By Kate Stockrahm
The Genesee County Election Commission voted 2-0 to approve recall language filed against Mott Community College (MCC) Trustees Janet Couch, John Daly III, and Wendy Wolcott on Aug. 1, 2024.
The language, filed by Flint resident and MCC adjunct instructor Patrick Hayes in mid-July, cites the trustees’ July 15 vote “to approve a contract for interim president of Mott Community College with Shaunda Richardson-Snell.”
At the time of filing, Hayes told East Village Magazine that the three trustees’ vote in favor of Richardson-Snell, whose credentials were questioned by dozens of MCC staff, students and the greater community, “felt really undemocratic.”
Given the commission’s approval, Couch, Daly and Wolcott now have 10 days to file an appeal of the decision with the circuit court. After that time, assuming no appeals are filed, Hayes will be able to begin gathering signatures — and he’ll need a lot of them.
“It’s 44,880 signatures,” explained Genesee County Clerk/Registrar Domonique Clemons on Aug. 1. “It’ll be the same [amount] for each [petition], because the districts are the same.”
Clemons noted that the recall language remains good for 180 days, but signatures collected must all come from the same 60 day window within that timeframe to be considered valid.
Hayes told EVM when he filed the language that he knew pursuing a county-wide recall would be a lot of work, but it would be valuable even if he ends up unable to gather the number of signatures necessary to get all three trustees on a recall ballot.
“It’s a good reminder to pay attention to local elections and local races that aren’t always on everyone’s radar,” Hayes said on July 16. “It’s a good reminder for all of us, so that we don’t find ourselves in a situation where you have to take a drastic step like trying to trying to organize a recall. It’s just a good reminder to pay attention to who you elect, pay attention to the important issues in those races and just make sure that you’re putting people in positions to actually take care of the things that are really valuable in our community.”
Another MCC trustee, Art Reyes, is also facing possible recall.
Petition language seeking recall for Reyes, who voted against Richardson-Snell’s appointment last month, was filed on July 23 by Flint resident Angela Green-Harden. The Genesee County Election Commission is set to review that language on Aug. 8 at 8 a.m.
