Rhetoric heats up as Kennebunk schedules recall vote for RSU 21 School Board

KENNEBUNK, Maine – Recall opponents peppered the town attorney with legal questions this week, as recall supporters pushed back against charges of racism and homophobia.

Both sides seemed to be turning up the heat as an effort to remove RSU 21 School Board member Tim Stentiford from office advances, with a town-wide vote scheduled for late next month.

After wading through a flood of challenges, Town Clerk Merton Brown determined in January the recall petition against Stentiford had enough signatures from registered Kennebunk voters to move forward. A separate recall petition against RSU 21 School Board Chair Art LeBlanc, however, didn't have enough signatures to proceed, Brown said.

This week, Kennebunk resident Chris Babcock was among the recall opponents who questioned Town Attorney Natalie Burns on Tuesday, Feb. 8, about how the town has handled the whole recall process, including the deadlines and protocols the town has enforced.

Babcock noted to Burns that recall proponents were initially given until Dec. 30 to collect signatures and return their petitions to town officials. Recall opponents have criticized the town’s decision to extend that deadline by one day, to Dec. 31.

Burns explained that the town charter says signatures need to be collected and submitted within 30 days after petitions are issued. She said 30 days after Dec. 1 – the date on which the petitions were issued – was Dec. 31.

Burns said Brown had initially identified Dec. 30 as the due date on the petitions because Town Hall was scheduled to be closed on Dec. 31 in recognition of New Year’s Day. When petitioners claimed that was unfair, Burns said she and Brown agreed they had a valid point that they were losing a day.

Burns said Brown resolved the issue “very unselfishly,” by agreeing to go to work on New Year’s Eve because he recognized that it was the 30th day.

“I know the petitions said the 30th,” Burns said. “But the 30th was never the 30th day.”

Babcock also asked Burns whether she believes anyone in town – not just those who had signed the original recall affidavits – were allowed to circulate recall petitions to collect signatures.

Burns replied that the charter is unclear about who can take out a petition and who can circulate one. She said she and Brown determined that only the initial 25 signatories could be given petitions; however, the charter does not say that signatories cannot hand out petitions for signature collections, she added.

“If you look at the language of the charter, it does not say that the original 25 have to circulate the petitions,” Burns said. “It just says they are issued to them. And that did indeed happen.”

Kennebunk resident Norm Archer began the recall process in November, when he filed two affidavits against Stentiford and LeBlanc, alleging poor leadership, contentious behavior toward teachers and parents, a lack of a curriculum committee and increased administrative spending as evidence enough to remove them.

During Tuesday's meeting, resident Susan Bloomfield asked Burns whether she reviewed Archer's affidavits to confirm the accuracy of their claims. Burns replied that she had not.

“From the town’s perspective, a sufficient affidavit is one that is signed under oath,” Burns said. “The town has no ability under the charter to review whether the facts set forth are opinion, whether they are true or not. The town simply has to review whether it’s an affidavit that sets forward some basis for a recall.”

After Burns took the questions, former State Rep. Gary Connors told the select board he took issue with the idea of having the town attorney answer legal questions from the public while litigation against the town is pending.

“(It) really runs the risk that the town attorney says something that tips her hand about our legal strategy,” said Connor, who supports the recall.

Connor praised Burns for “keeping her composure ... and really not tipping her hand.”

Pushing back against claims of racism, homophobia

At recent public forums, opponents have alleged that homophobia and racism are the true reasons behind the the recall. Stentiford is openly gay and is involved in efforts to move RSU 21 and the community toward more diversity, equity and inclusion. Superintendent Terri Cooper, whom Archer described as “unfit” in a letter to supporters, is RSU 21’s first Black leader.

Resident Mary Louise St. Onge made such allegations during a select board meeting on Jan. 27.

“The RSU School Board recall effort in Kennebunk ... is based in racism, homophobia, and the desire to maintain a white, hetero-normative viewpoint,” St. Onge said.

During the select board meeting on Tuesday, Melanee Paul, one of the petitioners, called the accusations a “false narrative.”

“There are over 700 parents, teachers and residents who are trying to tell the town there’s a problem with RSU 21 leadership and the RSU 21 School Board,” Paul said. “Never, not once, has this recall been about race or anti-LGBTQ sentiment.”

Paul said recall opponents, such as a local group called The Upstanders, make such claims to create outrage.

“In their eyes, you either support the board and Dr. Cooper, or you’re illiberal,” she said. “The tactic is used purposefully because it instantly shuts down any possibility of having a discussion about the real issues.”

In a letter to the editor this week, Archer also addressed the allegations of racism and homophobia.

“These claims are both repugnant and lazy,” Archer said.

Court declines to 'hit the pause button'

The school board was dealt a setback when York County Supreme Court Justice Wayne Douglas denied its request for an injunction to halt Kennebunk's recall process.

During a Feb. 2 hearing, Russell Pierce Jr., an attorney for RSU 21, had urged Douglas to grant the school board’s request and “hit the pause button” on the recall. Pierce argues school board members serve the regional school unit, not a municipality, and are therefore not subject to the recall provisions in a town charter.

On the day after the hearing, Douglas ruled that RSU 21 had at that point failed to provide proof of how the school board would be irreparably injured if the recall were allowed to proceed.

“The record before the court contains no supported facts establishing that RSU 21 will be irreparably harmed if the recall process is not enjoined,” Douglas wrote.

News: Kennebunk residents clash over motive behind effort to recall RSU 21 School Board member

In his ruling, Douglas said that the plaintiff in the case is the RSU 21 School Board, not Stentiford. He said the impact of the recall that RSU 21 had been seeking to enjoin was “purely speculative.” If Stentiford were recalled and replaced, the school board would remain fully operational and at full membership capacity, the judge said.

Burns represented Kennebunk during the hearing and argued the town’s position that it has the charter-provided right to recall any elected official, including school board members.

In addition to Kennebunk, the towns of Kennebunkport and Arundel also comprise RSU 21. The school board listed both of those communities as parties of interest in its legal complaint.

Attorney Tom Murphy represented Kennebunkport at the hearing. He said the town had similar language to Kennebunk in its administrative code that allows for the recall of any elected official. He said the town’s select board “wants to preserve its rights.”

Arundel Selectmen Chair Thomas Danylik represented his town at the hearing. Danylik told Douglas that Arundel is an “interested observer at this time.”

In recent weeks, Town Manager Keith Trefethen has described Arundel similarly, saying the legal complaint at hand is specific to Kennebunk. Trefethen also has noted that Arundel’s charter prohibits voters from recalling school board members.

A hearing on RSU 21's legal complaint will be held via Zoom, the online conferencing platform, on Wednesday, March 2, at 1 p.m.

On Tuesday, the Kennebunk Select Board voted 6-1 to schedule a recall election for March 29.

LeBlanc, the school board chair, acknowledged the court's ruling during this week’s select board meeting and noted that the court will hear RSU 21's case “well before the special election date.”

“RSU 21 has been forced to take this action, in light of the town charter interpretation allowing this unfounded recall, filled with gaps that allow misrepresentations and falsehoods, to proceed unchecked,” LeBlanc said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rhetoric heats up as Kennebunk ME schedules school board recall vote