Recall effort against Patapow ends

An effort to recall Poway Unified School District Board of Education member Andy Patapow has ended.

Keith Wilson, who has headed up the Committee to Recall Patapow, said the withdrawal of its petition was due to several factors, including the cost of an election to taxpayers and Patapow’s decision not to run for reelection.

“In light of the fact that Mr. Patapow has promised not to seek re-election, the Committee to Recall Andy Patapow has been persuaded that its resources are better directed at recruiting a candidate to replace Patapow in November,” said Wilson in a press release.

The campaign to recall Patapow began in September and aimed to remove Patapow due to his support of the use of capital appreciation bonds to help finance the renovation of older campuses in the district, which he voted for in 2010 and 2011. Patapow is the only member of the 2011 board still serving.

The committee’s press release also states that as one of the major objectives of the recall effort was to oust Collins.

Collins has not officially announced that he plans to retire or leave the district; however, he and the school board have both hired their own legal representation and have been engaging in closed-session meetings that are speculated to be about Collins’s departure from the district. His current contract expires June 2017.

Wilson also said that the committee agreed that there was no need to “throw away good money” on a recall election when Patapow will be leaving the board in November. “We agreed that it was a shame to waste money since November is moving in fast,” he said.

In order to secure a spot on the June ballot, the committee would have had to obtain 10,767 valid signatures from registered voters living in the district and have had all the signatures verified by late April. If they missed this deadline, a special election would have to be held at great cost to the district.

On Monday, Wilson estimated that the group had collected approximately 8,000 signatures by the end of December.

The Registrar of Voters estimated in January that it could cost the district between $540,000 to $640,000 to hold a special election to recall Patapow.

Instead, the press release said, the committee will now focus on the future and “ensure a functioning board that truly values our students, and exhibits honesty, integrity, transparency, duty and fiscal responsibility.”

The committee is currently seeking qualified prospective candidates to run for election to the school board in November. Those interested in potential endorsement and campaign support should contact recallpatapow@aol.com or visit www.recallpatapow.com.