Unaffirmed signatures de-rail efforts to recall school committee's Kari MacRae

Paul Gately, Special to the Cape Cod Times

Published Feb. 15, 2022 

BUZZARDS BAY – When signing political and legal documents, it pays to literally examine the bottom line.

Bourne Town Counsel Bryan Bertram ruled Feb. 14 that the initial paperwork necessary to recall School Committee member Kari MacRae does not meet Bourne Charter provisions and instructed Town Clerk Barry Johnson not to issue petition documents.

“It looks like there will be no special election,” Johnson said Feb. 15. “The affidavit petition circulated by recall supporters did not include an oath, or affirmation, at the bottom of the signatures on four pages that assures signees knew what they were signing. The affidavit was not submitted in proper legal form.”

Johnson, however, said there is no legal or charter roadblock for the recall process to be re-initiated, a point accentuated by Bertram.

Bertram said four voters did affirm they understood the recall paperwork but for the affidavit to be considered legal, all 250 voters must affirm the content via an oath listed at the bottom of each signature page.

Bertram noted the Bourne decision mirrors a 1975 case involving a recall of town officials in Winchester in which the state Supreme Judicial Court decided “the mere appearance of more than 200 signatures on a document entitled an ‘affidavit’ was not enough, where the signatures were not supported by ‘an oath or its equivalent.’’’

More:Former Bourne school committee member announces recall against Kari MacRae

Johnson sent Bertram’s opinion to School Committee Chairman Emily Berry and Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou. He also notified MacRae, who late last year refused to resign from the school board when pressed by system teachers, administrators, parents and school committee members, who took issue with her social media posts during her uncontested school board candidacy.

MacRae was elected in May 2021 to a three-year term, meaning she will otherwise be up for re-election in 2024.

MacRae lauds affidavit's legal block

MacRae said she is “glad that Barry Johnson did his due diligence and had the (recall) affidavit looked at again. It’s reassuring. I invite any and all residents of Bourne, who have concerns about me being on the school committee, to reach out to me and register those concerns. But nobody from the public is showing up at our meetings to talk about any concerns about me.”

MacRae said a special recall election would cost taxpayers upward of $11,000, and voters should be aware that the coordinators of the effort have already proven that when it comes to complying with charter provisions, their work was “not up to snuff.”

“So you have people willing for the town to spend $11,000 and above to recall Kari MacRae versus the reality that nobody shows up at our meetings to express concerns about me,” MacRae said.

MacRae ran afoul of the school board and system administration last year when, as an uncontested candidate, she posted memes and videos, one outside a polling location where she said she was running “to ensure that students, at least in our town, are not being taught critical race theory,” and “that they’re not being taught that the country was built on racism; so they’re not being taught that they can choose whether or not they want to be a girl or a boy.”

Gender identity may be the key concern of MacRae’s detractors. At issue is the claim that her comment on that front violates the district’s non-discrimination policy. As for critical race theory, high school teachers say it is not being taught.

Former members spearhead recall

Former school committee members Chris Hyldburg and Anne Marie Siroonian have spearheaded the recall, which was launched seemingly with equal parts of enthusiasm, organization and outrage about impacts to the school district’s reputation and adverse effects on students.

Sironnian said if the recall prevails, she will run for MacRae’s seat, adding in the past that holding MacRae accountable for her social media comments is paramount given that it has added stress to the Bourne educational community.

There have been consequences, one prompting the school board to hire a firm to handle publicity related to what has happened on the MacRae front and what still may transpire; even related to MacRae’s lawsuit against Hanover schools, from which she was terminated as a teacher. She says the firing was over her social media posts.

'A violation of free speech':Bourne school board member says she was fired from teaching job over social media posts

Though a special Bourne recall election has been ruled out, a recall question could still be added to the May 17 town election ballot if the effort to remove MacRae resumes and a renewed gathering of signatures fits pre-election timelines.

“It’s a hard thing to go out and get 1,487 recall signatures when you consider what it took to get and validate 250 initial (affidavit) signatures,” MacRae said.

Johnson, meanwhile, said his current operating budget does not include funds to pay for a special election.

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