Voters soundly recalling 3 Richland school officials after they defied WA mask mandate

Three Richland School Board members will be out of office in the next two weeks if election night voting trends hold as expected.

Initial Aug. 1 primary results show voters were clearly voting to oust Kari Williams, Audra Byrd and Semi Bird in a school district recall election.

That would make them the first elected officials from the Richland district to lose office by recall.

The board members would need an overwhelming number of the remaining ballots in order to make up the difference after Tuesday night’s count.

Each was trailing by more than 1,400 votes.

Benton County Elections Division estimates there are 3,500 more ballots left to count across all elections, making it unclear how many of those are voters in the school district. Another tally was expected to be released by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2.

The official results so far showed:

• Audra Byrd: 56% (7,694 votes) in favor of recall, 44% (5,993 votes) against.

• Semi Bird: 56% (7,725 votes) in favor of recall, 44% (5,971 votes) against.

• Kari Williams: 55% (7,581 votes) in favor of recall, 45% (6,118 votes) against.

“We hope that the resolution of the recall process gives the community some closure. It’s time to put our differences aside and turn our attention to supporting RSD students, families and schools,” petitioner Elizabeth Lugo, with the Richland School Board Recall campaign, said in a statement Tuesday.

The county mailed out nearly 60,000 ballots for the primary election, with most — nearly 53,000 — being mailed to voters within the Richland School District.

Recall elections need to receive 50%, plus 1 vote, in order to successfully oust an elected official.

Any school board member who are recalled must vacate their position by the time Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton certifies the election Aug. 15.

“It’s too early to make a statement. Every vote counts,” Williams said in a Tuesday text message.

A successful recall does not preclude a school board member from running for office again. The only one of the three on the current ballot for a 2024 term is Kari Williams.

Challenger Katrina Waters was far ahead in the primary race for Williams’ seat. Williams was narrowly leading her Republican-endorsed challenger Aaron Riggs by about 400 votes to decide who will face off with Waters in November.

In addition to Williams’ race, early results suggest that the recall helped buoy support for more moderate candidates in the other two races for seats on the Richland School Board. Chelsie Beck and incumbent Jill Oldson were leading by wide margins in their respective races.

Two of the three candidates endorsed by the Benton County Republican Party — Nino Kapitula and Gene Nemeth — also appear to be moving on to the general election.

A long recall

Tuesday’s vote marked the end of a 16-month effort to remove the trio from office.

The recall was the result of February 2022 Richland School Board split 3-2 vote to go against the state’s indoor mask mandate in schools.

Each of the three who voted for lifting the mandate faced three recall charges by a citizen’s group. They accused Bird, Byrd and Williams of:

• Violating Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) by taking final action on a matter not included on a published meeting agenda.

• Violating state law on masking at the time, exceeding their powers and responsibilities as school board members.

• Violating district policies and procedures by failing to assure compliance with laws and policies.

Legal and financial jeopardy

The vote put the school district’s state resources and funding at risk, and ultimately led to the superintendent closing school for two full days until the action was reversed.

Opponents of the recall say the action is frivolous and expensive, and that the charges levied against the school board members don’t hold merit.

In April 2022, Mike Lawrence, Brian Brendel, Bradley Rew and Anthony Peurrung filed petitions with the Benton County Auditor’s Office to remove the trio from office. Rew, a Tri-City entrepreneur and businessman, later reported anonymous death threats to the police that he believed he received due to his involvement.

Superior Court Judge Norma Rodriguez found that most of the charges met the state’s standard for recall. She narrowed the language and also eventually threw out a charge — based on a lack of evidence that there was a quorum — that alleged the trio had engaged in a rolling meeting.

The three appealed Rodriguez’s decision to the Washington State Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld the charges, and in an opinion said the three board members were “knowingly defying a law with which they disagreed” when they made their mask vote and that they believed they did not give the public proper notice.

The group and school district also was briefly entangled in a lawsuit. Arthur West, an Olympia-based open government advocate, accused them of failing to provide sufficient notice to the public as required under state law about the mask vote and that the final vote was out of compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act. A settlement of $5,000 was eventually agreed to.

The recall remains an undercurrent in Semi Bird’s 2024 bid for state governor. He has attracted attention from Republicans across Washington and continues to be the party’s financial front runner, although former Rep. Dave Reichert, who threw his hat into the race last month, appears to be the more moderate GOP favorite.

Regardless of the recall outcome, Bird plans to leave his seat on the school board at the end of this year to focus efforts on his gubernatorial run.

In a statement released before results were out, Bird’s campaign scolded the recall and said he was being targeted for standing up for parents rights and students.

“I made a promise to the voters of Richland and I keep my promises,” Bird said. “Liberal policies in our schools continue to prove disastrous for student mental health and overall academic competency. If I am to be recalled for my decision to stand for parents’ rights and the health and well being of our children, I will wear it like a badge of honor.”

What’s next?

Updated election results will be published daily by the Benton County Elections Division until all the ballots are tallied.

Voters can check the status of their ballot online at voters.votewa.gov.

Voters will be notified by phone and email if the signature on their ballot is challenged. If a voter fails to respond by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 14, the ballot will be forwarded to the Benton County Canvassing Board for a final review.