School board members submit appeal paperwork

The trio of Three Rivers school board members targeted for a recall has appealed a vote taken two weeks ago by the St. Joseph County Election Commission.
On the final day for which the appeal could be filed, Diana DeGraaf, Pete Bennett and Erin Nowak submitted Monday the necessary paperwork to county clerk Lindsay Oswald.
They are appealing a Nov. 18 vote taken during a clarity/factual hearing staged by the election commission. The three-member panel concurred that wording in petitions showed sufficient clarity in stating the reasons for the attempted recall.
An effort earlier this year to recall board members Waneta Truckey, Mike Bosma and Carl Barth failed due to not enough valid signatures by the district’s registered voters. During that process, the three also appealed the election commission’s vote. It was delegated to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Gary Giguere Jr., who ultimately supported the election commission’s decision.
Where the appeal will be handled has yet to be determined, though TR Cares attorney Kelly Ward said she would be surprised if it did not again end up in Kalamazoo County.
Petitions and a valid number of signatures to force the recall matter onto the May ballot are due Jan. 29, Ward said.