Bloomfield 20/20 Forfeits Signatures Obtained Prior To August 12th to Get an Extension till Nov 12th On Recall Campaign.

The following statement dated Sunday October 16th  appeared on the Bloomfield Hills School Forum website written by Chris Fellin  Bloomfield 20/20.

                      Recall  Status

Chris Fellin The Recall campaign  has momentum

The recall campaign has momentum, and more signatures and completed petitions are coming in on 
a daily basis. Bloomfield 20/20 will continue to collect signatures for the next several weeks. Recall 
supporters have asked us to keep up the effort and continue to keep pressure on the board to act in 
accordance with the November 2010 vote. 


The majority of BHSD taxpayers do not like what the board is doing, and will not approve any new tax 
for a construction project at the Andover site.


On October 18, the $863,114 consultant Fielding Nair will present a plan to the board and public that 
requires new taxes for a $60-million to $70-million construction plan. This for phase 1 only.
Bloomfield 20/20 is outraged and anticipates the community will be outraged, and that many more 
residents will step forward to sign the recall petitions in response.


Bloomfield 20/20 will continue to gather signatures as long as our supporters wish to do so.

Legally the recall signatures must be obtained in a a ninety day period of time. B20/20 is trading the signatures they obtained prior to August 12th for new signatures they hope to obtain between now and November 12th. This may also include signatures of people who signed prior to August 12th who are willing to sign another recall petition dated between August 12th and November 12th.

If B20/20 fails to get the enough signatures by  November 12th they may trade September signatures  received  prior the 12th of that month  for December signatures and extend the recall deadline until December 12th.
To recall  an individual board member B20/20 needs 5266 signatures. To recall all seven 36,862  signatures or seven times 5266 are required.

Kate Pettersen School Board Treasurer  Going or staying ?

As months get traded the date of a possible re-call election gets advanced. B20/20 believes that date of that election would be now be March of 2012.

How many signatures does B20/20 have currently ? The exact number is anybody's guess. The  number is not 36,862. Is it half that ? That would be enough to recall half the board, which Jenny Greenwell, B20/20 leader believes would be a victory. Then the question would then be which half ? School Board member Kate Petersen is moving out of the district. Her husband has accepted a job in another city. The Petersen house, depending on who you talk to has or has not been sold . Treasurer Petersen has expressed a desire "to stay on the board "as long as possible." That possibility  like the B20/20 campaign could be indefinite if Peterson were to rent an apartment or move in with a friend or neighbor.The Bloomfield Hills School Board and the school district has been remarkably indifferent about such arrangement in the the past.

Jenny Greenwell.  Something She Could Live with ?

"She could even move in with us," Jenny Greenwell said when discussing the possibilities  before adding the the caveat "Over my dead body !"

The other school board member considered vulnerable  is  Trustee Robert Herner  who is an appointee for a  past Board Member who who lingered before leaving. The term Herner is serving is ends in 2012.

Vulnerable ?

Street Talk says that if B20/20  had the necessary signatures to recall four of the five other board members (not Petterson or Herner) they would have used them on October 12th. A B20/20 spokesperson they are pulling Peterson and Herner from  future recall  mail out petition packets to save time and money. This prompts  questions about the initial strategy of attempting to the entire recall board.

B20/20 hopes that citizenry will be outraged  by tomorrow night's Fielding Nair presentation at a  7:00  pm  at the Doyle Center. The total Fielding Nair consultancy cost the school district more than $800,000 dollars and it is expected that a $60 to $70 million dollar bond will be  requested to pay for a new Bloomfield Hills High School. If the Bond issue fails the The new Bloomfield High School will operate on the campus of two or more existing schools.

The hoped for  outrage might be less than anticipated however.

"So that's Plan B," Jenny Greenwell said  when informed of the School Board's fall back position should the Bond issue fail.. "I could almost live with that."

You don't say.