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The Board of Education was presented with a petition to rescind the library vote in Monday's Lansing school board meeting.  Resident Dan Pace presented the board with a 138 signature petition to invalidate the 686 to 621 vote that created a Lansing public library last week.  "We feel that democracy did not work, because we're finding that there were potentially voters that were not from the district," Pace told the board.  "We question the absentee ballots.  We also question that nobody verified all the voting to make sure that people actually voted in the community."

Pace blamed what he called a vote that 'does not pass the smell test' on the system the Lansing schools have been using for years. He said that anyone can sign the book without proving that they are eligible to vote in the district.  He called for a new system in which voters would not only sign, but verify their eligibility with valid identification that proves they are a registered voter in the district.

School Board President Tom Keane told Pace that the board has been thinking along similar lines since last year.  "We've had public conversations at this level," he said.  "We've had some preliminary conversations with our attorney about the process of changing how we vote.  We dropped it this summer and fall.  We had to pick our priorities, and with a superintendent search under way, trying to hire a business administrator, and making sense of our budget, those obviously took our entire attention."

Library Chairwoman Marlaine Darfler agreed with the election issues, but argued against sacrificing the library.  "I agree 100% with the voting issues that have come up," she said.  "I want to go on the record as saying I would hate to see the library become the sacrificial lamb.  Because I see that library with kids and seniors and art shows and books.  We work with the schools, and the girl scouts are there, and the tutors from the schools are there.  It's a place for Internet, it's a place for people who can't afford books.  It brings so much to a town."

School Board (Left to right) David Dittman, Anne Drake, Tom Keane, Interim Superintendent Tom helmer, Mike Cheatham, Glenn Swanson, Bonita Lindberg

Resident and Lansing Deputy Highway Superintendent Charlie Purcell said that there were several problems with the list residents signed when they came to vote.  "There are several people that put no address whatsoever, or incomplete addresses," he noted.  "From my knowledge of the district I found several people that voted whose residences are out of the Lansing School District."

That could force a revote.  But school board members said they would have to consult with the school district's attorney before deciding whether to challenge the results.  The form of such a challenge was also unclear.  "Only legal counsel can tell us how you challenge it and in what timeframe," said board member Bonita Lindberg.

"Obviously we will need to consult with our attorneys about the situation, and move forward from there," Keane said.

Purcell said that there is also a question about whether absentee ballots may be counted in a school district vote.  Pace said he wants to meet with the new superintendent Stephen Grimm and Senator Michael Nozzolio after New year to discuss what is legal and proper in school district voting.  "I want Lansing to become a registered school district where everybody that votes on this school budget, future library budgets if the revote goes through, that it is registered voters,  U.S. citizens, and taxpayers of this district," Pace said.

"I'd hate to give back a library that's totally renovated, and give away 14,000 books," Darfler said.  "I'd rather all get together and look at the way we are voting.  We've worked very hard for seven years to bring you everything that's sitting there now.  We'd love the support, and I'm sorry that we all got up in an issue that was not our intention.  Our intention was to bring books to kids, so lets look at how we vote and not try to kill the library."

Pace focussed on the voting issue, but was clearly unhappy with the result.  But he said that with a voting procedure voters could trust rescinding the library vote would be a non-issue.  "If you had a fair vote, we would not be sitting here tonight," he said.  "It would make a lot of people in Lansing feel a lot more comfortable when they come down to Lansing schools to vote.  Either way, whichever side of the aisle you are on -- yes or no on the vote -- you're going to be happy that it was conducted the right way."

Interim Superintendent Thomas Helmer consulted the school attorney Tuesday and is waiting for a determination.  "This will take some time, and some research and discussion," Keane said.

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