March 7 Mascot Workshop For The Electoral College Of School Boards -- Who Will Recuse?

Alleged fake Native American Mark "OneWolf" Yancey with school board member Jennifer Poirier following the Native American Guardian Association (NAGA) meeting with Skowhegan "Indian Pride" (SIP) group February 24, 2019 (photo from the SIP Facebook group)

There are several members of the school board with the last high school Native mascot in Maine who should be recusing themselves from any vote held this Thursday, March 7 at their 7pm meeting.

Top of the list is Jennifer Poirier who organizes the group Skowhegan "Indian Pride" and who convened the recent meeting with NAGA at the local bowling alley. A February screenshot from her Facebook group is evidence of her bias and why she should recuse herself according to board policy:

Apologies for the use of the R****** slur in this screenshot.

Todd Smith and Karen Smith are married and derive income from selling "Indians" sports gear at his local business, Maine Fire Equipment. They, too, should recuse themselves from a vote due to their pecuniary interest in the outcome, as noted in the guidelines provided to school boards by their law firm Drummond Woodsum.

From Todd Smith's Maine Fire Equipment website

Harold Bigelow should recuse himself because he, too, has indicated bias, and voting on the mascot would violate board policy. From the Waterville Morning Sentinel article of May 4, 2015, "SAD 54 residents argue over keeping Indian mascot for school teams":

Harold Bigelow, of Skowhegan, told the assembly of more than 60 people that there are Native Americans “who side with us” in support of keeping Skowhegan the Indians.  

“The natives today are being compensated for their past with entitlements and free education,” Bigelow said. “I personally feel they ought to focus on their own problems within, rather than creating problems for others. It is definitely not racist. Do what is right — this is our history, not theirs.”

Lynda Quinn should probably recuse herself, too, as she has been vocal in the past about her adherence to the current mascot. From the Portland Press Herald article November 12, 2017, "Mascot still in play at schools in Skowhegan":

As for the teams’ nickname, is there a chance for another vote? 

“From my perspective, no, I don’t think so – I think that was put to rest,” Quinn said. “My question is I don’t know what’s wrong with the name ‘Indian.’ It’s not making fun of anyone. It’s not disrespectful. I just don’t understand why they’re so opposed to the name ‘Indian.’ ”

Note to Ms. Quinn: why are Maine's four tribes all opposed to the name? Possibly because of tweets like this:

We’re on the warpath now! #Skowhegan #IndianPride #mepolitics https://t.co/p1irfJu56t

— Skowhegan GOP (@SkowheganGOP) March 2, 2019

And from the Lewiston Sun Journal article June 17, 2018, "Skowhegan last Maine school to retain Native American Mascot":

There are 11 members left on the 23-member SAD 54 school board that voted 11-9 to keep the Indians nickname in May 2015. Of those 11 members, eight of them voted to keep the name. In district elections held on Tuesday, four incumbent school board members were re-elected, unopposed on the ballot. Two of those re-elected Tuesday — Lynda Quinn and Harold Bigelow — are staunch supporters of keeping the Indians nickname.

Aren't board members allowed to have an opinion? Of course they are and of course they will. But bias means not being open to hearing all sides of an argument and possibly changing one's mind.

Tracking any vote taken this week will be difficult. While the 2015 vote was reported as 11-9 for keeping the mascot, this is somewhat misleading. Maine Administrative School District (MSAD) 54 was created to bring several towns together for the purposes of public education.

I'm guessing there was a lot of resistance to that change, thus the weighting system in use today that renders this board about as complicated as the electoral college:

Town:                  Number of Directors:          Votes Per Director:          Total Votes Per Town:

Canaan	2	43	86
Cornville	2	30	60
Mercer	2	16	32
Norridgewock	4	46	184
Skowhegan	11	53	583
Smithfield	2	27	54

To put names to votes, here is the current board makeup following Monday's election to fill a vacant seat in Norridgewock:

DIXIE RING Canaan  43 votes		JEAN FRANKLIN Canaan   43 votes		THERESA HOWARD Cornville    30 votes
DARCY SURETTE Cornville   30 votes		MARYELLEN CHARLES Mercer     16 votes		SARAH BUNKER Mercer    16 votes
KATHERINE WILDER Norridgewock   46 votes		HALEY FLEMING Norridgewock   46 votes		DESIREE LIBBY Norridgewock   46 votes
BRANDY MORGAN Norridgewock  46 votes		MARK BEDARD Skowhegan      53 votes		HAROLD BIGELOW Skowhegan   53 votes
JEANNIE CONLEY Skowhegan  53 votes		DEREK ELLIS Skowhegan     53 votes		RICHARD IRWIN Skowhegan   53 votes
PEGGY LOVEJOY Skowhegan   53 votes		JENNIFER POIRIER Skowhegan    53 votes		LYNDA QUINN Skowhegan   53 votes
AMY ROUSE Skowhegan   53 votes		KAREN SMITH Skowhegan     53 votes		TODD SMITH Skowhegan  53 votes
GOFF FRENCH Smithfield     27 votes		CHRISTY JOHNSON Smithfield    27 votes

If these look like mailing labels, it's because they are. I will have them on hand March 7 to help me accurately record what board members say during the meeting. It is described as a workshop convened so that board members may express their thoughts following lots of public comment since Penobscot Ambassador Maulian Dana delivered a letter asking to retire the mascot back in November.

Ms. Dana is currently in Washington DC meeting with officials about Penobscot Nation interests. Will she make it back to Maine in time to attend Thursday's meeting? Stay tuned.

ADDITIONAL INFO 3/7/19:
From the Portland Press Herald article of June 29, 2015,"Debate over 'Indians' mascot persists despite school board vote to keep it" (link here):