School elections examined

After several years of pricy school board elections, the Lake Orion Board of Education is looking at reform.
The recently reelected Jim Weidman presented the board with a proposal that would alter the way elections are run and potentially save the district thousands of dollars each year.
Weidman said they’re ‘going over what [they’ve] done in the past and evaluating costs before and after reform.?
Action could include reducing voting places to one location for all precincts, foregoing elections with unopposed candidates, moving elections to May in odd years and auditing communities? election fees.
‘Fees are passed along to us by municipalities as well as counties,? he said. ‘People view schools as spending this money by choice. That is not the case.?
Orion Township’s clerk, Penny Shults urged the board to consider consolidating precincts in an effort to pinch pennies.
‘Election law gives us the option of opening fewer precincts or consolidating precincts.? However, this option would require a first-class mailing to all affected voters,? she said. ‘Taking into consideration postage costs and possible voter confusion for this election and future elections, the decision was made not to consolidate precincts.?
But according to Shults and Weidman, consolidation may still happen in the future.
As for the widely debated election date, voting will probably keep its home in May for the near future.
‘We’ve talked about the May date and the value of the May date for a variety of reasons,? said Weidman. ‘It coincides with budget year and [there are] political reasons.?
Boardmember Bob Gritzinger is concerned about possible political obstacles like campaign contributions and party alignment if the board moved the election to coincide with the general election.
‘We believe that school election voters deserve to have school issues stand alone ? not politicized, not polluted by partisan politics,? he said.
Weidman also suggested the board also make an audit of the fees local governments charge the district.
Orion Township sold schools enough absentee ballots for a fifty percent turnout at $.24 a piece; Oakland Township charged $ 4,400 and voters cast 64 ballots there; and there were $7,300 in charges from Oakland County, according to Weidman’s report.
‘Personally I’d like to know what’s behind those numbers,? he said.
School Board President Bill Walters was unavailable for comment on possible election changes.
Suggested reforms may not see daylight for several months as the board has until Dec. 31 to make changes. Weidman recommended the first action the board takes is making the move to odd-year May elections.
‘That would give us an immediate 50 percent savings to what our costs are,? he said. ?[We’re] waiting for current election information to make any decisions.?

School elections examined added by Megan Hess on May 20, 2009
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Just a few years back, when school districts were conducting their own elections, Lake Orion’s cost a mere $4,000. Now that municipalities are required to hold elections, LO’s price tag is upwards of $33,000.
What gives, asked School Boardmember Jim Weidman.
‘The real issue is not that the election costing $30,000 is the school district’s fault. In fact, it’s the fault of the people conducting the election. We did it for $4,000. Why does the same election have to cost $30,000?? Weidman said, adding that Oakland Township, where LO school district residents cast 18 votes, charged the district $4,100 for the last election.
‘That’s a problem. It’s the accountability of local government and no one has asked about it,? said Weidman.
To bring local municipalities to the bargaining table over election costs, Boardmember Bob Gritzinger suggested charging them fees for using schools as polling places.
Weidman said, ‘We’ve extended our buildings at no cost to the township for elections on-going. Why can’t we get that consideration in return??
School Board President Mary Jo Burchart said one of the reasons for the price hike in elections is because of the increase in number of precincts to 15.
But even with keeping all 15 precincts, Weidman believes the price tag can still be slashed. He suggested one polling place for all the precincts combined; 85 percent of the votes cast are done so by absentee ballot, and to keep so many polling places open for 15 percent of the votes is absurd.
Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults told the Review in an earlier interview that such a move would result in voter confusion for both the May and subsequent elections, when voters were expected to show up back at their regular precincts.?
‘I would have to mail notice to everyone that their precinct has changed just for that election, and there’s cost involved with mailing,? she said. ‘We showed (the district) it was not a substantial savings because of all the mailing involved.?
Shults said she’s done her best to reduce the district’s bill. For example, the number of workers at each precinct was cut, and Shults, a salaried township employee, got involved with delivering and testing some of the equipment at the precincts.
‘I was able to shave just under $3,000 off what the previous election cost the schools,? she said. ‘We’re doing our best to get (costs) down. I empathize with what they going though. We’re all in that same situation of wanting to control costs.?
But from the standpoint of holding elections, and making sure those elections are run properly, Shults said she intends to maintain the standard.
Boardmember Tiffany Weber-Phillips said she’s interested again in moving to November elections, which could save the district money by rolling its election in with the general election.
But Weidman said the push by local clerks to move to November is a scam. He believes once the district agrees to joining in the November election, local municipalities will charge an even higher bill.
Boardmembers Weidman, Weber-Phillips and Janet Wolverton said they will approach the township again in the interest of reducing election expenses.
– Laura Colvin contributed to this report

School elections examined added by Megan Collier on November 10, 2010
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