election for Village of Sand Lake Board of Trustees

Jack Christensen defeated incumbent Rachel Gokey in the special general election for Village of Sand Lake Board of Trustees on November 2, 2021.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Jack Christensen (Nonpartisan)  |

75.2

| 88

| Rachel Gokey (Nonpartisan)  |

24.8

| 29

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source

| Total votes: 117

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

## Gokey recall[edit]

### Recall supporters[edit]

Resident Jack Christensen initiated the recall effort.[1] The text of the recall petition appears below:

“  |

Trustee Gokey refused to sign the social media policy that was passed by the Village Council on February 15, 2021 and is the only member of Council that has refused to sign and follow the policy; Trustee Gokey was censured by the Village Council on May 17, 2021.[7]

| ”

|
|

The council meeting minutes from February 15, 2021, can be found here. Minutes from the meeting on May 17 can be found here.

### Recall opponents[edit]

Gokey gave the following statement: "I’m planning to appeal the findings of the election commission. ... However, I am fine to appear on the ballot again and talk with voters about the steps I have taken to hold the Council accountable.”[1]

### Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

Resident Jack Christensen filed a petition with the Kent County Clerk's Office, initiating the recall process on May 24, 2021. Organizers had to collect 48 signatures, which represented 25% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. The submission deadline was July 30, 2021.[1] The recall petition was approved on August 25 and the election scheduled for November 2.[2]

The filing deadline to run in the election passed September 3, 2021.

## Helton and Rudicil recall[edit]

### Recall supporters[edit]

The recall was initiated by former Sand Lake Trustee Glen Baker, who offered the following grounds for the campaign against Helton:[5]

“  |

On January 18, 2021, the governing body of the Village of Sand Lake voted to pay the Kent County Drain Commission special assessment on a 10 year payment plan so as to manage its cash flow. Contrary to the vote of the governing body, in its management of cash its affairs, Marcia Helton, consciously disregarded the official action by preparing and signing a check for payment in full ($87,253.18) of the special assessment.[7]

| ”

|
|

The recall petition against Rudicil read:Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

“  |

On March 25, 2021, Village Trustee Stacy Rudicil voted to terminate the DPW Supervisor’s employment contract, which created instability in the maintenance and distribution of the Village of Sand Lake’s water system. Her vote resulted in a breach of contract claim filed by the former Supervisor.[7]

| ”

|
|

### Recall opponents[edit]

Helton gave the following response to the recall campaign:[5]

“  |

In the February meeting minutes you will find the council voted to pay the Kent County Drain Commission bill to save the Village quite a bit of interest and the Village had the money to pay. The savings was over $15,000. I voted to pay the bill to save the Village interest.[7]

| ”

|
|

Rudicil commented on the recall campaign to the Cedar Springs Post, saying:[5]

“  |

I, along with other members of the Village Council, received a report from the Village Attorney that the former DPW Director’s contract with the former Village Council was not authorized by law. Based on that, and the repeated actions of the former DPW Director, his employment with the Village was terminated. The former DPW Director’s lawsuit against the Village is groundless.[7]

| ”

|
|

### Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

The Kent County Elections Commission approved the petitions for circulation on September 7, 2021.[5]

The recall did not qualify for the May 2022 ballot after organizers failed to submit signatures by the deadline of January 28, 2022.[4]

## Doerr recall[edit]

### Recall supporters[edit]

Jeff Gokey initiated the recall effort against Doerr. The text of the recall petition appears below:[6]

“  |

President Doerr violated the provisions of the Michigan election law by signing a recall petition for a trustee twice. First on July 26, 2021 as Mollie Doerr and again on July 28, 2021 as Mollie McClellan. Both signatures were rejected by Kent County.[7]

| ”

|
|

### Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

Gokey filed the recall petition language on September 29, 2021. The petition was approved for circulation in October. Organizers needed to collect 48 signatures.[6] The recall did not qualify for the May 2022 ballot after organizers failed to submit signatures by the deadline of January 28, 2022.[4]

## See also[edit]

* Recall campaigns in Michigan
* Political recall efforts, 2021
* Political recall efforts, 2022
* City council recalls

## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic
* Village of Sand Lake, Michigan

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cedar Springs Post, "Recall petition filed for Sand Lake trustee," June 11, 2021
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cedar Springs Post, "Recall petition approved for Sand Lake trustee," August 26, 2021
3. ↑ Election Reporting, "Kent County Village of Sand Lake Trustee (Partial Term)," accessed November 3, 2021
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ballotpedia Staff, "Email communication with Kent County Clerk / Register of Deeds Office," February 7, 2022
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Cedar Springs Post, "Recalls filed against Sand Lake trustees," September 17, 2021
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cedar Springs Post, "Recall filed for Sand Lake Village president," November 19, 2021
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

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