August 11, 2006 09:50 PM UTC

D-11 Recall and El Paso County Ballots

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• by: cdsmith

There are two very competitive elections in El Paso County (HD-18 and SD-11) and one race which is competitive in some people’s wishful thinking (CD-5).  Now the ballot has changed in much of the region.  Supporters of the D11 recall have gathered and turned in nearly 20,000 signatures of the 15,000 required, collected by over 500 volunteer petition carriers, to recall school district 11 board members Eric Christen and Sandy Shakes.

School board member Eric Christen has become famous for his criminal record for assault, his tendency to shout at other school board members and at other speakers at board meetings, his physical threats toward other school board members, and for signing a pledge supporting the abolition of public schools and all government spending on education in America.  (In other words, vouchers are too liberal for this guy.)

The recall effort gathered nearly twice as many signatures as the votes Eric received in the 2003 school board race that elected him, despite his support from millionaire developer Steve Schuck.  Sandy Shakes is more popular, but is criticized for wasting $500,000 by championing the hiring and then the immediate firing of short-lived superintendent Sharon Thomas.  The recall also gathered nearly 20,000 signatures for her recall, which is more votes than she received in the 2003 election.

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