Recall petition gets approved

SANDPOINT — A recall drive against Lake Pend Oreille School Board Chairman Steve Youngdahl has been authorized by the county.

According to Bonner County Clerk Ann Dutson-Sater, recall supporters successfully collected the requisite number of signatures to set the process in motion. County clerk employees confirmed Tuesday a total 107 signatures as belonging to registered voters within school district Zone 5, a figure slightly in excess of the 104 signature requirement.

With all paperwork filed and ready to go, the county’s next step is to send out letters — likely mailed Tuesday — to the school district, recall petitioners and Youngdahl. Upon receipt of the letter, Youngdahl has five days to file for resignation. If he declines to do so, the school district must order a special election for March 11 to let Zone 5 voters decide the issue.

“We should know by the end of the year whether we’re going to need a special election or not,” Dutson-Sater said.

According to Tom Bokowy, one of the recall drive organizers, the biggest challenge in signature collecting was simply verifying that all individuals were qualified to participate. After submitting more than 120 signatures last week, the county confirmed that only 99 were valid. That meant at least five more had to be obtained before the Dec. 27 deadline. A few days later, recall supporters had all they legally needed to begin the process.

Bokowy and several other local parents launched the recall drive following Youngdahl’s controversial proposal to train and arm school staff. They took issue with the data he presented to support the policy, which they believe comes from a biased and untrustworthy source. Bokowy said they decided to file the recall signatures because they weren’t satisfied by Youngdahl’s defense of the data, which he said included vetting by an unnamed Homeland Security associate. While Youngdahl said this individual analyzed the data at a public meeting in a letter to the editor, he didn’t set up a meeting between him and the recall supporters, according to Bokowy.

Youngdahl counters that the data he presented is still valid to his goals, which was to begin gauging community reaction to the proposal. Since investigation into an armed staff policy was suggested by trustees at a January school board meeting, he said he was simply doing his job as board chairman.